forum I summon thee @Young-Dusty

Started May 08, 2019 by @amber_is_in_a_loop

tune

(Sorry for the short and late reply, been a weird coupla days ^^;)
Slash nodded. "Fine. Just call me if you get in trouble or something." Shifting, he cat back on his haunches, his ears twitching nervously.
(Also I just noticed, this rp's 2 year anniversary was a few days ago I think?? Gee whiz it's been a long time xD)

(No worries! Everything okay?)
(And oh, wow. That’s honestly crazy)
Jessie nodded and quickly followed Charlotte into the hall ahead of them. It turned a couple times before a door appeared in front of them. Charlotte stopped walking and Jessie pulled ahead of her, setting a small hand on the door and slowly, silently pushing it open. Another small hallway, a bathroom to their right and a room and a row of six beds to their left.
There were two girls. One of them was in the bathroom, washing her hands. Another was sitting on a bed, back to Jessie.
She looked back over her shoulder at Charlotte, who watched her anxiously. She backed out of the room, back to Charlotte, who nodded.
Charlotte walked into the room. The girl in the bedroom’s hair was too dark. That left the girl in the bathroom, whose hands were clean by now and who had started to walk out of the bathroom and stopped. She watched Charlotte, completely still. Neither one of them moved. Then, Tessa backed into the bathroom and waved urgently for Charlotte to follow her in. The latter followed dumbly, emotions overbearing any strategy. Charlotte closed the door behind them.
Tessa stared at her, her eyes moist, her bottom lip trembling slightly.
“Hi.”
Charlotte smiled gently at her, unable to talk for the knot in her throat.
“You came.” Tessa inhaled deeply, her breath shaky. “Okay. She can’t see you, the other girl. Edda. She’ll call for help.”
“Oh,” Charlotte breathed, her senses clearing in panic. “Jessie’s outside.”
Just as she finished talking the sound of footsteps came. Charlotte’ body moved on its own, backing into the door to slam it open and finding herself face to face with Edda. The younger girl moved first, swinging her elbow up and catching Charlotte in the throat. As she stumbled back, Tessa came out and too fast for Charlotte to see had Edda pinned against the wall, forearm against her throat.
Jessie popped around the corner. “That was a bit loud. I think someone may have heard us.”
(Sorry it’s so long!!! I didn’t want to not have anything for you to go with)

(No worries! And I'm all good, just busy lol)
Slash jumped and whipped around to face her. "Yeah, that was kinda loud. Did you find her?" He strained his ears for any calls of alarm from the nearby corridors, but for now all was still quiet. He twitched his tail nervously, aware of a scuffle going on in the girl's room and wishing he could go help. "We need to go really soon…"

Charlotte nudged Tessa, who still had Edda against the wall.
"Let her be," she murmured. "We need to move."
Edda's eyes were starting to water, her breath hitch. Tessa bit her lip hard, nodded and backed away. Charlotte moved in between them and took Edda by the wrists, pushing her non-too-gently into the bathroom and locking the door. She turned to face Tessa who stood still, shaking slightly.
It wasn't the time. Charlotte pushed the girl slightly towards the door and both of them made their way into the hall. Jessie froze, hearing their footsteps behind her, and Tessa froze seeing her sister so near to a Deorn.
"Why is a Deorn inside this building?" Tessa demanded with barely concealed disgust.

Rather than get offended, Slash simply looked at this new girl as if she'd said something rather stupid. "I'm helping Charlotte and Jessie save your butt," he replied, shifting back into human form. "You and the boy, what's-his-name. Charlotte, can we go grab him now? I think we'll get caught soon if we're not careful."

Jessie turned around to face Tessa. "Tess. Please," she said quietly, angrily. "We just need to get Will and leave. Do whatever you want after."
Tessa frowned and looked over at Charlotte. She gave a small nod. Tessa wrinkled her nose, glared at the Deorn and squared her shoulders. "Nice to see you too Jess. Will's not here. Axel's been going around recruiting every kid he can. Since Will's younger, Axel uses him as a sort of role model. He'll already be up on the top floors, which we can only get to with the downstairs elevators."
Charlotte listened carefully. "Right, so back the way we came." She paused. "And where's Axel?"
Tessa's frown deepened. "Probably on the top floor too."
Charlotte nodded and waved for the group to go back they had come.

Rick heard them coming and looked up, relieved to see them all unhurt. He studied the new girl, noting her closed-off expression, then realized she seemed to be the only new face.
He glanced at Charlotte. "Where's–"
"Upstairs," Slash answered, guessing the question. "With Axel, maybe. We gotta go downstairs first to find some 'ell-vators', whatever those are."
"O-kay." Rick raised an eyebrow, but accepted this and rejoined the group. "All clear out here so far. Let's shake a leg."

Although confused, Tessa didn't comment on the stranger. If the look in Charlotte's eyes was any indication, he could be trusted. She weaved between all of them and came out at the front of the group. At a steady pace she led them through a few hallways before getting to a pair of elevators. She swiped a card and pushed a button, and turned back to face them all.
"How did you all get in, anyway? And why are you here?" she asked, her stare falling onto Rick.

"Like I said," Slash replied. "We're here for you guys. Charlotte asked me'n Rick to help her find you, and we found Jessie first. "I'm Slash, by the way. And this is Rick."
"Nice 't meet you," Rick said, tipping his cap at Tessa quickly. "Any other questions?"

"Honestly, I was afraid Axel would hurt you. He threatened to," Charlotte interjected.
Tessa, who had nodded quickly at Rick in response, turned her stare onto Charlotte. "He did? Can't say that surprises me. We better find Will and get out of here then."
Jessie seemed to be holding her breath. As the elevator chimed its arrival, the question burst out of her. "Is Will okay?"
Tess paused, then silently got onto the elevator. Jessie followed and stared at her.
"He's… Axel got to him. He'll be fine. He'll follow me."

Rick frowned, casting Charlotte a worried glance as they squeezed into the elevator. It didn't surprise him to hear that Axel might have succeeded in turning one of the kids to his side—the man had partially raised them, after all—but it was still a problem. If Will caused a scene, that could cost them precious time and obliterate their chance of a stealthy escape. "If it comes to that," he said cautiously, addressing Tessa, "Is there anything we can do to help convince your brother that we're his friends?"

(I was thinking that maybe you should play Axel, so that we can have a proper exchange between him and Charlotte, if you’re comfy with that. I could give you a bit of a rundown if you need? Up to you anyway)
Tessa tapped her foot softly against the mirrored elevator floor. « Just let me talk to him. He’ll follow for anything, I think. »
I’m all he’s had for years now, she thought, but didn’t say it out loud. « Just because he blames Charlotte it doesn’t mean he likes Axel. It’ll be fine. »
And if it wasn’t?
« Just try not to look threatening, » she suggested, eyeing Rick and Slash.

(Oh, heck yeah. I'd love to play Axel! You're right, I will need some details about his personality/motives/abilities/plans before I can act as him, but tbh I'd be honored XD)
Rick glanced at Slash ruefully. "We'll do our best. For the most part, I guess we can keep ourselves busy by watchin' your backs while you talk him into it."
Slash nodded. "We can explain who we are later, once we all get outta here."

Tessa nodded. Not that she’d admit it, but both of them seemed accommodating. Trustworthy way have been a bit over the line but, well… Charlotte did trust them. She shook her head at herself.
« Good. I’ll go get him on my own, draw him away from the rest of the boys. Axel will be close by, so all of you be careful. »
She glanced at Jessie, who leaned silently against the wall, arms crossed and brow furrowed. There’d be time for a reunion later.
The elevator doors opened and Tessa waved them all forward. She checked around the hall corner. « Training room’s that way, » she told them, facing the right.

Rick listened closely, but didn't hear anyone nearby. He stuck close to the wall, letting the girls take the lead as they advanced down the corridor. Cautiously, he allowed himself to feel optimistic about their progress so far, and hope that they might even escape this place without encountering problems. Of course, he couldn't let his guard down yet, but still.
Slash, for his part, was staring thoughtfully at Tessa's back. He could tell she was wary and distrustful, and could guess why she was being cold with him in particular, but despite that he only felt curious about her. She was similar to Jessie, but also quite different. Was she stronger? Weaker? Braver? Smarter? All these questions and more meant that he was in fact very distracted as he followed the others towards their target.

(ahhh sorry my orals/finals are right around the corner so the next couple weeks might be a bit weird. I'll have that guide for you as soon as i can :') )
Tessa ducked back around the corner, breathed in deeply, straightened her back. Nodded.
She looked like a solider as she headed for the training room- clearly this posture felt natural to her, after so many years. Charlotte pursed her lips at seeing her walk so stiffly. Tessa had always been an unruly little girl and she could barely imagine what it must have taken for her to be so… structured now that she was older.
Tessa walked on anyway, quickly making it to the end of the hall and pushing the double doors open dramatically. Immediately sound filled the space; it almost sounded happy, full of chatter and energy and the strong smell of sweat and chalk. Tessa cleared her throat and most of the noise died down.
"What is it?" one of the boys asked. He was the same age as Tessa and had assumed a leadership position.
"I need Will."
"He's not here. Boss took him just ten minutes ago. Didn't say why."
Tessa stomach dropped but her expression didn't flinch. "Right, sure. I'll leave you all to it."
She closed the doors and rushed back to the group of them. The minute she didn't see Will with Tessa Jessie's entire body went cold.
"Where is he?"
Tessa looked at Rick then Charlotte, her eyes wide with panic. "Not there, Axel took him. Something's wrong. He must know you're here."

(No worries, take your time! ^^)
Rick let out a silent breath. Of course he'd celebrated too early. "Let's keep our heads. Even if he does know, it looks like he hasn't sounded the alarm yet. He might want to face us alone, and we can use that to our advantage. Tessa, do you have any guesses where he coulda taken Will? We need to get away from here and catch up with him quick."

Charlotte's thoughts were racing. "He'll have blocked all the exits. We need to find somewhere we can hide and defend if it comes to that."
Tessa nodded quickly. "You're right, but I think we should stick together as much as possible." She bit her lip, thinking. "Okay, Will will probably be on this floor. There's a room not far with three exits, two of them lock, so that's probably our best bet." She scanned the lot of them quickly. "Okay. Okay. My take is that the Deorn, Jessie and Rick or Charlotte should hide and fight off anyone they have to. Me and whoever's left will go find Will, bring him to the room, and then we all run very, very fast."

"We can do that," Rick agreed. "My thinkin' is that Charlotte should go with you, Tessa, seein' as you know Will and Axel best. But it's your call."
Slash huffed at the idea of hiding and running away like cowards, but didn't argue. He could sense the presence of dozens, maybe even hundreds of humans in the building around them, and even he had to grudgingly admit that they wouldn't be able to take down al of them in a fight. Still, maybe there was something he could do….
"I can make ice and rain and stuff," he volunteered. "It's harder in a place like this, but if it helps, let me know and I can try."

(ahhh fuck exams sorry sorry)
Tessa was surprised, but didn't show it. She hadn't known Deorns were good for anything but fighting. "Well, Slash, anything that can get you some leverage. You'll be outnumbered."
Jessie looked in between Rick, Charlotte and Tessa and felt like she could cry. She didn't. "We can handle the soldiers. You guys should go, find Will, get him back."
Tessa gave Rick the directions to the room and Charlotte hovered, looking at the very rough-looking group they'd gathered. Let's do this, she told herself.
"Let's do this."

(Okayyy here we go for your Axel guide, anything else you want? just to add that everything below is the way I see him but he's yours here so don't feel obligated to completely stick to this
Name: Axel Volga
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Straight
Looks: on the tall side of average, wiry frame and though his proportions make him seem lanky he is decidedly not, white but really tan with some sun damage; buzzed dirty blond hair and very light eyebrows, light brown eyes, looks younger than he is though a bit hollowed out; has a few scars on his arms/legs/a scar on his shoulder
Personality: clearly tormented, bitter and usually angry but in a forced, defensive way; extremely driven and entirely focused on keeping Will and Tessa at his side as his last chance at success; if he was mentally healthy, he'd be an emotional and affectionate guy, but he actively distances himself from people and makes a show out of how 'little' he cares; strong emotions but is more calculating than he is temperamental, keeps himself in check; it's not a question of pride anymore, more a question of if he fails the task of raising tessa and will to be the soldiers they were supposed to be, then what was he ever for?
Strengths/weakness: as a trained soldier he's obviously a very good all around fighter, probably merciless but guilty about it, he does care for the kids/charlotte but his desperation for purpose comes on top of that (i'm thinking he'll be VERY unhappy to see how easily tessa turned on him, is actually not a bad teacher and use to be able to connect with kids really well though not so much anymore
Background/Family: he and charlotte trained together since their late teens, were recruited together to train child soldiers so the kids in question, he left a wife behind for the mission and she died at war before they could see each other again, so he grew dependent on the kids and charlotte for family; axel pushed one of the kids too far in training and he died which messed everyone up and eventually charlotte was discharged from the mission (i think, honestly it's been a while, just wanted to give you an idea), she thought the kids had been let go but she wasn't allowed access to the files anymore, then the letter at the start of the rp that axel sent because he managed to start the base they're in as another batch of child soldiers and he brought tessa and will back into it and had sent for jessie, who was intercepted by us. he contacted charlotte i think bc he figured either she'd come back to him, or he could get rid of her and not have to worry about her getting in the way of his new military projects (also idk if this works with your world, since the war is over?? anyway). yes, so that's axel!)

(No worries about being away! I'm doing fine, just scatterbrained lol.)
(Now to address Axel. I'd just like to say first of all that I think he's fascinating, and very well-crafted! He's complex and layered (which I love in a villain) and I'll be sure to keep these notes close at hand when we get back into the rp.
A couple questions:
Does his current attack force only consist of kids, and if so what's the age range?
What's his general speaking style? Is he more professional and emotionless with bigger words and/or military jargon, or does he color his speech with slang, casual grammar, swearing, fragmented sentences, etc.?
How does he address the kids? Full name, nickname, code name, rank…?
Does he currently know Charlotte and co. are in the building or did they actually get the jump on him? (We mighta already mentioned this in the rp, I forgot)
Ok I figure I can improvise the rest lol. Thanks! I can't wait to play him xD)