1st Postcard [Action]

[sweetfang]

[Mavis had not been long in Luceti; face down in the cool morning grass of under the shade of a large tree...by any means it would be an ideal place to awake from a nap for anyone. Except when the wind blows just enough to shift the cover of the leaves to let the sunlight shine down on her it awakes her with a start of pain and a disoriented scramble. Sunlight...the sun was up! How on Earth did it get so late and what was she doing outside of the Hotel? Another beam of light zaps her between the branches of the tree, drawing a sharp 'Ow!' from the vampire before she let her form disappear into a cloud of fog before re-materializing as a bat. There would be less of her to get caught in the sun now. Clambering close to the tree trunk she winces at the odd pain against her back before taking stock of her surroundings.

No, she definitely was not in the haunted forest surrounding the Hotel. Everything was far too bright and chipper and there was a village here, one much different than the one she'd flown to the night before and subsequently had to bail on. At her side was a small pile of clothing consisting of her dress, her leggings, and shoes with a strange book resting on top of it. Talk about weird. If she had the time she'd investigate the weird looking journal but the sun grew brighter by the minute; it would only take few hours for it to reach its peak and burn her to a crisp. She'd have to find shelter first, and fast. She could only hope her clothes could give her enough cover.

Anyone walking through the village square might come across a black lump slowly creeping around the corners of houses and shops from shadow to shadow, occasionally bumping into a wall or possibly even their foot! It's hard to see where she's going from under the book and the pile of her clothes but it's the only portable cover Mavis has as a bat. She can only hope she doesn't draw the attention of the humans.]

Comments

[gonnawreckit]

[Aaand... something is bumping into Ralph's large, bare foot.]

Ow. [And he looks down.] What's the big idea?

[sweetfang]

Whoa!

[The lump of clothing yelps at the collision and a faint female voice calls up from under the layers.]

S-sorry sir, can't really see right now!

[gonnawreckit]

What the heck? [He leans down as squints at the odd lump of layers.] What, you eat a poison mushroom or something? Why're you so tiny?

[sugarglitch]

[That journal sure is moving by itself! Vanellope tails it for a few moments before reaching over to poke it.]

Hey!

[sweetfang]

Waugh!

[Mavis jumps partially at the poke but mostly at the voice. Oooh dear that sure sounded like a human child. The pile of clothing halts, turns and takes off in a different direction.]

[sugarglitch]

Woah!! [Vanellope jumps up, grinning excitedly and taking off after it.] Hey! Where ya goin'?

[Action]

[tailasoldastime]

[At first Beast thought he was seeing things when a black shape flickered over the wall of the library as he passed it. But he knows something is up when he hears the sound of a book hitting a wall shortly after. He quickly turns in the direction of the sound and sees what caused it, freezing in place and staring intently at it.]

[Action]

[sweetfang]

[Under observation or not, the pile of clothing continues to slide along the wall before following the turn of the building and running into a bush. Well...this wasn't the most ideal place to be but it was significantly cooler down here, which meant shade. With a breath of relief Mavis popped her bat head out of the pile of clothing and took a look around at her new surroundings. She could rest here for a while right? Humans didn't usually go around disturbing bushes did they?]

[Action]

[tailasoldastime]

[That... is definitely suspicious. Crouching down, he is going to follow you, clothing-book... thing, whatever this is. He stops in front of the bush, examining it from the top... and without thinking, he pulls apart the varying branches to see - what, is that a bat-?]

[funnygirl]

[At first, Belle believes what she saw was merely a shadow of someone passing by. But after some movement catches her eye again, she looks into the shadows between the buildings and sees a dark lump moving with a journal on top of it.

She blinks and rubs her eyes. Nope. Still there.]

Uh...hello?

[sweetfang]

[At the voice Mavis jumps underneath the pile, making it jerk before she crouches beside the closest wall and pretends she doesn't exist. Nothing to see here. Nope, nothing at all.]

[funnygirl]

[Belle watches all of this with a furrowed brow. Had she frightened it? Slowly, she takes a few steps into the alley.]

It's alright. I didn't mean to scare you.

Because I'm mean.

[rather_be_surfing]

And so, on his trip to the grocery store and back, while he's passing under a nice shady copse of trees, Derek finds his foot accosted by...a pile of clothes?

All sorts of frowning here. Is this the newest Malnosso experiment, or what?

"Uh...anyone in there?"

OOoooh boy XD

[sweetfang]

Mavis was getting used to running into a wall or a tree now and then as she made her way across the ground. She didn't mind them so much, it came with the landscape. When the would be 'tree' turned out to be someone's foot though...that made her jump.

She manages to squeak out, "S-sorry sir! I'll just be on my way!" before the little pile turns roughly ninety degrees and takes off at a sprint.

You know I had to....

[rather_be_surfing]

Hold on...there's something weird going on here, and it doesn't feel like an experiment...

"Hey! Wait!"

He has no idea why he's so intent on following this pile of fleeing clothing, but he is, like a cat chasing a laser pointer light.

[tomodachi]

[Crow almost doesn't notice from where he's sitting on a roof here, but he looks down in time to see...is that journal moving along the ground by itself around that corner? That's weird. He moves along the roof to look down over the edge to try to get a better look--is he just imagining it...?]

[sweetfang]

[Don't mind her, she's just going to keep following the wall until she hits a nice, shaded corner where a set of stairs rise up to give her some decent cover. Carefully shifting her journal and clothes she lets out a breath of relief as she pokes her bat head out from under the pile, resting it back against the cool stone for a break. God she was tired, she'd never stayed up all day before but unless she found some shelter it looks like she might just have to.]

[tomodachi]

[A bat? Why would they be carrying a book around, don't they have better things to be doing, like...bat-related things?

Well Mavis, you get about five minutes of rest before a strangely-dressed boy is suddenly here. He doesn't say much of anything at first, mostly just looking from where he's leaning around the edge of the stairs, after having climbed down off the roof.]

That's weird. I thought bats only came out at night or something...

[250mhzwabl]

[Technically, Jack is the one doing the favour, when he takes Ranni out for walks. Technically. In reality, it feels like more of a treat for him than anything, getting to stroll and occasionally jog about with a cute and good-natured animal for an hour or two, tracing the familiar paths of the village. There's always something new to see, at least, and that goes doubly for today, when just between shops Ranni tugs her leash off-course to try to lead him to . . . a pile of abandoned laundry? Jack blinks, shrugs, and follows, bending to ruffle reassuringly between Ranni's ears as she paws lightly at the pile.]

Thank you, Ranni. You're very good to protect me against abandoned . . .

[He trails off, then, as his eyes finally adjust to the shadows enough to notice that the lump seems to be, inexplicably, breathing. Or moving, at least, and in some way that his brain can't quite parse as natural for what looks very much like a jumble of cloth.]

[sweetfang]

[Mavis had actually managed to find a nice and dependably shady spot to park her pile of clothing and have a well deserved nap. It was well into the day now and she was nowhere used to being awake so late. The shaded alley had seemed like the perfect safe haven for her until night fall. At least it had until she felt a distinct pressure on top of her that shook her awake.]

Whooooa- what's that?

[Clawing her way through the folds of her dress Mavis pops her head out of a sleeve to blink up at the nose of a dog. A very large dog from this angle that could probably gobble her up in a bit or two.]

AAAUGH!

[250mhzwabl]

[For a second, the world is a scrambled-up mess of inputs - Ranni woofing out an easy bark, a girl somewhere nearby screaming, a small something scrabbling and peeking out of the pile of clothing. On instinct Jack stoops, trying to pull Ranni away from whatever it is by the collar, backpedaling in alarm. And he freezes, when his brain puts everything together, and realized that the girl-scream came out of the bat.]

Holy-! [He breathes. Blinks. Breathes a little more. And then blurts out the first thing that seems right, when one has elicited that kind of noise.] Oh- heck. Sorry.

action;

[prims]

[ Prim...honestly has no idea what this girl is doing, creeping along like this, but she'll approach with a worried air. Maybe she's hurt or something...? ]

Are you all right?

action;

[sweetfang]

[Mavis had managed to creep into a shaded alley and return to her human shape. Honestly all of the creeping around was exhausting. She's just about to sit back against the cool stone and close her eyes for a moment when that voice peeps up and she jumps. Letting her clothes and that weird book fall to the ground she slowly eases herself to her feet again, her hands flat against the wall in case she needs to make a mad dash up it to safety.]

I wha-? Oh! Uh, yeah I'm fine, just really tired. I-It's nothing to worry about.

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

[... there is something weird and black moving along the wall of that building over there and Emil is pretty sure it's alive. Um. Poking it is probably a bad idea, but he's going to move a little closer to get a better look at it and see if he can figure out what it is.

And maybe talk to himself in the process.]

That's the strangest-looking animal I've ever seen around here...

[Action]

[sweetfang]

[At the voice Mavis jumps and quickens her pace, a tiny voice coming out from the pile as she goes.]

Th-there's nothing to see here, don't mind me!