Re: Alexandra's Ranch (Termite)
RJ
Entering the arena contestant area, Alex shared the large room with seven other Ranchers. One of them, a pink haired girl, was moping off to the side. "Gotta win this time... Can't have another stupid repeat like with Locke..." she sighed. Meanwhile, a calm and collected girl sat next to Alex, looking up at a screen that began to show the pairings. Alex's first opponent was Elora, the mermaid. "Oh, it seems I'm your opponent." she said to Alex with a smile.
http://www.ulmf.org/bbs/picture.php?albumid=693&pictureid=10480
"Win or lose, let us try our best and wish the winner luck."
Termite
Looking down at the small girl Alex smiled in return and offered a respectful nod. "I would not ask for more. Good luck to you and yours."
RJ
"Alex!" the announcer called her out. "Choose your mamono and bring her on out! A one on one duel between Elora and your mamono is about to begin!!!"
"See you in the arena," the girl said, before heading off.
Termite
Another nod was given to the rancher, and when it was time to choose a mamono Alex gave it a little thought. A mermaid couldn't be too strong, right? "All right, Baa, your time to shine."
RJ
"Snuggle time?" she inquired, before she was led out into a large arena, facing across the sandy stage with a mermaid, who seemed to float through the air as if in water, magic clearly at work. "I won't be offering a domination duel. At this point, I'm just doing my best." Ripple announced with a smile. "No domination duel, folks!" the announcer shouted. "Well, that only leaves the fight! Ranchers, are you ready!?"
Termite
"Indeed." Once they both entered the arena, however, the confidence was quickly replaced with curiosity? "Domination duel?" She hadn't heard about that, or at least she didn't remember about hearing it, but she could ask later. "Ready!"
RJ
"READY! SET! GO!" the siren announcer exclaimed, before Ripple told Elora to move in! "Oooh? What's happening?" Baa wondered.
Right from the start of the fight, Baa is Happy! She isn't paying attention!
"What's this? I know a poorly trained mamono when I see one, folks! This sheep looks confused!"
Baa: 35 / 35
Guts: 0
Elora: 40 / 40
Guts: 0
Commands:
Go all out! (Increase to hit and damage, lower dodge and defense)
Play it safe! (Halve Guts generation, increase defense and dodge)
Defend! (Won't gain guts until enemy attack, double dodge and halve damage received)
Wait and See! (Do nothing, gain Guts passively)
Get brave! (Gain guts at a faster rate, lower dodge and defense)
You can do it! (Cure negative morale)
She can't stop you! (Add positive morale)
Termite
"That's just the way she is. Baa! All these people came to watch you! Show them what snuggle time is all about! Hug that mermaid! You can do it!"
(Cure Morale + Go all out)
RJ
( Only one command may be given at a time. )
Termite
(Cure morale, then)
RJ
Baa turns around, and looks at Alex with a blank expression, as if wondering what's happening still. Baa doesn't seem to be listening to Alex!
Elora moves in, and delivers a harsh slap to Baa from behind! Baa receives 13 damage!
"Ow..." Baa complained. Baa is now Timid as she looks at Elora, afraid.
( New morale replaces old morale )
Baa: 22 / 35
Guts: 0
Elora: 40 / 40
Guts: 0
Commands:
Go all out! (Increase to hit and damage, lower dodge and defense)
Play it safe! (Halve Guts generation, increase defense and dodge)
Defend! (Won't gain guts until enemy attack, double dodge and halve damage received)
Wait and See! (Do nothing, gain Guts passively)
Get brave! (Gain guts at a faster rate, lower dodge and defense)
You can do it! (Cure negative morale)
She can't stop you! (Add positive morale)
"I don't mean to bully you... But your mamono seems like she isn't ready for combat." Ripple apologized from afar.
Termite
"She said she wanted to give it a try, so I'm giving her that chance now." But Alex didn't realize Baa would be so confused. "Baa, I know you can do this. Just focus on the mermaid and show her you just want to be her friend."
(Cure Morale + Hug)
RJ
Hearing Alex, Baa slowly pushed herself up. "But... It hurts..." she struggled.
Termite
"I know..." The look in Alex's eye said she understood what Baa was feeling. "It hurts, it's scary, and you don't want to be there anymore... But if you can make it through this I promise that you'll feel something else that will make everything better. But that can only happen if you stand up and give it your best."
RJ
Looking at her, Alex's expected reaction was not what she got. After listening to her, when Elora came at her once more, all Baa did was let out a cowardly cry as the mermaid came to finish her off. But then, suddenly, the mermaid fell over!
RJ
"Oh-hoh! Elora seemed to lose focus there! She's Asleep!" the siren announcer exclaimed.
Termite
The moment Baa started crying Alex looked like she wanted to go out and cradle the poor girl in her arms. But the sudden exclamation from the announcer had her hesitating, wondering if the match would be called or not.
RJ
"Don't look up here, Alex! You better do something before Elora wakes up!" the siren announced to Alex.
Termite
"Baa! Look! She's wide open! Now's your chance! Sit on her!"
(Add Positive Moral + Hip Check)
RJ
Seeing Elora in her current state, it seemed like the sheep just didn't listen to Alex no matter what, or wasn't paying attention. Either way, she slowly approached Elora, before touching the mermaid fearfully. Putting her arms on the mermaid, she seemed to lift her and move her around, trying to check to see if she was okay. All the while, Elora's symptoms only seemed to get worse. By the time her eyes opened, she looked as if she were heavily drunk.
Termite
Well, nothing was really working, but Elora was being put into a bit of a stupor. Maybe Baa just couldn't win traditionally. Maybe it was time for a different approach. "Baa, can you bring the mermaid over here?"
RJ
Baa looked over to Alex, before slowly bringing the mermaid along. As she did so, the mermaid woke up, before suddenly moving from Baa's grasp. "Are you alright?" Ripple asked. "W-what happened? I am not injured." Elora noted. "Elora..." Ripple seemed to know where Elora's thoughts were going. Suddenly, Elora pointed her trident at Alex. "Why would you bring this peaceful creature to the arena!? Even when her opponent was helpless, she did not attack! Are you cruel!?"
"Alex," Ripple stepped forward. "I know this might be embarrassing, but you must pay closer attention to your friends. Your sheep... She doesn't seem to act familiar to you at all. Friendships are important in the arena... And it is with this in mind... That I withdraw." she announced. "I don't want to humiliate you further. Please, learn from your mistakes. Spend more time with that little sheep before sending her into battle."
Termite
"NO!!!" Of all the times Alex has been flustered it has never been like this. Part of her looked like she would die from humiliation, another part looked like it would explode in a fit of tears, and the last part looked like it was desperately trying to keep the other two pieces from breaking through to the surface. "I can live with humiliation, but I will NOT accept a handout!'
RJ
Rippled looked back at Alex from where she was walking away, her mouth open in surprise. "I'm sorry, Alex... The only way this can be settled is if we harm that sheep further. I have no desire to fight this battle."
Termite
"Then don't. I will forfeit. This is my mistake."
RJ
Baa looked back and forth between the two as they exchanged words. Looking panicked, and guilty, the drowsy sheep rose to her feet finally, and held her little fists up at Elora and Ripple timidly. "The mamono is apparently still disobeying it's trainer!" te announcer said. "She's not forfeiting the fight!" Looking at her, Ripple still stepped back. "... That sheep... She's quite scared, and yet..." she looked at the sheep with pity. "I-I'm sorry..." the sheep apologized to Alex. "N-now... Is not the time... For s-sleeping..."
Termite
"Baa, it's okay..." Alex motioned for the sheep to come over, and once the girl was near she gently laid a hand on top of her head. "You don't need to do this. I was wrong... I should have made sure you understood what was happening before i asked you to fight."
RJ
"I know what's happening now... I have to win..." Baa replied, before separating herself from Alex's hand, and charging at Elora. Weakly, Baa threw herself at the mermaid, colliding into her for a meager 4 damage.
"Elora..." Ripple said, leaving the decision up to the mermaid. "The sheep wants to fight for her partner... Even though she doesn't deserve to have such a partner fight on her behalf, I won't back down from her request."
Returning the attack in kind, Elora struck Baa with her trident for 16 damage, sending Baa flat on her back as she had the wind knocked out of her.
Baa: 6 / 35
Guts: 0
Elora: 36 / 40
Guts: 0
"What a brave little sheep!" the siren cried out, in tears, "She's fighting so hard!"
Termite
"Dammit..." Alex wasn't sure what to do. Baa was showing some true courage, and as much as she wanted to see the little sheep from being hurt she wasn't going to intervene now. It would be even more cruel to stop her that moment and break the will she was showing. "Baa, I don't want to see you get hurt... But..." Alex managed to straighten herself out, but even then the tears in her eyes were sitting ready to fall where everyone could see. "...if you insist on seeing this through, then... Then give the mermaid a hug!" And from then she watched intently, her body poising itself to spring forward at any moment. Things were leaking bleak for her partner, and the moment that things turned bad, the moment that she saw an attack that Baa could never possibly avoid, she would step out onto the field. If she needed to break the rules to make sure that girl remained safe then she would, and if she had to sacrifice her own dignity to do so then so be it.
RJ
Elora rose her trident as Baa charged in again. It was clear that already, this was the moment that Alex was going to step in. Moving in, a whistle was blown, and Elora stopped as Venice jumped into the field. "That's enough, Rancher interfering in the fight. Alex is disqualified." the white haired woman announced, before urging both parties back inside. "What a sloppy mess." Venice sighed as she walked with Alex. "But don't worry, Alex. Don't let this haunt you. Any shame you feel is your mind correcting itself so this never happens again. Alright?"
Termite
A slow shake of the head was Alex's answer to Venice's statement. "The shame I feel comes from the fact that I should have known better. I exposed someone to pain when they were far from ready for it. I should not have been focused on getting out of that plot. I was no better than my brother or my sister..."
RJ
"Then accept the hospitality of the people of Zippangu, they will surely allow you more comfortable living until you better yourself." Venice suggested. "You're neighbors to them after all."
Termite
Another shake was given. "I'll learn to deal with what I have. Besides..." A look was given toward Baa. "She loves the grass."
RJ
Venice chuckled. "Suit yourself... Though, if you don't mind, I do have a mission for you that might renew your confidence."
Termite
"Hm." A gentle sigh was given, and Alex took a moment to collect herself. "All right, what is it?"
RJ
"There's a group of alps calling themselves 'Viva la Resistance,' and saying that I am a woman oppressing men. I support free speech, until they started attacking IMA staff. Would you be so kind as to clear them up next week? I'll give you all the details then. They've also been kidnapping and raping women and mamono alike, as if wanting to prove that the male gender is making a comeback, which it isn't." Venice laughed.
Termite
"Sounds good. Should give me time to deal with everything and get my head on straight."
RJ
And then Alex was home again, with a sleepy, beat up sheep in tow.
Termite
Once she was home she asked Gyuki and Ashlotte to excuse her, and following that she brought Baa into the house. There she either led or carried the sheep to the bed, but once the girl was in there she simply stood while trying to figure out what she was going to say.
RJ
The sheep slept soundly in the bed. Gyuki and Ashlotte went to their own rooms. Ashlotte seemed as indifferent as always, and Gyuki didn't seem pleased with Alex's loss.
Termite
With Baa falling asleep Alex merely kept watch. She wanted to talk with the sheep at some point, and even if she nodded off it was always a light nap that would easily allow her to wake in mere moments.
RJ
After a while, Baa rustled a bit, "Baa..." she baa'd
Termite
With Baa rustling Alex decided to take a risk. She climbed into the bed and sat on her knees near the sheep's head, and a second later her hand reached down and started stroking the girl's head. "Feeling better?"
RJ
It wasn't long before Alex was quickly made tired and snuggling up with the sheep. "Mmm..." the sheep hummed, snuggling to Alex.
Termite
She knew it would happen, but she fought it as it did. Of course her focus changed from wanting to talk to making the sheep comfortable, so her hand kept absentmindedly stroking Baa even while she fought to remain conscious.
RJ
Baa's wool was very soft, and smelling it's pleasant odor as well as feeling it was enough to crush Alex with the urge to give in and cuddle up, something that Baa seemed to do often.
Termite
And Alex gave in. She laid down and pressed herself as close to the sheep as possible...but her armor kept her from getting the full effect. She could have taken it off, but Baa's presence latched onto the draconic laziness that laid dormant in her blood, and removing that armor was just too much effort at that point.
RJ
They snuggled for a while, until Alex fell asleep, waking up sometime later as she had before, feeling like she had the best sleep ever, despite the armor.
Termite
After waking Alex stretched as much as she could in her armor. It wasn't much, but she didn't care. Instead she focused herself and looked to see if Baa was waking as well.
RJ
Baa seemed both awake, and yet she seemed content with continuing to rest in the bed.
Termite
Well, now was as good a time as any. "Hey." Another round of head stroking. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. If I knew that was your first battle I never would have sent you out like that."
RJ
"Mmm," Baa hummed. One way or another, it seemed Baa wasn't too worked up about Alex's topic, even as she brought it up and apologized.
Termite
If she wasn't bothered by it then might as well continue. "So, I need to know something. Do you want to stay with us?"
RJ
"Mmm..." Baa repeated, continuing to snuggle Alex. It seemed Baa didn't want to go anywhere
Termite
"Mmm." It was a relief to Alex, and she returned the snuggle as best she could. "You won't have to fight anymore, not if you don't want to, but I will ask you to train a bit, okay? I want you to be able to protect yourself if you need to."
RJ
"Mmm..." Baa said once more, her eyes closing as she put her hand over Alex's mouth, as if to quiet her.
Termite
Alex let out a small smile as she was very kindly told to be quiet, and she obliged the sheep and kept from saying anything further. Instead she let her arms do the talking, both of them wrapping around the girl and gently squeezing her close before relaxing and returning to the slow strokes from before.
RJ
The sheep happily relaxed together with Alex, only ever moving when Alex thought it time to wake up.
Twas a new day.
Termite
While Alex wasn't in any rush she eventually did pull herself out of bed. "As nice as this is I still have some responsibilities." With it being Tuesday she probably already missed the deadline to sign up any of the mamono for training for the week, and she'd need to find someway to put in a late order for food for everyone. "Hey Baa, what would you like to eat?"
After making sure she had a standing order with the grocer (or whoever it is that supplies the mamono food) Alex gathers all her mamono and has them stand outside near the uncut tall grass. "All right, since Baa will be staying with us she'll need to have her own training regimen. But since she hasn't done anything like this before just throwing her into a battle like I foolishly did won't help at all. So, I think we should play a game. We'll call it Stalker." She pointed out to the grass. "Can anyone guess what this game will be?"
RJ
Gyuki looked apathetic, Baa was eating some of the uncut grass, and Ashlotte was standing in place like a statue. Alex did not get an answer.
Termite
"I see..." The enthusiasm was awe-inspiring in the most sarcastic way possible. So time to up the ante. "Since this is a game there should be a prize, correct? What sounds like an appropriate prize?" This was asked to each of the mamono.
RJ
"Being allowed to return to my meditations." Gyuki replied. "To serve my master is all I require." Ashlotte replied. "Baa," Baa replied.
Termite
"Very well. Gyuki, if you win you shall be exempt from this tomorrow and allowed to meditate and ask for any additional training you see fit. Ashlotte, if you are victorious then you shall be allowed to serve your master as much as you wish. All night, if that's required." Though she didn't add winks or smiles for effect the innuendo in the statement was apparent enough. "Baa, if you win we'll find something fun you and I can do together before bed."
RJ
Baa curled up in the grass and seemed to fall asleep while everyone waited in silence. Gyuki still seemed irritated over her loss.
Termite
"The goal is to stalk a target and pounce them before they do the same to you. Once you've caught one person yell so everyone can hear it, then start stalking someone else. Person with the most captures wins." And with that Alex simply walked into the grass and pulled Baa up to her feet on the way before suddenly sprinting and hiding and waiting for everyone else to join.
RJ
All was quiet, and everyone vanished from sight into the grass. Alex heard slight whispering, before all three of her mamono came out at once, and pounced solely on her. Alex was crushed down underneath the weight of the three girls. "REVENGE!" Gyuki cried out, having organized this mutiny.
Termite
For a moment it looked like Alex had the breath knocked out of her, but after a few seconds she looked up with an impish grin. "So that's how it is, huh?" Her eyes suddenly turned reptilian, and with a small blast of heat she turned her draconic heritage on full blast just long enough to throw everyone off of her before vanishing into the grass once more. And just before she vanished she said one thing. "Team Mamono: 1 point." And then she nearly disappeared before their eyes. Her scales nearly covered her entire body and blended oh so well with the grass, and surprisingly enough her armor started acting like a chameleon and shifted until it was as green as the rest of her. And from that point on she started stalking them all, her first target obvious. Gyuki.
RJ
Getting to Gyuki even with her advantages would prove to be a problem. "Target identified, heat signature." Ashlotte announced, before her hand shot forth and caught Alex by the arm. Baa followed up, grabbing Alex's leg, and Gyuki finished the combo, jumping, and pushing Alex back into the ground before rolling off into the grass, off of Alex to avoid her trying to blow her off again.
Termite
"Team Mamono: 2 points." Sneaking around with Ashlotte able to track her heat signature could be a problem, so Alex decided to try something a little different. She dialed the ambient heat blasting off her body down enough to be less noticeable, and then a moment later she started breathing that same heat out in controlled bursts. It wouldn't be enough to start a fire, but hopefully it would be enough to throw off whatever technology Ashlotte was using.
RJ
As everyone retreated, and Alex trying to control her heat to throw off Ashlotte's sensors, all was quiet again. The trio made no noise nor motion that she could detect.
Termite
Alex could consider her method a success, or at least she hoped it was, but now she had to locate the others. To start things off she moved as silently as possible down a path that the others had not taken, and after a bit she started searching the ground for a small rock she could use to throw in a random direction and rustle the grass. She wouldn't throw it hard because she didn't wish to accidentally bean anyone, but once it was thrown she moved a little more and waited to see if anyone took the bait.
RJ
Quiet, sneaky. Alex went for a dozen seconds, before finding herself a rock. Once she found it, a quick hurl, and- "Trajectory analyzed," Ashlotte announced, and everyone was on top of Alex again.
Termite
A little puff of frustration was released. "Team Mamono: 3 points..." Once everyone was gone Alex simply moved slowly and thought. If distractions and subterfuge weren't going to work all that well with Ashlotte then she'd just have to rely on luck. And maybe a bit of analysis. They all seemed dependant on Ashlotte's observation, and she wondered if there was a pattern or formation they were using to hunt her down. If she could analyze it herself maybe she could find a weak point instead of blinding pushing forward and hoping she found someone unaware.
RJ
Whenever Ashlotte found her, it seemed that Gyuki had fair distance from the last location Alex was found in. Baa was seemingly all over the place, only jumping in when things got exciting-and Alex's foot suddenly bumped against a sleeping Baa in the grass.
Termite
"Huh..." Alex said very quietly to herself before stalking away from sleepy Baa. She could have claimed a point then, but that seemed a little too easy. Instead she started a small search from the sheep's location, hoping to see if anyone was lying in wait in case they were using Baa as bait.
RJ
Stepping further, something tugged at Alex's ankle slightly, before she'd notice a rope covered in dirt and mud, concealed, wrapped around Baa's neck, and leading off into the grass.
Termite
Time to see where this rope went. Sneak sneak...
RJ
Sneaking along, she came face to face with Gyuki.
Termite
Not wanting to waste a second she very quickly lunged forward and tried to hip-toss Gyuki to the ground before shouting "One!" and rushing off.
RJ
Yanking her rope as Alex ran away, Gyuki managed to trip her up, before landing on top of her. "When does this child's game end!?" she exclaimed.