OoC : Alright, I haven't RPed with this guy before, so I'm still working out the best way to do it. So don't be surprised if it sucks
. Also, I got a bit carried away...and just to be clear, if it isn't in italics, it's being said out loud.
BiC : White stumbled into the small village, weary from several days of travelling. There was a general store about half way down the street, and a nice-looking square of grass located just to his left. I'll have to spend some time there later, he thought. Several houses sat along the sides of the main road. Walking down the footpath to the door of a nearby motel, a quick look around the village showed that it was a nice, rustic place with very little going on. Just the kind of relaxed atmosphere he'd been looking for to settle down in for a few days.
After a short walk, he arrived at the motel's reception and booked a room. Not a particularly fancy room, but it had all the essentials : bathroom, single bed, kitchen facilities. At least the paint wasn't peeling, he thought to himself. Tired from the day's trekking, White set down his few belongings, which were mostly packed into his backpack anyway, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep almost immediately.
The next morning White awoke at around midday. Still sleepy, he was rather slow to get moving, but when he finally did, he headed outside and had another look around the village. There was a library over on the other side of the village that looked to be large enough to provide a good few days of browsing...well, of the type he was planning on, anyway. There was also a community center of some sort nearby. Mulling over what to do next, White's thoughts were interrupted by a light grunting sound. Thinking that it sounded like someone was carrying something heavy, he looked up and saw a little kid struggling with a large wooden crate almost as big as himself.
"Aw, look at that. We really should go and help him."
"Yeah! He’d be a lot happier then!"
"Nah, let him suffer."
"Who really cares…"
"In helping others, you may find a way to help yourself…"
"It would be the right thing to do."
"Maybe we could ask for a fee of some sort? Or a debt, perhaps?"
"Quiet, all of you! We’re helping, and that’s final!"
Aw, where’s the fun in that…
It appeared that the boy was going to collapse under the weight of whatever was in the crate, so White sprinted over as fast as he could and took the crate off the boy. It was surprisingly heavy for it's size and dimensions, making White wonder what could possibly be in it. After a quick thanks from the boy, the two of them set off down the road. To a casual observer it would have looked rather odd : a little kid walking just in front of a grown man staggering under the weight of a wooden box that certainly didn't look all that heavy.
"That's odd…a typical boy of that age shouldn’t have the required muscular development to lift such a heavy load."
"Things are not always as they appear…"
"Need any help with that, White?"
"Uh, yeah, that would be nice."
As his eyes and hair slowly turned to a magenta colour White felt the familiar sensation of his strength increasing as the Magenta Fragment’s equipment and strength appeared on him. He carried the box with much less trouble, following the boy, who seemed strangely indifferent to his sudden change in appearance. He seemed to be being led out of the village. After a while he asked the boy where they were carrying the box to, at which point the boy simply vanished.
"Gah! That kid duped us! Now we're out here in the middle of nowhere with a box of who-knows-what…wait till I get my hands on him!"
"I'm not sure that would be wise…he can vanish in to thin air and carry things he shouldn’t be capable of carrying…it stands to reason that he might be capable of other strange powers as well."
"I don’t care!" "Hey, kid! When we find you, there’s gonna be-"
"What have I told you lot about revealing your presence to others?"
"Yeah? Well nuts to you!" "Come out, come out, wherever you are..."
"Ooh, can I stab him?"
"Be my guest..."
"Ooh, goody!" thought Grey as he ran at Red with both his weapons raised.
"That should keep Red off my back for a while..."
"Still, this does present us with an interesting conundrum. Namely, what do we do now?"
"We should work out who owns this crate and return it to them; that would be the moral thing to do."
"Well, we’ve been left out here with it, let’s just keep it. We have every excuse to."
"But it wouldn’t be right…"
"You and your morality nonsense."
"Hey! Morality is a very important aspect of-"
"Blah, blah, blah..."
"Grrr..."
"Well, I say we just rip the crate open and see what's inside."
"That could be dangerous…"
"I'm sure we can handle it."
"Let's just throw it away and dance back into the village!"
"…alright, I'm not listening to you anymore. Brown…can you cast something to try and find him?"
"I could, but then that might be an invasion of privacy…"
"He just disappeared-"
"-meaning he probably wants to remain hidden. Who are we to encroach on that right?"
"We're the people carrying this box, and he probably wants it back. It's probably his, after all."
"…I guess you have a point. I’ll have to be manifested though."
"Alright."
White closed his eyes for a brief moment in order to focus better, and a ball of brown light shot out of the top of his head. Moments later a being very similar in appearance to White, but with brown hair, eyes, and skin appeared on the spot where the ball of light had struck the ground. He was slightly translucent too, and was carrying a ball and chain in his right hand. There were inscriptions at several points on the weapon.
"Okay, I should be able to search the surrounding area for any sign of him…"
The manifestation of White’s brown fragment sketched a few arcane gestures in the air with his hand and mumbled something under his breath. A three-dimensional map of the area began to slowly take shape, with a glowing red dot located on it. Brown pointed to the dot and said that this was where the boy must be…though it appeared to be a few feet underground, just below where they were standing. Puzzled, he dispelled the map with a wave of his hand and was promptly unsummoned; he turned back into a ball of light which shot into White’s skull.
"Well, that’s more than a little odd."
"It’s only a few feet, right? We can just dig our way down there, can’t we?"
"Hm…I guess that makes sense. Which is odd, since it’s coming from you."
"What is your problem, you nerd?"
"Just your startling lack of intellect, you big dumb oaf."
"Alright already! We'll dig down a bit and see what we can find. I'll manifest Magenta and Red so we can get done faster."
"Why would I want to come out and help you dig?"
"Because we'll probably find the kid that left us out here."
"Oh, yeah. Wait till I get my hands on-"
"Yes, yes, that’s quite enough."
White closed his eyes once again and concentrated. This time two balls of light, one magenta and one red, shot out of his head and landed in sudden bursts of coloured light next to the spot that Brown had indicated on the map. Two more figures similar in appearance to White appeared immediately after. They both carried greatswords, though the Magenta Fragment's one was a fair bit larger, though unadorned. They were both also equipped with a full suit of plate mail. All in all, the Magenta one appeared much more dangerous, though White knew that this was strictly limited to appearance.
It seemed a pity to spoil the picturesque meadow with a large hole, but White's curiosity quickly overcame the feeling. Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty as he looked around at the tall blades of grass blowing softly in the wind, and the tree branches bending slightly with the soft breeze. Another one of nature's wonders spoiled. They didn't have anything to dig with, but that didn't prove a problem : Magenta just dug with the point of his greatsword. In between his digging, Red provided assistance in the form of intermittent blasts of fire, which loosened the ground and incinerated any tree roots that were getting in Magenta's way. The blasts scorched the surrounding area, making White feel even guiltier about ruining the landscape.
After about 15 minutes Magenta put his greatsword clean through the dirt and into what appeared to be a cavern. The three of them jumped through the hole after White had widened it a bit with a simple force blast, and then took a look around. It was completely dark except for the small amount of sunshine coming down through the hole. White unsummoned the two fragments, and looked around.
He thought for a minute about what to do, then decided to manifest the blue fragment, since it was the most proficient at light spells as White had trouble with even sustaining a light source without intense concentration. The figure that appeared after the summon this time was blue in hue and carried a large quarterstaff, with a katana at his belt.
The Blue Fragment conjured up a spherical light source with a mumbled incantation and looked around. They appeared to be at one end of a passage, and there was only one direction they could take. Blue headed down the passage, but was stopped by White, who had to summon Magenta again to carry the crate with them.
The Magenta Fragment appeared again and picked up the crate with relative ease, though he did need two hands which was unusual. Once he had the crate, the blue fragment headed down the passage with Magenta and White in tow. After a few minutes of travel they came across a large pit of lava with no apparent method of crossing it.
"Well, that’s just great. How do we get over that?"
"We could just jump it..."
"Actually, I believe that even with your augmented strength, White would be unable to jump the chasm with the crate. Even unburdened it would prove difficult."
"Things are not always as they appear…"
"Why are we even here? Let’s just head back and get some rest. It’s not like we care about the kid and his dumb box, anyway…"
"Yes we do, it’s our moral obligation to return it to him…hm, I’d like to try a magical examination of the chasm…"
"Okay, you got it."
White concentrated on manifesting the brown fragment. When he appeared, he shrouded his eyes in an arcane haze and looked over the chasm. He saw a sturdy looking bridge made from some material he couldn’t identify, and cast a spell allowing the others to see through his eyes.
If I’m not mistaken, that’s just magical force there. We should be able to walk right over.
White took the brown fragment’s word for it and walked over the bridge. The three fragments followed, though it was a bit spooky for all of them, given that they couldn’t actually see the bridge. Luckily it was dead straight. Once they reached the other side they saw a door in the wall opposite them.
There seemed to be light coming from the other side, so White unsummoned all the fragments and carried the crate himself, with some help from Magenta. He opened the door and found himself in a small, round room devoid of any furniture other than a small chair in which the little boy sat. The boy rose from his seat and began to speak: "Congratulations, White. You have been found worthy of entry into the Dome." Seeing him carrying the crate he added, "You can put the crate down now."
"Phew, thanks," said White as he put the crate down, "but who are you, and what is this Dome you speak of?"
"And how have we been found worthy? Was there a test? Also, what is in the crate? And-"
"Purple…quiet! We don't know who he is!"
"Uh, yeah, that was just-"
"A fragment of your psyche? I know. We’ve been watching you, Torus-"
"Could you call me White?"
"Uh, okay…we’ve been watching you, White. After careful observation, we decided to give you a test. I am merely the messenger, sent to deliver said test. The Dome is a training facility, and the crate contains a portal to it. Any more questions?"
"Umm, I guess not…"
"Great! Well, after you!"
The boy lifted the lid off the crate to reveal a swirling, pitch-black vortex. With some nervousness, White peered into the crate. He spent a few minutes just staring at the vortex before the boy got impatient and gave him a hefty push. Not expecting this, White was unable to stop himself from tumbling headfirst into the vortex. He had a strange sensation of not actually moving at all as he fell through the vortex, but before he had time to think any more about it, he'd been dumped on to solid ground. He had arrived at the Dome.
OoC : Some of the quotation marks are different, if that's a problem I can fix it, but it'll take a bit longer. If not, it's easier to leave it like this.