Round 1 - [Action : New Bark City] - [Audio]

[yanginthere]

[ Action : Morning ]
[ When it came to blending in with the natives, Yang certainly looked the part. The only reason she had the jacket on in the first place was because it was much colder here and she was still feeling the heat of the combat high she left behind in the arena. It was with equal parts bewilderment, confusion, and irritation that she looked out at her surroundings, her mind reeling with trying to make sense of everything she had read, or heard from that ... that delusional woman in the house she left behind.

To make matters worse, her attention was constantly divided between her goal of gathering as much information on this town as possible and the faint half-bark half-growling of the "pet" that was close to the heels of her boots at all times.

Finally, Yang stopped and crouched down, adjusting the way her new bag slung off of her shoulder. ] Look, pup. You're cute and all, and I've love to play with you, but I don't really have time for it right now. Okay? You feel me?

[ It certainly seemed to be listening, though talking to an animal and expecting it to comprehend everything she said wasn't what Yang expected at all. She was more just vocalizing her frustrations to the closest living soul.

She sighed, a thick cloud of steam in the chill winter air. ] I don't even have any treats for you. At least, I don't think I do... [ Yang thought about it a minute. There had been supplies, but nothing you should feed a dog.

Then Yang withdrew her hand from within the travel bag holding onto small red-and-white sphere. ] Hmm, actually. I never tried to open this. Looks like one of those surprise egg toy prizes. I wonder what's inside...

[ The Growlithe made a gruff, curious sound, and leaned in a bit to sniff at the ball. Yang tapped the button on it front and made as if to show the puppy the contents first. The ball grew in her hand, which surprised her and caused her to drop it. It popped open with a sound and then, after a flash of light, the dog was just... gone! Sucked right into the ball by some kind of strange energy.

Yang did not take that well. ] WHOA! What the— [ That was. Not supposed to happen. Yang's eyes were wide and she rose her feet. Time to panic! ] Ohmygod! WhatdidIdo? DidIkillit? Ididn't—! Ahh crap!!! [ She bent down to pick up the ball once more, turning it this way and that. Does she dare open it? Can someone close to her explain what just happened?!? HELP! ]

---

[ Audio : Open ]
[ Yang sounded much calmer when she finally made her general broadcast. It was said that this would be a good way to reach out to anyone here whether they were new like her, well informed as to how this place worked, or (hopefully) familiar voice from home. ]

Uhh, I was told I should probably introduce myself here over this network, but it feels kind of weird to do that. Not like I expect anyone to know who I am. But... [ A pause, there is some growling in the background. Eh. Here goes nothing? ]

I'm Yang Xiao Long. If the words "Remnant", "Beacon Academy", or "Vytal Festival" mean anything to you, call me back right away. It's kind of urgent.

If you're the one that brought me here, well, thanks for not letting me get to enjoy my victory first? Niiiice timing! [ A grumble. ] Jerks.

[ Yang sighed quietly. She's usually much better with people, but it's hard to feel up to making new friends right off the bat when freshly displaced. Give her a minute. She'll come around. ]

Otherwise, uh .... hi, I guess? Someone talk to me. I don't even know if I did this right.

Comments

[yanginthere]

[ ...wait, there was no need to dig. It was right on this device the whole time. Yang's messing around with the display now. ]

Oh yeah? I'll have to remember that for later. Like, when I figure out the money situation.

The bag has a lot of stuff in it, but I can't help but think it's not enough food to even get to the next town over. Cherrygrove...?

[yanginthere]

[ The phrasing and subsequent recovery amused Yang. The girl on the other end of the line can probably practically hear that grin. ] Heh! It's fine. I knew what you meant.

And, yeah. It can be. But danger's practically my middle name. [ It's not. She said as much, earlier. ]

[hashtagafreakingghost]

[Gentle embarrassment, pushed down slowly.....]

Yang Danger...Xiao Long. [Bit of a tongue-trip but we got through that okay.] Ha.

So what do you really do? You don't sound old en- [...] You know, never mind, I've made that mistake three times so far so I'm just not going to assume age or anything. I mean, are you like, a bodyguard?

[yanginthere]

Yeah, there you go! [ Okay, Yang likes this girl. Going along with her jokes is a one-way ticket to her good graces. All fumbling is easily forgiven. ]

I'm a Huntress. [ She pauses only for some sign of recognition. If this girl talked to the others, she's probably already heard the term, but if not— ] In training still, but my team has its share of field experience. Enough to handle a hiking trip for sure.

[hashtagafreakingghost]

[Jokes and puns are a constant in her life, going along with them makes things seem normal. ...Bad jokes are an instant way to endear Ashley, in other words.]

Huntress... I...heard a little about that? Not a bunch, but- you protect cities and people, from...some kind of monsters? Sounds like something from, oh...a book or a video game.

[yanginthere]

[ >Implying Yang's jokes are ever anything less than good and perfect.

She's not wrong. ]

Yep, that'd be the Grimm. [ Yang made a thoughtful noise. ] Funny you should say that, because I was talking to someone else earlier that said this place was like being in a video game. I mostly played fighting games myself, so I can't say for sure, but so far no one's challenged me to a one-on-one match. [ Just wait until she makes eye contact with the wrong person. ]

[rosetotheoccasion]

[At Yang's comment about the tournament, Ruby does cringe. It's not Yang's fault, of course. She doesn't seem to know what happened in the match after hers, and she bounces back from things better than Ruby does sometimes. But... that's still an accidental poke to a still-fresh wound.]

Yeah! Uh... not in that town, though. A couple of nice people helped me and Weiss teleport a few towns over. I'm sure they'll help you too.

[yanginthere]

[ ...okay, now she KNOWS that something is up. What, exactly, is still up in the air, but since they're talking about meeting up soon anyway she might as well save it. ]

Teleporting, huh? Sounds convenient, but also kinda... out there.

If it was safe for you two, though, I think I could give it a shot. I mean you look like you're in one piece. [ Externally anyway. ]

[hashtagafreakingghost]

Right, Grimm...

[A soft, humorless laugh from Ashley.] Yeah, you know, I've actually heard of these as games. My friends used to play them, big Pokémon version this and that. Kind of kicking myself for not playing much now.

They really are nothing like traditional fighting games, at least that I've seen or played. More RPG and...raising sims? I think that's the right word for it.

Whatever the case, it's...really brave to go out and face monsters, voluntarily.

[charcoalfeather]

Um... well, I don't know how it works, but-Eep!

[Nope. Rakka hasn't reached a level of zen yet that would prepare her for a Pokemon suddenly popping out of its ball. Yeah she's jumping a little. It looks like a dog, but what if it can fly or something?

Of course, as soon as she does hop a little, she feels embarrassed. But at least Yang seemed happy?]

Um, yeah.... Who's Zwei? [Did she miss something?]

[rosetotheoccasion]

I know, right? I didn't buy it until I saw it for myself! It's not so bad either. Kinda felt like I was getting shoved through a closet door, but it wasn't really bad.

[... good thing Ruby's calmed down a lot or that joke about being in pieces. Would've... really been bad...]

Unless I'm missing big chunks of hair in the back and nobody's told me, I think I'm okay! [She waves her free hand in front of the camera for emphasis.] See?

[in4apounding]

It IS very strange. I still have no idea where the music actually comes from!

[Maybe not the strangest thing, but certainly one of the most persistent.]

It's nice, though! There aren't any Grimm here, even if some of the Pokémon look a little like them.

[usedglaciate]

My lips are sealed.

[That gets another laugh.]

Even if we do manage to figure it out just soon enough that we get away by the skin of our teeth.

audio

[pipers_son]

Ha. This place is positively rotten when it comes ta proper timin'.

If ya stick around, you'll learn. If ya don't, well, ya don't, s'how it is.

[yanginthere]

[ She grinned. Seems that Weiss was in a decent enough mood, now. ] They may have left us unarmed, but I'm not getting the feeling that this is actually a dangerous place. People are way too calm about all the strange creatures around, and this town doesn't even have anything remotely resembling fortification.

[ Which is super, super weird, after having studied what frontier towns and supply depots are like, and after what they learned about Mountain Glen. ]

[yanginthere]

[ At the mention of losing hair, Yang reached back reflexively to grab hold of a handful of her locks. ] Don't even say that!!

[ C'mon, sis, you know how she gets. ]

But... yeah. I think Weiss would have told you by now if there was a problem. Or if she was having one. [ She shrugged her arm wide. ] So. I guess the only question is: when do we do this?

[ Not realizing that she was about to have the talk with Dave soon about this same very thing, and he was already setting things in motion. ]

[yanginthere]

Oh so I'm not imagining that? [ She is pretty sure that "hallucinations of cheery background music" was not one of the known symptoms of having a concussion, but she had so much else to think about that it was — well, literally just a passing thought in the back of her mind. ]

You know, if that's really true, that's going to be... weird to get used to. [ ... ] That's not a complaint. [ Back home, there have always been Grimm. Since the beginning of human history; possibly even longer. ]

[yanginthere]

[ Yang shifted her bag behind her and knelt down to pet the puppy. ] He's my dog, back home. Dad likes to ship him to us in the mail whenever he needs to take a trip out of town, but I didn't think that anyone else here would have had the same idea.

[ It's far too easy now to dismiss what just happened as "normal", but there we have it. She looked up at the girl from her crouched position. ] Hope I didn't startle you too bad. This is all kind of weird to me, too. [ She held up a hand. ] By the way, I'm Yang!

[yanginthere]

Sounds like I'm not the only one who was picked up at an unexpected time. The rest ... well that kind of goes without saying. [ Her world's very "survival of the fittest", so. ]

[usedglaciate]

I think that the strange creatures are the defense. That's the one thing that still makes me uncomfortable. No Semblance, no weapons, no fortification...but nobody seems to think it's needed, or even missing.

[in4apounding]

If you are, so is everyone else!

[Probably another thing she sounds a little too cheery about.]

It's true as far as I've seen! The closest thing I've seen to a Grimm was the Pokémon Ruby was given, and it's MUCH cuter than any Grimm I've ever heard of. It's more like a puppy than anything. And wild Pokémon attack sometimes, but they're not nearly as vicious as Grimm.

[yanginthere]

[ Thankfully Yang doesn't buy into any weird Collective Hallucination theories. ]

They gave her a ... [ Yang sighed. ] Someone either knows us, and has a weird sense of humor, or that's a bad coincidence. [ Giving them both dogs was one thing, but even a vague allusion to Grimm was just icing on the cake. At least Yang's starter doesn't contribute to the problem. ]

Wait. Do they attack people?

[charcoalfeather]

[Stares at the hand... oh! She takes it in both of her's, shaking gently.] Nice to meet you, my name is Rakka! I'm a... Ah, I was a Haibane, and no you didn't startle me too much.

[Just a little. really.]

...Ah! W-Wait, did you say you send it in the mail?

[But envelopes aren't big enough for that!!]

[yanginthere]

It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it. Might as well be someone that gets a rise out of kicking monster butt, right? [ Yang says it easily, but there's only half the truth in that. Too bad though; one must be at least a Level 4 Friend to unlock her tragic backstory.

...though now that she has that thought, in passing, she realizes that this puts her plans to find her mother on indefinite hold. Great.

She's silent a long moment before getting back to the topic at hand. Games. Right. ]

If you've heard of this stuff before, you got any insider tips for a fresh face?

[yanginthere]

Good to meet you, Rakka. [ She doesn't know what to make of that word, but the other topic has her attention in the immediate. Yang rose to her feet and then gestured with her hands. ]

Yep! Usually a mail tube, about this big. [ It wasn't a large pantomime; certainly long enough for a dog but definitely not thick enough. Not for a corgi anyway. ]