1st Chapter [Voice/possible Action] Forward Dated to May 8

[no_compromise]

[It was raining, something that rarely happened in the arid region of the Far East on his homeworld. It was raining when he pulled himself up out of the mud three days earlier with a soreness in his shoulders and a baffling block of missing time that he could not explain. With his immortal body, sleep was optional and even unnecessary--the last time he slept was over seven years ago, just before the fall of the Spiral King and his army.

The black out bothered him more than the wings, but his inherent pride as a warrior and a beastman kept him from more than a cursory question here or there over the journals. Soaked to the bone and thoroughly irritable about the information he absorbed via the strange journal that arrived with him, Viral finally emerges from the silence he had built up around himself.

The video feed opens to the beastman sitting in relative comfort in a shabby fort he built for himself amongst the fallen branches from the winter. It was obvious that this wasn't the first time he had broken his needless exile, as the new feather pants had been traded out for his comfortable travelling gear, including a very ragged brown cloak and an equally worn red scarf. Though dry for the moment, his hair was still tangled and not fully cleared of the mud.

Clearly his isolation was more important than finding an apartment. Though, if pressed, he would explain his thoughts on that manner.]

[Very Broken Filter away from all possible members of Team Dai-Gurren]

Luceti. I am Viral. [Pronounced like the word 'virile.' There's a subtle pause, either from the inherent awkwardness of this or his noticing that the filter is terribly broken.] If any of you here have ever encountered someone by the name of Simon [pronounced 'see-mon.'], from a place called Jeeha Village, who also calls himself 'the digger' and is currently ranked at High Commander in our world, if you have met his brother Kamina or any of their friends in Team Gurren or Team Dai-Gurren, I will not ask you to disregard anything you may have heard about me. Whatever they said is likely true.

[From a certain perspective and point of view.] I only ask that you keep an open mind.

Also, is there someone on this network who can explain why the animals are talking? Does the rain normally last for this long? [Another beat.] I've been here for a few days now, so I understand enough, but this climate is unfamiliar.

[With that he ends the feed, not wanting to say much more. Though tempted to just shut the journal, his questions about the local fauna and climate are pressing enough to be a bother. He's there, in the woods toward the west. Feel free to find him.]

Comments

[Video]

[fleurdesel]

The rain will let up before the week is out. [Voice low, rough, and ever so slightly amused, Adele addresses the weather first and foremost.]

The animals...that depends on what it is they are saying.

[fierybluebird]

Animals can always talk, you can just understand them now. No, the rain doesn't usually go this long, but it's Spring, so it's more prone to.

[justicereigns]

Kamina was a bit more busy with trying to find inventive and completely insane ways to break the barrier than to talk about home.

In fact to my knowledge, you've never come up.

[Video]

[no_compromise]

[It's a wisp of a blond woman. Viral doesn't bother to flip away from the video feature, but just nods in acknowledgement.]

I was hunting. You can take a guess.

[thebellthatbinds]

From what I've heard this place goes through all of the seasons and sees a variety of weather. I can't say I'm all that familiar with the speaking animals though.

[Then again maybe she hasn't stuck around long enough to really listen to them.]

[Video]

[fleurdesel]

I do not hunt, nor do I often venture outside the village.

[no_compromise]

[Certain animals he could understand, sometimes. It was dependent on the conditions they were in, but normally they were never quite so vocal about becoming dinner.

Then again, he has yet to find wood that was supple enough and dry enough to fashion into a bow.]

I'm used to more arid climates, like deserts or savannahs. Rain is very unusual there.

...if we can understand the animals more easily, how do you manage to hunt with a clear conscience?

[no_compromise]

['The Great and Mighty Kamina...']

Tch. That does sound like him. What did he try to do, send a horde of pigmoles barreling toward it?

[Yes, he is well aware of Kamina's misadventures, no thanks to several stragglers from Jeeha Village that he's met over the years.]

[fierybluebird]

[Moro is really going to hate you Viral.]

Desert summer island? Okay then yeah, it rains a lot more than you'll be used to. Storms too, though nothing close to what the Grand Line gets, and in about 9 more months it'll get really cold again. Damn I will never get used to being on a regular 4 season weather system though.

[Arches an eyebrow at the question and tilts his head a bit.] You... don't. There's a grocery store if you really have to have fresh meat. Or if you're like Luffy and want a meatcake. [WEE reference he totally won't get.] In any case, that's farmed meat, pre cut, you just have to cook it.

[no_compromise]

[Its dependant on the location, time of day, and circumstances. Those slim, four-legged ones don't take to being tied up as passively as Viral would have anticipated.]

Open your ears sometime, you'll notice it.

What else have you heard about this place that is more than the general need-to-know that is talked about all over the place?

[justicereigns]

Actually... yes. Well, "bears" anyway. [So this guy definitely knows Kamina.]

And he was you know, loud in general. He left a long time ago. Almost a year now I guess? I don't even know who his friends here were.

[no_compromise]

[He's a hunter at heart, no thanks to his blended genetics. Both felines and sharks are known for their prey drive--at least he has a tight reign on his. If Moro is angry, she would be happy to note that he's done no damage as of yet, and makes proper use of what he hunts. Nothing is wasted if he can help it.]

Not so much of an island, but yes. If we're stranded here, they couldn't try to make lives a little easier? [He speaks because he's used to the 'other side,' and he knows the picture. The Spiral King at least gave the humans underground enough to survive, with little problem more than possible earthquake and soldiers above to keep them down.

He knew so little back then.

He snorts at the mention of grocery stores.] The only places I've heard of like that are in Kamina City. [A place he's never actually set foot in before his trial.] Is this another case of bizarre wisdom from humans?

[voice] Sorry, forgot to put that in before. >_<

[thebellthatbinds]

When I am better suited for it I will.

[Snarky much? She frowns faintly but replies in a calm tone.]

There is at least one hostile resident that has been mentioned in a previous journal entry, I am not sure if there are others but should you be in the forest after dark you might run into her.

What have you heard about Luceti so far?

[So she can know what not to repeat.]

[no_compromise]

[Kamina at once has forever been the bane of his existence and one of the ones that defined it, much to Viral's eternal chagrin. He's not certain how to even begin explaining it.]

That Simon is one, his brother. There was a woman as well, called Yoko. There were others, but Team Dai-Gurren has too many members to name anymore.

[This man, however, had met Kamina as recent as a year ago. How did time work in this place?]

[Voice]

[thefinaljedi]

The rain, Viral, comes in cycles the same as most worlds. Are you from a desert world, or an icy one?

[Luke pauses for a moment, chuckling softly]

As far as the animals are concerned, that you can blame on the Malnosso. I assume you've encountered that name already. For whatever reason, our most auspicious hosts allow the translations we enjoy to affect the animals too. Basically, you now understand the speech of the wild creatures here, the chirps and cheeps, growls and whistles.

[voice]

[no_compromise]

[He hasn't met that resident yet, but is very well equipped to defend himself if needed. Even if not, there were certain benefits to being immortal.]

I know of the basics--the wings, the barrier...time. That's all I know for certain at this point.

[fierybluebird]

[Marco is a zoan and thus knows quite a bit about carnivorous zoan. Still dude, ew.]

They did make it easier. You don't even have to hunt, skin anything, or so forth.

[Idly plays with some blue flames from one finger to the next as he thinks this over.] Yes, you could call it that. If you'll forgive me though, you don't look much like a fishman. [Unlike Smoker, Marco does not thing sharp teeth = shark fishman. Because Marco also was a big part of Fishman Island, and he has a shark fishman brother. But yes, that was his way of asking, "What are you?" without being quite so blunt.]

[justicereigns]

I'll take your word on it. In any case, I'm not sure any of them are here, although I don't always pay the best attention to the journal.

[... Kind of a lie, but he does miss things, occasionally.]

[Voice]

[no_compromise]

A desert region, although there are oceans and different climates further away. I personally have never made it to them.

[Fighting was too important to take any leave. As a being designed to be a soldier, the thought never crossed his mind until it was too late.]

I have. Their 'gift' makes hunting very difficult.

[no_compromise]

[He's familiar with hunting as a means of survival--it was either that or boil tough grasses into an edible pulp. Roasted flying raccoon was a better alternative.]

...I'm not a 'fishman', though you're not incorrect. I'm a beastman, a being of recombined genetics and cloned tissue. There is some 'shark' in my DNA, but I've never encountered an unaltered one to know for certain.

[voice]

[thebellthatbinds]

[So long as he is aware of possible danger and how to educate him more on the vampire is all Sabriel cares about for that topic.]

What about the Shifts? And the Malnosso experiments?

[Video]

[no_compromise]

[Another human too used to creature comforts. Would she have joined in the riots that threw the 'High Commander' into a prison cell next to him?]

...It can't hurt to try sometimes.

[no_compromise]

They're not, the filter was broken.

...thank you for the information, however.

[voice]

[no_compromise]

I know enough to understand that they are unpleasant most of the time. Is there something else about them?

[Voice]

[thefinaljedi]

Ah, then you and I are from similar climates. My homeworld is nothing but a dustball, far from the center of anything important in the Galaxy.

[And he shrugs]

You...could always just take food from the shops. Or go fishing.