[open] You always wanted a visit, right?

[highly_gifted]

Who: Feivel and/or Nat and YOU
What: Just opening doors from the ghost zone into places and then?????
When: First half of April, pick your date!
Where: Anywhere!

Exploring the ghost zone is great. It's a weird and new place and a certain set of siblings is having a field trip. Most of the time, they're together, but sometimes they split up or one of them goes alone.

They peek out through almost all doors that they find, unless Nat's Force senses tell her that something bad is behind the door (and then sometimes Fe opens it anyway). Maybe they look out at a street where your character is just standing, but maybe they open a door right into their bedroom too, or something else entirely...

((Please make a note in your subject line regarding if you want to encounter Feivel or Nat or both of them))

Comments

[highly_gifted]

"They don't always remain in the same place, at least. Some are gone when you return to them." That left him stranded in Lapland a few days ago. Luckily he was in Rovaniemi so he could get to the teleporter relatively easily.

"And he's a friend of Nathan." Jutting a thumb at Tony. "Let me borrow his pass for the Locke public transport."

[oncedevil]

No, he definitely isn't a member of the genius club, and thank goodness Nat doesn't say it. That's a bit of a sensitive point for Tony. He's not anywhere near the level of most of his friends and still looks worse for wear, even if he has put on weight. The eye patch probably doesn't help matters.

"Right, what he said. How'd your tour go by the way? Didn't catch you on your way back." The ghost zone thing really is sounding pretty cool, but hadn't he heard something ...? "You guys haven't run into any trouble have you? Heard that place can be dangerous."

[alderaanda]

"Cool," she says.

Nat kicks her legs idly. "Oh, yeah, it can be! There are some weird things there. Monsters, you know. But we've been doing pretty good so far. I haven't found anything I can't get away from." Some, admittedly, sight unseen.

[highly_gifted]

"It was interesting. More tourism than anything, I cannot remember much." In general - most of his time in Locke he has absolutely no memory of, or none that could be true - but also regarding those few things that he remembers from his childhood. Places change, and especially with all the rebuilding there was even more change.

"...You should check it out." Pointing at the door. "It's quite fascinating."

[oncedevil]

"Monsters, huh?" Well that did sound interesting, and potentially fun. Logically Tony knew it probably wasn't a good idea to go looking for trouble so soon after healing from his last round. But he didn't exactly have a history of good decision making in the self-preservation department. Besides, how could he pass up such an opportunity?

"Well if you guys don't mind some company can I tag along? I'm pretty handy in a pinch."

If it proves they run into a monster they can't escape from.

[alderaanda]

"They kind of tend to glow and float. Everything animal gets like that. I've thought I've seen people there too, but I didn't get close enough to tell if they're people people." Counter to how it appears Nat has actually been careful, for her. She's gone the other way whenever she senses trouble, and some of her feelings really are just feelings.

She doesn't want to be tied down or have to answer to anyone, but it makes sense. And if they split up he'll want to stick around the boy he already knows - right? "That's cool. So what's 'handy', here?"

[highly_gifted]

"You're free to come."

He'll just get back into the door while Nat and Tony talk, but keep an ear open to listen in on what Tony answers.

[oncedevil]

"Everything animal? You know they're animals?" Woah back up he's having a hard time following the conversation. Up until a few minutes ago he didn't even really know about this crazy portals into his room network. It's good they've been careful, but that doesn't remove all the risk. Not that Tony would berate them, he's quite the risk taker himself and that would be massively hypocritical of him.

He's also not going to boss he mostly just wants to go look himself, and offer a little muscle in case of emergency. "Let's just say I've been around the block in the fight department a few times. If something nasty does show up, I can buy you an escape route." Free of charge, you just have to not lose him completely.

He beams at Feivel for the offer, but waits for Nat to confirm before jumping up to join in. Doesn't want to crash the party completely.

[alderaanda]

Nat shifts to let Fe through past her. "Yeah, I caught a bird under a basket and put it through, and it went and changed. They get freaked out when you do that, so I don't think I'll try it again."

There are a number of birds living there which have stopped freaking out. She has to assume that one will too.

She pulls her legs back in and stands up, making room. "Yeah, all right. Come see!"

[highly_gifted]

Feivel waits inside, his back turned to the door, looking out into the zone. He's mostly trying to figure out which route might be the most interesting to take - something that they haven't travelled yet but where they have a rough idea of what may come, preferably.

Nat will indicate what direction is bad right now anyway, so he's not making any decisions before she's said something. There are certain circumstances in which he actually listens to his sister.

"Gravitation follows different laws here; it does not go into the same direction everywhere. Due to this, you can however jump fairly far if you can jump out of one place's gravitational pull into the next, because it will do the work for you. So far, I haven't seen spaces that are big enough to be so far removed form any item that you won't be pulled anywhere."

[oncedevil]

He frowns a little about the bird, seemed kinda mean to him. But as long as she wasn't going to do it again. "Hope its alright. The bird, I mean," He likes animals that's all.

"Great! One sec," He moves to the closet to grab his coat, a long flashy red thing, and after a moment or two of pondering his sword to go along with it. Just in case. The guns he'll leave behind for now. Then he's hopping up to join them in the creepy ghost portal.

"Really? In that case I'll have to be careful. Phew, this place is weird."

He'll just... hang back for a minute while he tries to get his bearings in order. One reason he'd avoided the ghost zones so long is that they cause his senses to overload and it's a little overwhelming. He'll adjust once he's used to it.

[alderaanda]

"I think so?" She really can't tell one ghost bird from another. "There's a kind of an ecosystem, just, it's mostly sparse. I don't think anything that comes here is hurt by it."

A ghost squirrel has decided that the nearest island is a great place to store acorns. Waiting for Tony and then waiting for him to get his bearings Nat squints at it, making a mental note to add binoculars to the list of things she takes along here.

[highly_gifted]

"It is weird, but useful - distances are much shorter here, so you can travel quickly between places without needing to access the teleporter, and there are no time limitations." Not having to use the teleporter is especially interesting when you look too young to get into pubs alone and your echo location's sigil is in the backroom of one.

Though he also imagines it to be interesting in places that have a fairly large geographical expansion, like Lapland.

"There?" Towards Nat, indicating a direction. It looks good to him, but she somehow tends to see more that he doesn't and he has learned to value that.

[oncedevil]

"'Dunno, depends on how you classify getting turned into a ghost," He squints, crosses his eye, and then shakes himself bodily. Ugh, this place. Maybe this wasn't as good an idea as he thought it might be. "'Cause I know I sure wouldn't like it, but who knows maybe they don't know what happened."

He's just kind of rambling while he tries to sort his head out, seeing ghosts is one thing, being surrounded by them something else entirely.

Ah, yes, that is a good point about the teleporter. This could be very useful, provided the pathways are stable enough to be reliable.

"After you guys, I'm just along for the ride." He can sort his head out a little more while they decide.

[alderaanda]

"Well, yeah. It's probably not fun, but everything tends to sort itself out, if it gets some time."

Nat tips her face back as if scenting for something, or listening hard. Nothing feels weird, which she has to take as a good sign. "Ummm. Yeah, cool. There's this ornamental fountain out that way though, and all kinds of things come by for the water."

[highly_gifted]

"Then Tony can see them there." That all kind sof beings come by there makes it sound like a better road even - they don't have to get close and it's somewhat clear what they will encounter when heading into that direction.

He'll look at Tony while Nat listens, eyes narrowed. The older male said that he is fine so he will trust him on that, but that's ...not the behaviour of someone who is entirely comfortable, to say it one way, and he just wants to make sure that he didn't just have some weird echo. Once she's done, he walks past her and just heads into the direction that he indicated earlier, picking his path across stairs and bridges and one or two small islands without them encountering anything.

[oncedevil]

Tony just... shoots her the most dubious of looks. Nat, that might not be the best line of thinking but he's just going to let it go for now. They have more important things to worry about. Like the really annoying buzzing in his brain, which he desperately hopes will calm down soon.

Nat isn't paying attention, which is a relief, but Fe's like a hawk. Tony resists his initial urge to fake a reassuring smile because he knows Fe hates that and instead just kind of gives a little shrug while reaching up to rub his temples. He's fine, really, just give him a moment. Once they're moving Tony falls into step behind, bringing up the rear guard as it were.

[alderaanda]

Nat doesn't see that look, and doesn't pay attention to Tony's unease. He's older, he ought to be able to make his mind up for himself if he doesn't want to be here.

When she's here she has to be wary, after all. She's in good shape but never learned to fight, and her old softball bat's gone missing. The first and only defense she has is sensing danger, then getting out of the way.

[highly_gifted]

Feivel isn't armed either, for a very simple reason: Smuggling a huge ass sword past their parents isn't really the easiest task. And walking around London with it is troublesome, too.

So when the ghost zone proves that it opens into a lot of places and springs a confused, angry and scared ghost bear at them, it is all that he can do to duck down and roll over to get away from the initial jump. The tiger roars and goes for Nat instead.

[oncedevil]

The big sword isn't subtle, that's for certain. That's why Tony usually sticks to his guns, but in this case the sword seems like a better idea. Stray bullets isn't a risk he's willing to take. At least he's armed, if they do run into any trouble.

Which of course they do.

Tony responds immediately, not leaping away like any kind of sane person would do, no instead he surges forward at unreasonable speed, aiming to ram his shoulder into the ghost bear like a battering ram. Hopefully ghosts in here aren't actually incorporeal?

[alderaanda]

The tiger goes for Nat, but balks before it could pounce and snarls, baring its teeth, ears flattened.

Nat had met a confused sort of ghost, one of the hundred or so human ones wandering London, and got some kind of pulse out of it, and made friends. Ghosts don't feel like normal people. She imagines she can see their minds, nice and bright and clear without bodies blocking the view. Animals aren't the same as people, and creatures here aren't the same as those ghosts, but something is the same. Here are the bright threads of the tiger's mind, blowing about in a panic, latching on to fear fight fight. Nat imagines taking the threads in her hands, winding them in a neat coil.

"It's okay," she tells it. "I know you're scared." The tiger paces, tail lashing, still baring its teeth here and there, but it's already less agitated. As she keeps talking it looks increasingly less angry and more lost.

Nat didn't get any warning here because ghosts are no longer a threat to her. They will not attack her, and she can befriend them. Of course, that protection doesn't extend to her companions.

[highly_gifted]

Feivel hears Tony move, and Nat speak, and looks up to see what is going on - and a small piece of debris is kicked lose by the simple movement, rolling a few centimetres and dropping down to the next stair.

It isn't much, barely anything, but it is enough to spook the tiger again, and it shakes off the hands in his mind, panic pushing back violently against any intrusion, emotions strong and sharp flaring up and out all around it, and it attacks what it considers the source of whatever it is it must be dangerous and it lunges at Feivel, because that is where the sound came from. Feivel, again, can dodge, but only just so, and falls of the stairs - luckily being in the ghostzone means that he only slams into the stairs again from the other side and now lies there, "below" everyone else.

The bear that Tony slammed into, meanwhile, reels and in pain and panic swings its paws at the nearest person.

[oncedevil]

It's a good thing Nat can handle ghosts, as Tony wouldn't have been too thrilled about trying to divide his attention between a bear and a tiger. The bear's a big enough threat, but perhaps he can chase it off and won't have to bring the big ugly sword into play.

But then the tiger moves, Tony's eyes follow instinctively but just a hair too late. "Fe!" He's fallen, and in the moment of distraction is when a massive and powerful bear paw slams him back, leaving a bloody trail of claw marks across his chest in its wake. He hits the ground hard and skids, but bounces up again almost immediately. Adrenaline pumping and that battle lust now rise to the surface eagerly, and he he bellows a feral roar at the animals challenging them to come and play.

If he can't guard them directly, perhaps he can play decoy long enough for either Nat to calm them down again or the two to get away.

[alderaanda]

Neither of the big animals look normal. There's a white outline around both, their eyes glow, and while they aren't quite photonegatives both have a bit of that look. And dark teeth.

Nat yelps as the tiger pulls away, and all unthinking chases after it. She jumps and grabs at it just as Tony roars.

The tiger is an aging zoo animal that has never seen the wild or seen anything more exciting than a breeding program or an unfortunate duck landing in the enclosure. It's still a wild animal, clearly, but it's running on the 'fight' side of fight-or-flight. The bear, all the noise, being grabbed by something it can't attack, this is all too much.

So it takes off at a dead run. Half riding it Nat hangs on to its neck briefly, getting jounced, but she lets go, tumbling to the ground as it bounds away. A little dazed she picks herself up.

[highly_gifted]

Feivel is crouched down on his side of the stairs, torn between wanting to stay safe and wanting to see, but more so between wanting to help and knowing that he has absolutely nothing useful on his hands to fight with.

In the end heading back around the stairs wins out, and he grabs the side of the stairs and pulls himself around the stones so that he can see what is going on there.