Virtual Reality (RP)

[ProBacon]

Magma Mountains

Looking back at his new found group he just wants to make a few things clear, but not trying to make it in a bad way: "Ok so, for now the plan, until it goes really really wrong, is to go West around the mountain to the Gravity Basin. Once there we will gather information about our surroundings and where we might find a shard, of course that is only if there is civilization in the Basin. If not, then we look for anything that might give us a clue about a shard. After we hit the Basin we will meet with the other group in the Basin. If all goes well we don't die. Any objections?"

[Lunaris]

The Border between Magma Mountains and Desert of Time

Izabelle shook her head. "He wanted to know if he could hire me if he needed to. Its been bothering me because it feels like most of the people here see me as a weapon, not a human." She looked around at their surroundings and a small smile worked its way onto her face. "I guess you're right, Sky. It is pretty."

[Zyardran]

Magma Mountain

Jane looked at Joey, and sighed. She had to let him know eventually anyway.
"I'm not a huge fan of people, nor am I comfortable in such a big group as that."

[Timdood3]

  Magma Mountains

"Yeah that's pretty clear to see.  I can't say I blame you."  They'd been flying for a short while and Joey noticed the Sun going down.  They'd made a lot of progress in their first day in this new world.  Not the progress they thought they'd be making, but progress nonetheless.  Joey pointed to a ledge sticking flatly off the side of the mountain and suggested they rest there for the night.  After getting set up with sleeping arrangements on the rather small space, Joey got to the bit of business that they still needed to conduct.

"Let me see your watch."  Joey touched Jane for the first time and noted the relative rigidity.  He had expected them to be somewhat like a snake's:  Small and interconnected, but they were large, thick and overlapping, perfect armor for a fight.  "I just need to connect our devices for a few seconds.  Aurora wrote a program or something so we could all communicate using them.  It's transferable locally, so-"
There was no need for him to continue, the uploading process was already complete.

Spoiler for Watch Communication as it appears on Jane's watch:

You getting this?  I just want to make sure Aurora's thing worked.  We didn't really get time to test it before you flew off.

Joey didn't need Jane's response to know the answer; he could see her watch light up in pink.  "So we can communicate with each other, Aurora and anyone else who has the software.  That will be useful later."

He sat back, leaning against the rock face, and Chip hopped up into his lap.  "So....About before...In the real world...What was that about?"  Joey was as glad to be away from people as she was, and even more so to be in a pair with someone who could fly.  His gladness continued to scale by the fact that he was able to have a private chat with the girl who attacked him.  Perhaps she'd be more open in private than in a crowd.

[Jenkar]

The Border between Magma Mountains and Desert of Time

Yu'zsc smiles slightly at the mention of his form.
"Yes, the sights are nice..
If you want to get people to stop considering you as a weapon, maybe set yourself a goal, and show your own power for that goal. The more you show that, the less easy it is to disregard you as a person..
Talking about goals, do you guys have any particular reason for heading for the forest? I know you said concealment, Z, but surely that's not just it?"

[Naesala]

No Man's Land to the Kingdom of Light

Eventually, the two running anthros came to a stop, much closer to their destination of the Kingdom of Light. It was dusk now, soon it would be night, and Mivlya insisted that they at least try to rest in case the land was more dangerous a place at night. Eventually they found a rough circle of stones they could hide within, and Mivlya created several small balls of light around the perimeter to give the whole area a faint glow. With that she sat down on a stone and looked across at her traveling companion.

"So. Here we are."

[Arum]

No Man's Land to the Kingdom of Light

Their circle of stones would have seemed romantic with the dim glow the light gave off, if not for the unison of defiance against the outside world.

"So. Here we are," Mivlya broke the silence first.

"Yeah, here we are."

Still standing, he stretched, nearly invisible against the black of the night. It was strange. He should be exhausted, tired from the running. Instead, he felt very much alive. A long exhale brought a cold wind, colder than the day.

Interesting, James thought to himself. Either his draconic form was better than he had anticipated, or something else was at play. And he suspected he knew what.

He closed his eyes, cutting off the dark glimmer visible through them, and felt. There was really no explanation for what he was doing, it was just feeling. The air, the wind, the truth hidden behind closed doors. It was alive, pulsing, a secondary heartbeat.

He reached inside, for his other heart, for the pulsing ball of deceit and arrogance. A skim with his fingertips brought a surge of power, a skipped beat. He felt, rather than saw, the light dim further, before flaring back. He was alone in a strange world, blind but he knew where everything was.

Well then.

Still in the trance state, James quickly reached inside for the other heart. He fully embraced it, the entirety of the beating creature inside him.

And vanished.

[Lunaris]

The Border between Magma Mountains and Desert of Time

Izabelle shrugged. "Wasn't really a reason. I was just trying to avoid as many people as possible.."

[Zyardran]

Magma Mountain

Jane shook her head. She didn't have much else to say other than what the truth was.

"I was just looking for some fun. It was getting a little boring in there, you know."

[Naesala]

No Man's Land to the Kingdom of Light

The skunk had been absently staring off to the side somewhere, unsure of what to speak about with James. It had been a long time since she had spoken with anyone in real life outside the concepts of education and careers. But neither of those things mattered here, and not even her interest in gaming could be a subject of discussion since, well, they were living it now. So she just played with gravity wells, watching them lightly bend the light about her or lift the rocks and spin them about.

Until she realized she was alone.

And that scared her.

Mivlya jumped to her feet and readied her magic in each hand, fearfully. "J-James? Where are you? Wh-where did you go?" Her eyes welled with tears as she became increasingly frightened. Was her traveling companion dropped out of the world by a portal? Did something silently get him? Did he sneak away and abandon her? Alone. Not so frightening in a real world where she was protected by the laws. But here, she was vulnerable.

[Arum]

No Man's Land to the Kingdom of Light

It hurt, holding on to whatever it was. Regardless, determination or arrogance, James did not know which, kept him holding on. He could feel it, a frantic pulse of worry, though his natural body was strangely calm. Buzzing raced through his veins, setting them alight in crashing waves of pain.

And now he was angry. Whatever this thing was, it obviously meant him harm. He began to crush it, digging his claws into it, into the squirming mess that thought it could try him, try to hide in him.

With a start, he realized that he wasn't in the stone circle. His eyes were still closed, his actual arms at his side, the one in his chest a manifestation of imagination. It was still producing results. Keeping his eyes closed, he squeezed a final time.

It exploded. It shattered. A million million things happened. The buzzing vanished in a split second, the feeling of the world around him grew so large and so detailed he had to look away, for lack of better term.

Opening his eyes, he noted he had reappeared in front of the skunk, Mivlya. But there was something wrong. She didn't react. She wasn't moving, breathing. A couple steps forward caught her in the middle of a blink.

The planet had stood still.

Taking a few steps back, James exhaled. He felt around, for traces of movement. None. He felt for his other heart. It was gone, no pulses or lack of one. It was a sudden shift in perception, the strange feeling of vertigo one gets when they realize something is inherently wrong, missing.

The ambiance around had also stilled, stilted.

It happened again, a shift in perception. Reaching out, he tugged on the strings that connected him to this place. Another start when he realized the world hadn't stood still, it had just moved slowly, impossibly slowly, clouds on calm summer day.

A desire expressed itself, the one to slow himself down to match the pace of the world occurred to him. And just like with his tail, his body made it happen.

Blue light filled the sky as a thunderbolt headed straight towards James, appearing from far over the horizon. It was interesting, noting the racing and splitting of electric light as it headed towards him, sealed his fate.

It slowly sped up, and it reached him. A power coursing through his body, to make contact with the ground. Feeling each nerve fire as the spitting lance speared him was utterly terrifying.

And James returned with the lightning and the thunder.

[Naesala]

"James? James?" She continued to call out in fear, until there was a sudden crash of lightning near her. In fear, the skunk waved her hand and released a concussive wave of force in the direction, not realizing until she fired it off that the lightning had returned James to their little camp.