Topic: The Mana-Verse

[Phi]

Pema maneuvered around the towering suits of clothes that passed by and bumped into her. It was quite a congested town, even moreso in this market area. For a person of her size, well, it was far from easy to see what was ahead, more often than not.

Still, Pema steeled her composure, her determination shining through.

Barterers and merchants bellowed of there wares and valuables, while banter from everyone else made it challenging for Pema to hear her own thoughts.

She lightly tapped her hand on the staff, and screamed loudly within the lively crowd, "Hey, Salem! Can you fly us over these people or something?!"

"It's not really flying; more like hovering," Salem's voice echoed back, "But yes, I should be able to float us over their heads."

The green gems on the staff began to glow, and Salem floated upwards with Pema grabbing on. He spoke again, "Where to?"

"Hmmm..." Pema squinted as she scanned around the vast area. She eventually spotted a man fervently waving a drumstick around, behind a wooden booth.

A wide grin stretched across her face, "There! Onward, Salem! TO THE FOOOOD!"

"... You'll have to be a little more specific, I'm afraid," Salem sighed.

"There! That thingie over there! The man waving that peice of chicken around! Or is it turkey? Mutton?" She pondered, then shook her head, "Whatever, let's go!"

Salem flew her over everyone's heads, steadily reaching the meat stand. Meanwhile, onlookers below marveled at the mysterious flying girl.

"L-Look, right there! How in God's name is she flying?!" An old man combed his fingers through what little hair he had left on his head, staring at Pema in disbelief.

"Incredible! Absolutely incredible!" A child-bearing woman cried out.

"That's super awesome!" A little boy cheered out, while a few other people waved at her, not minding this odd event.

"Th-that girl... Is she a witch?!" A young man gasped, his eyes bulging out, "See, look there! Th-that long object she holding onto! That's a broom, right?! She's... Sh-She's a WITCH!"

The old man looked ahead, as Pema was already in the distance, "No, I don't believe that was a broom. It looked like some kind of pole or, or a staff, perhaps."

"N-No! I think it was a broom!" The young man yelled hysterically, "That girl is a witch! A WITCH, I TELLS YA!!!"

His arms started spasming and he tossed them up, white foam forming inside his mouth.

[Dr. Wily II]

(... You had to do that, didn't you. )

[Phi]

(Oh, absolutely! )

[Quickman]

((Sakura should be able to find her now.  Prof's in an alley.))

[Phi]

(Not quite yet. I'll make one more post before then. In the meantime, when Sakura asks around, people should mention seeing a flying girl, which should set her in Pema's general direction.)

[Quickman]

((Her other nickname will now be Padmé.))

[Phi]

(Yes, yes, I corrected it. )

[Sakura Leic]

(I'll post again tomorrow but is there any chance that Calien and the Friar couldnrun into the Prof and Aya?)

[Quickman]

((Probably not, as they're in an alley and headed for a side street, while the friar is leading Calien through the market.  Unless Calien asks about the taverns specifically, the friar most likely won't go there until after the market.))

[Sakura Leic]

(Aw poo, I wanted him to question why a Tavern would let a little girl in by themselves, I mean this isn't exactly the middle ages even with the lower tech level.  Then again Fxeni made a magitek proximity scanner. )

[Quickman]

((Got a new nickname for Fxeni: Foxy.  Calienté for Calien.  I'm writing up a list of mispronounced nicknames.))

[Mr. Haxwell]

(Next you're gonna say... Toasty or Toshiba for Toshi.)

Stopping at a fountain...

Toshi - "Okay this search is going nowhere. Time for some reinforcements..." forms a tiger hand sign, "Mizu Bushin no Jutsu!" then out from the fountain's water, about 10 water clones were formed.

"Okay, everyone listen up. Pema's on the run and we need to find her before anything undesirable takes place. Spread out and search every market place selling fruit that you can find, while I go check around the tavern; you'll never know if she managed to snuck in, though. So is everyone clear?"

Water clones - "Yes, ma'am!" they saluted, then fanned out their search squads to the many market places, while Toshi herself heading for the tavern, although she could hear some muffled voices elsewhere, away from where she's going, saying something like a flying girl, or witch.

Toshi - "I hope that's her." she redirected her search towards the most crowded marketplace, just barely seeing the glow given off of Pema's staff.

(Although it seems the water clones may be unnecessary at this point in the search, I thought it be better for Toshi to increase her search options.)

[Quickman]

((Is Toshi with Aya and the Prof?))

[Sakura Leic]

(Pema is nowhere near the Tavern.)

[Mr. Haxwell]

((Is Toshi with Aya and the Prof?))

(I think she was following Sakura, at the moment.)

(Pema is nowhere near the Tavern.)

(Hmm... I thought she was around the tavern's marketplace, but I'll edit that bit a little.)

[Sakura Leic]

(No the Tavern is nowhere near the market place.)

[Quickman]

((...Methinks I may need to draw a map.  The tavern is down a side street and back a long alley that opens onto another side street.  It's nowhere near the marketplace, which is on the main road. 

((Aya and Prof are in the alley, where the Prof is talking about his experiments, anyway.  The water clones would find those two.  Their search is going nowhere.))

((Calien and a friar are in the marketplace, going toward the food vendors.))

[Sakura Leic]

(So in other words Calien is the closest person to Pema at moment and not Sakura?)

[Quickman]

((If he's not, he's certainly on his way.  Though, since Pema is flying, Sakura might spot her quicker.))

[Sakura Leic]

(Okay I'll type that up tomorrow and the let Phi post whatever he wanted to post before I find him.)

[Blue Valkyrie]

The two eventually found their way out of the twisting alleys thanks to the Professor's directions, the street beyond was just as congested as any other but the tavern's facade was rather unique compared to the other buildings next to it. The Tavern was not constructed by wood but rather by Gold Stone, a special type of rock mined along side the Iron from the Jagged Peaks.

While Iron Gate had gotten it's name thanks to the large protective gate at it's entrance, and though the vast iron deposites that helped turn the once tiny village into a prosperous city and the core of the iron ore trade, the town was well known for another useful commodity; Gold Stone. This material was effective for building stone structures but had the unique property of shining like radiant gold in the sun light making it a popular choice among the nobles when building their homes. Who ever owned the tavern had gone to great expense to make their establishment stand out from the others.

Aya fumbles with the device as she tries to turn it off now that they had exited the alley way as to not waste it's fuel, she suddenly squinted as the reflection of the light from the tavern's golden walls blinded her. "That building is shining!" she exclaims to the professor.

((World building is fun! We should definitely try to make maps for Arcadia. Maybe I'll whip up a unique topic to keep track of all the lore everyone thinks up for Arcadia apart from the normal topic we use.))

[Fxeni]

As Fxeni tried to push his way through the crowd, he started hearing mutters of a little girl flying.

"Apparently, she was flying on a broom," one villager said.

"I heard it was a stick!" another one chimed in.

"Must be a witch!" the first one said.

So much for keeping a low profile... Fxeni thought to himself with a sigh.

[Sakura Leic]

Sakura contiued to hop on the tops of the stands with great stealth to avoid the crowd and to find the direction where Pema went.  She then started to hear things about a girl flying to the meat shop and some debates of whether she was a witch or not.

"<Pema.>" Sakura thought as she face palmed "<You really need to learn how to be discrete.  Then again I have to wonder how someone flying is so strange, even if I can't fly I'm sure someone with strong enough magic can.  Then again Farah needed a chicken......though something was kind of strange about her too.....>"

With a sigh Sakura contiued her path now that she had a grasp of the direction Pema went.

[Mr. Haxwell]

Taking to the rooftops, Toshi caught a glimpse of Sakura and Farah's separate locations, and some of her clones, looking a bit lost. She can now hear the commotion from the citizens grow louder as it was coming from a diner serving meat, but can't see Pema clearly through the tall buildings.

Putting two fingers to the side of her head...

Toshi - "Everyone listen." she contacted all nearby water clones, "I think I may have found her, reroute everyone's search to the meat diner. By the time she lands, we should be able to catch her there."

Water clones - "Affirmative, ma'am!" as Toshi cuts communications with her clones, she heads towards the direction where the people continue to ramble on Pema's flying show.

[Sakura Leic]

(Farah is not close to Sakura, she's a bit behind because flying chickens are slow.  Also how can she sense her mana signature if Fxeni has trouble sensing it due to the massive amounts of people?  Especially when she's on top of the buildings.)