World Tree MUSH

    With a scattering of hexagonal pixel effects, the last Angry Wolf tumbles away and disappears. The perpetrator is one purple-haired swordswoman, who twirls her sword around and plants the tip in the grass by her feet. Her other hand lifts, wiping her forehead with her forearm, "Whew! That's the last one!" Releasing her sword, the weapon disappears in a flicker of blue.
 
    "Man, but how did so many Gamindustri monsters even show up here?" Neptune produces her phone, thumbing through apps. There's a brief second where she poses for a photo, then some tapping at a Guild app, "Let's see... About halfway to the next unlock!"
 
    The goddess of Planeptune is notoriously lazy, so the fact that Neptune is actually out in the World Tree's wilderness doing something must mean it's related to something she wants.

    How did it come to this? How did she even /get/ here. "This must be Neptune's fault somehow..." murmurs Uni to herself as she plummets through the air. It felt as if she had been falling for hours, days even, when from below, she hears a familiar voice.

    Uni turns over in midair, and red eyes lock onto the familiar shape of the Planeptune Goddess. "Whaaaaa. Look out, look out, look out!" she cries, beginning to flail as if trying to slow her descent somehow.

    "Leeeeet's seeee..." Neptune sticks her tongue out in thought as she flips through Guild postings. Her face brightens, "Ah, there it is! Boop!" Quest accepted. She pauses, then, squinting at the tiny screen, "Wait, what's that?" She moves her phone, "--Gone? No wait, there it-- wait, hold on a second..!"
 
    Neptune shoots a look straight up, thrusting her hands out in surprise, "NO WAY THEY'D USE MY OWN RUNNING GAG AGAINST ME!"
 
    An accusing point is thrust at Uni, "OH HEY, UNI--!"
 
    But she's not moving.
 
    *SMASH*

    She isn't far, but only because of a brief wandering from her own travels. Priscilla the Crossbreed, tall and pale and now very confused, was not far off after having heard the sounds of battle and of course screaming. She fades back into visibility while stepping forward, staring at Neptune... then toward Uni.

    "Thine means of procreation must be very unlike the ones I hold mineself familiar with," she says abruptly. "By what means does this produce young from the skies? Art thine in need of congratulations, Neptune?"

    *SMASH*

    Uni lands square atop Neptune, but doesn't take much time to recover before she practically leaps off of the purple-haired girl and dusting herself down... preening much like a cat. "Uh... thanks for catching me. I guess." she says, catching sight of Priscilla and blinking owlishly. "Uh... hi?"

    She knows Neptune, this is probably a bad thing.

    Why is Blues here? Because sometimes his teleports don't land him where they should. That's fine with him, because he's more a wanderer than someone who wants to stick to a close group. He's fine just roaming about and... of course there is a scream. Always trouble, somewhere.

    It's not much of a threat when he discovers it's actually just someone crashing into someone else. Hmm. He resumes that jaunty whistling tune, and is thus heard well before seen.

    The two girls meet in a dust cloud of comical high speed impact. When Uni jumps out and preens, Neptune's nowhere to be found.
 
    Not until the dust clears. There she is, dirty and cratered with her limbs all sticking out. The thanks from Uni gets a weak thumbs-up response from an already upraised hand.
 
    It's Priscilla's comment that actually drags Neptune out of the ground, hauling herself up and slamming her hands on the edge of the hole she's in, "NepWHAT?! No way, dragon lady! I may be a goddess but that whole Parthenogenesis thing is way too oldschool for me!"
 
    The idea that she even knows a word with that many syllables aside, "Besides mine would be all purple like Nep Jr." Much more calm, Neptune stands up, dusting herself off while she talks, "So like, welcome to tree dimension," directed at Uni, "All kinds'a weird stuff pops up here. Like Prissy the dragongirl here, or that whistling dude who's probably a samurai or something."
 
    She hasn't actually seen Blues yet, but she can hear him. So it's really just a guess.

    "Soooo, she's /not/ a monster, or like Arfoire or whatver?" asks the younger Lastation CPU, turning that owlish gaze onto Neptune as she explains things. "Ooookay, so what did you break /this/ time?" she asks next, arms folding over her chest and making herself look as much like Noire as she can. She does hear that whistling though, after a moment or two for her brain to shift gears, and she looks in that direction next. There's so much going on right now!

While it's not as acute as Histoire's sense for Neptune lazing about, Noire does have a very sharp sense that tingles whenever Neptune is doing something that affects Lastation. Usually by just going there. It's this strange feeling that Something Isn't Right and somehow it can be solved by lecturing the goddess of Planeptune. Or would, if that ever worked. Siiiiigh.

And that's why Noire has shown up here, spotting first the Great Neptunish Crater, then the tall dragon, then... "Uni!" Noire's voice is cheerful, but she quickly puts a fist near her mouth and coughs. As she strides closer, pausing to glance toward the direction of the whistle, she reaches out a hand to brush a bit of dust from her sister's shoulder. "I didn't expect to see you here. Especially not so dusty!" Another pause, and she clears her throat. "A...anyway! Neptune isn't giving you a hard time, is she?"

    Dragon lady, huh?! Priscilla lifts one eyebrow, but doesn't object to this. "Thine sister?" Nepgear, she assumes. "Mmm... welcome to this strange realm..." A bit stiff on the greeting, but Priscilla isn't trying to be friendly... just curious.

    Swiftly joined by yet another dark-haired girl, Priscilla narrows her eyes and almost goes invisible again. She has no idea how to handle these family gatherings! "Thine appearance coincides with a great convergence. And in a similar manner to the Lady Neptune's. It is..."

    A looooong pause.

    "... humorous."

    The whistling fades as Blues nears the whole lot of them. Dark brown hair is visible thanks to his helmet being off, shield over his back, and the scarf-bearing boy(who isn't using boomerangs) finally peeks in to see a tall pale girl and a bunch of women chatting. Yeesh.

    "Am I interrupting or something? I heard screaming but nobody seems... all that hurt." He looks pointedly at the dirtied figure of Neptune, silently asking if he's wrong about that.

    "Oh!" Neptune raises a hand, waving with enthusiasm, "Noire, hey, look who dropped in!" Uni's question about breaking something-- Neptune recoils as if struck. Noire makes an almost identical offhanded remark, and Neptune recoils again, "Uugh... That actually hurt..!" Well no, she's goofing around.
 
    "Look you two, this place was like this when I found it!" Neptune folds her arms, eyes closed, "Jeez, just blame everything on me, huh." Hopefully, she looks upward, "Where'd Nep Junior get off to, she'd stand up for me! I bet she's looking at robot bits again." She squints, but when no falling purplenette appears, the goddess gives up on that one.
 
    Looking rather dejected, now, Neptune lifts a hand to wave when Blues announces himself, not actually looking at him-- "Hey, samurai dude. Nobody's hurt, a little sister just fell outta the sky and landed on me. Now it's two versus one but that's fiiiine."

    When Neptune looks up, she isn't the only one. Priscilla has stepped aside - she has sandals now, Neptune might notic- no who are we kidding she probably won't. Priscilla has stepped aside and looked up, warily holding her scythe. This is because she too half expects Nepgear to fall from the sky.

    Without that happening, Priscilla relaxes... partly. "Thine family is most unusual... is it not?" She hopes so, but there's some REAL Doubt in there.

    "Samurai...?" Blues scratches his head in confusion, but since he sees nobody appears hurt, he shrugs it off and adjusts his sunglasses. "Seems like a strange place to have a family reunion, but I guess I've seen stranger. You ladies need anything?"

    He probably doesn't mean for it to sound condescending, but Blues is a little awkward that way.

    Uni smiles as Noire comes up, then clears her throat in much the same way as the elder sister. "Noire, it's good to see you." she replies stiffly. Glancing once more at Neptune, then looking up with a half-expectant look on her face... is she really hoping Nepgear just appears out of thin air like she just did? Maybe.

    Priscilla earns a bit of a scowl though. "We are /not/ family! Noire is my family, Neptune is just... weird." she says, stumbling over her words a little. It's almost like she doesn't /want/ to needle at Neptune, but it's just how it happens.

    And then Blues comes up saying the same thing. "We are not family! Noire is my family!" she repeats, stamping her foot in impotent rage.

"I'm glad to see you here." Once she's satisfied that her sister is presentable after her fall, Noire gives a nod and lets one hand come to rest on her hip. "She's right, you know," she explains to Priscilla. "Neptune really is just weird." 

She turns to glance at Blues, standing next to Uni. "You don't see the family resemblance?" Noire places a hand on her sister's shoulder and smiles. "In any case, I can see landing on Neptune didn't hurt you at all, and I'm sure she's fine with how often she's had impacts like that." Pausing a moment, Noire gives an accusing glare at Neptune. "Isn't that right?"

    "Yeeeah, I'm fine, she landed on my head," Neptune admits, rubbing the back of her head with her eyes closed. To clear up the confusion, she adds, "These two ladies are from Lastation, another city where I'm from an' totally unrelated to me." That same hand is held up, then points, "Noire, Goddess Black Heart!" shift, "Uni, Goddess Candidate Black Sister!" Twirling, she thrusts both hands out to gesture Priscilla, "And this is Priscilla, who got some rockin' sandals since the last time we met!" What, of course she'd notice something as mundane as that. It's only important details she misses. Glancing Priscilla's way, Neptune thumbs-ups, "And good job not pairing them with socks, that's totally a dad thing to do."
 
    This action actually puts Blues into her field of view. Neptune drops her hands, blinking, "Huh. I guess you're not a samurai." Fingers snap and she points, "Cool outfit, though. Dig the shades. Name's Neptune!" That rounds out the introductions at least.

    Oh, introductions. Priscilla nods her head, greeting the others in her regal but distant manner of probably politeness. And maybe just cluelessness. "Mine apologies, mine own family does appear not at all like mineself, the relationship is... confusing. Thine forms all look so very similar, asiding thine coloration."

    She looks back and forth between the girls. "... thine coloration matches well, it was my oversight," she admits, before giving a hesitant smile to Neptune. Complimenting her sandals put her on a good side!

    Blues is not known as well. She stares at him, but when introductions were made she didn't shy away. "And thine own title?"

    Oh right, names and stuff. "Blues," says the boy, the android peering at the collection. "Well, some of you are family. As long as nobody is hurt, I guess that's fine." He shrugs nonchalantly.

    He DID hear a welcome to the 'Tree Dimension' though. "One of you is new here? I can tell you aren't from my world. That one isn't even human." He jerks a thumb at Priscilla. "Not sure the rest of you are either." An instant later he realizes how that sounds. "Doesn't bother me, I mean there just aren't any people like you in my world."

    Uni calms a bit, and just kind of scuffs a foot, looking awkward. "Well... I, was out doing some work for the Guild in the Afburner Caverns, when I... um..." her cheeks flush, and she tries to hide her face behind her hair... it doesn't work.

    "I slipped and fell. I don't know for how long or why it took so long, the caverns aren't that deep, but I guess I hit some kind of dimensional rift and ended up here... the rest you know." she concludes. "At least I brough enough supplies to last me a few days." she adds, pulling a wrapped sandwich out of a swirl of silvery light.

"You went to Afburner Caverns on your own?" Noire takes a step back and looks her sister up and down. "You don't look hurt. I suppose that means you're strong enough to handle the monsters in there now, right?" She looks thoughtful for a moment, tapping her chin with a finger. "I suppose I'll have to keep that in mind for the future." 

She smiles briefly, reaching to pat Uni on the head exactly once. "I'm glad you've gotten stronger, and that you're thinking ahead. Next time I'll have you assigned to some harder tasks." She pauses and puts her hands on her hips. "But next time, no falling into rifts, okay? You have to be a lot more aware of your surroundings." Even when she gives out praise, Noire can't help but criticize as well. It's out of love! 

"Priscilla... and Blues. Nice to meet you both. As Neptune said, my name is Noire." She glances at Neptune, pauses... and lets out a sigh. "Come on, Neptune. You're a goddess! You have to make yourself more presentable, you know." And, like she dusted off Uni earlier, she reaches to brush a few spects of dirt from purple hair. "Honestly.."

    "Eh?" Neptune blinks at Blues, "Well, yeah." An eye closes, her tongue sticking out, "We're goddesses, so duh we ain't human!" Turning a bit, she glances back at Uni as the story of her arrival is related, "Huh? It's there too?" The purplenette shifts, cradling her chin with one hand, "I got sucked in checkin' out some disturbance out in the ocean. Big ol' waterspout kinda thing. Next thing I know, pshooooom, clonk, I land headfirst on a wolf Nep Jr and Prissy and this super handsome shirtless guy were fightin'."
 
    With a shrug, Neptune discards it, "So it's like some huge tree dimension now. I bet Gamindustri's connected to it somehow, but that kinda smart-thinking is what Nep Jr's good at. Or Blanc." Fingers snap and she points, "Or Noire! I'm the girl you tell to get rare stuff that's impossible to find and then I trip over it on the way to the supermarket or somethin'."
 
    Noire starts dusting her off, and Neptune recoils, "Heyo, hands off my hard-earned dirt! What if it's a rare drop, you don't know!" Obviously Neptune isn't being seirous about that. She does immediately forget about that, though, producing her phone again, "Speaking of goddess stuff, you wouldn't believe I've been workin' super hard lately. Without the Basilicom to rely on, I gotta ~make money~ and it's such a drag."

    Uni seems to both puff up /and/ deflate under Noires one-two punch of praise and critisizm, the headpat makes her blush, and she's about to say something, when Noire ducks in under the guard and delivers that knockout punch to the proverbial solar plexus. "I-I know, Noire. I got ambushed by a Kupocat and it made me lose my footing, that's all... it won't happen again."

    The girl then looks back at Neptune. it's an odd expression she's wearing now, a look of shocked disbelief and... well, not much of a mix really cuz that's all there is. "Okay... hold on a second. Who are you and what did you to to Neptune?" she asks, while simultaneously offering a packaged sandwich to Noire.

    Food from nowhere sure is interesting, and Priscilla leans over to inspect! She doesn't understand the threat of the caverns, herself, but... "Thine appearance befits one of youth, but thine bearing has more than such. These caverns, they hold much danger?"

    While waiting on that answer she makes a face. "... it is unfortunate. Mine own self had none of the currency used in this world or mine own. Mine companion Lucatiel has helped mine acquisition of some funds, but this is alien to mine experience."

    Translation: 'I gotta work now too, it's such a drag.'

    She has some curiosity though! Scooting closer to the girls, she tries to rise up without looming over them TOO much. "Mine own mother claims godhood as well. Thine person, Blues, finds itself in august presence."

    Translation: 'I'm in the club, too!'

    "Ooookay then, a bunch of goddesses," Blues says with a thumbs up. "I'd be more doubtful if I hadn't run into Athena herself a few months back. Guess there's a lot going on in this crazy place."

    He doesn't go join the cluster, leaning against a tree instead. "I'm a robot, myself, so I can't judge. Just wandering trying to maybe find my way home." He doesn't sound too concerned about it. "Well kiddo, looks like you have a lot to learn," he adds, toward Uni. "Sounds like you're in good hands though. Just don't be surprised by anything... but I guess a nine foot tall lady with a scythe and a fluffy tail isn't making you panic, so you'll be fine."

Don't worry, Uni! Noire really does love you. She just... is really bad at showing it. Noire seems not to notice the blush or the deflating, but she nods to the excuse. "So long as you learn from your mistake and it doesn't happen again. And next time hopefully you won't be alone." 

Despite protests, she brushes more dirt off Neptune. "Just hold still a minute, will you..." Sigh. "There, best I can do without throwing you in a lake or something. Now, what does--" Pause.

Slowly, Noire turns to -stare- at Neptune, eyes wide. For a few moments, she just stands there, as if Noire.exe has encountered an error and ceased operation. After a few seconds, though, she steps back. "That hit on the head must be making you harder to understand, Neptune. I almost thought you said you were working." Right, anomalous statement is now expunged from memory. It was never said. Instead, she can focus on this sandwich from her sister.

As the dragon approaches, Noire glances up... and up. "They can be pretty dangerous, especially deeper in." She takes a step back to more easily see Priscilla's face. "Oh, you as well? I suppose you do have the right bearing!" Perhaps Noire has found a kindred spirit at last! But then Blues says what -he- is, and she eyes him suspiciously. "A robot... huh." The look of suspicion vanishes soon enough, though. "I bet Neptune's siter would love to meet you sometime."

    "I'm me!" Neptune insists when Uni objects to the barest glimmer of 'responsibility' that she's admitted to, "I mean, dang, I can't buy any games or pudding without money! And you know I gotta have that pudding!" Eyes closing, she hugs herself with the most pathetic look on a sullen face, "If I don't get enough pudding, I'll die~..!"
 
    She pauses the melodramatics, then, watching Priscilla's maneuvering. The fanciful way of talking somewhat goes over her head, though. The meaning's pretty lost. So instead, Neptune fixes a look on Noire, "Hey, can we keep her? She's pretty great."
 
    Neptune glances back towards Blues, next, "Oh yeah, we've been through a lot, the three of us plus Nep Junior, and Vert, and Blanc and Rom and Ram and Iffy and Compa-- and lots of others. Been around the block more than once!" Eyes closing, she bobs her head from side to side, "I guess I should be glad Awfulwaffle hasn't shown up here. But I wouldn't be surprised if that old lady popped up from under a mushroom or somethin'. I mean seriously isn't she like the antagonist in every single game? Gettin' old, right?"
 
    There's the typical Neptune.
 
    "Eyes opening, she straightens her posture, "Oh right! Nep Jr. is totally gaga for robots!" Pulling out her phone again, she starts tapping away a message, "Man, you'd probably like her, too."

    Uni looks over at Blues, overshadowed by Priscilla for a few moments, though she doesn't seem to notice. "If a girl, about my age with long purple hair comes up to you asking if she can disassemble you carefully, say no and back away slowly... that'll be Nepgear, she's a bit of a freak about robots and machines." She flicks her hair, then notices how close Priscilla's actually gotten. How can someone so tall be so sneaky!? She hops back, startled, then looks up at her curiously. "Afburner is rated pretty high in the Guild, I mean, it's not super high difficulty, but there's usually an Dragon God or some kinda giant machine monster in the lowest levels, surrounded by high level monsters. I was up in the middle levels, someone needed three days worth of Iron Ore for some reason."

    She then pulls another item out of her inventory, hugging it close as it resolves. It's a long-barrel rifle with a stocky body and a large scope. "I had Brave with me, so it wasn't that hard."

    Swoon swoon... someone likes her guns.

    There is a bit of a confused look on Priscilla's face, but she lets it go. "Bearing? Mine... thanks." She is actually kind of short for some gods in her realm, so she's startled. Also blushing a little. "None here..." she murmurs, thoughtfully.

    Blues calling out her tail makes Priscilla curl it inward self-consciously, and she tenses. A puff of cold air washes over everyone as the half-dragon vanishes in a little sparkle of rapidly-melting snow. The dirt around the crash site shows that her sandals are backing away to fidget, she's just turned invisible out of sudden embarrassment.

    "Eheh..." Blues rubs the back of his head. "I think I'll keep to myself, thanks, but if you need anything I can give you a hand. It's a tough world out there... worlds. Crazy mummies and space-eating bugs and immortal singers. Sounds like you're all set though. At least you've got the firepower."

    That's a pretty nice gun, after all.

    "Just don't get cocky," he warns. "I've seen some pretty dangerous stuff out here, with some weird powers. Like uh... that one just showed." He smiles though. It's a friendly bit of caution, not a threat. "Sounds like Neptune there knows her way around the Bounty Office anyway." Noire he isn't sure of but she seems competent enough too, so there's not much worry there.

"Ah... now there's the Neptune I know." It takes pudding to motivate her to do anything resembling work. Still, noire can't help but smirk a bit. "Next time I see Histoire, I'll have to let her know you've been -working-. She'll be so proud." And probably nag even harder the next time Neptune is being lazy...

"Mmm?" At the question, Noire looks up to Priscilla. "It probably wouldn't hurt to have her around more. I'm not sure if 'keep' is the right word, though..." Pause. "...why are you asking me l-like we live together or something?! You'll give them the wrong idea, Neptune!" Hmph. 

Letting out a sigh, she glances back toward the others. "Nepgear really is harmless, Blues. She's a good kid." She smiles a bit toward the robot. "If she's been handling the caverns that far down on her own, I'm sure my sister will do fine. Speaking of..." Her train of thought derails for a moment, though, as Priscilla disappears. That was...unexpected. "Ah.. speaking of... hey, Uni?" Still looking straight at the footprints in the dirt, Noire gestures toward her sister. "You can explore around a bit, but make sure to call me again later, okay? There are two beds in the hotel I've been staying at until I can find someplace permanent."