fandomhigh | Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part II

Entry tags:

!event: welcome picnic

Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part II

There were tables and chairs set up all around the lawn. Some were in the sun, where folks could soak up that precious vitamin D, and some were in the shade where folks could stay cool.

All of the tables had at least a little glitter on them though. It was a welcoming gesture to get glitter someplace you didn't know glitter could go!

[OCD is up! This is the picnic post for general mingling. Roommates, fake siblings and teachers are all here. Since it's outside, the picnic is open to all students, teachers, and townies!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Jalian thought about it. "A little, I think. I was supposed to be doing something very important, and I haven't been able to, and I've had to find other things to do. Now I have choices. It's harder," she confessed.

Ringo's shoulders slumped ever so slightly, as if a weight had been taken from them. "Choices." She smiled. "That sounds... nice."

She took a deep breath and nodded. "I... think I can imagine. I've spent most of my life doing 'something important', so... that sounds like a nice change."

"Choices are good, but difficult sometimes," Jalian said, shrugging. "What sort of important?" she asked curiously.

"I led a..." Ringo frowned, not sure how much of this would translate. "I lead a Storm Rider team back home. It involved... a lot of fighting. People getting hurt." Ringo wasn't really happy about that.

She shrugged, feeling awkward about the whole thing.

"Do you really ride storms, or is it a clan name?" Jalian asked curiously. "You don't like fighting?"

That question, the reminder that here, at least, no one knew what storm riders were, made Ringo smile just a bit. "I suppose you would say it is a sort of clan name, maybe? Storm rider were originally just AirTrek teams, getting together for fun, but... at the highest level it became a fight for dominance."

She stared down at her feet. "And, no... fighting is sometimes necessary, but so many people get hurt."

Jalian frowned in confusion. "Like football here? A sport with teams, but everybody tries to be the best, and sometimes they're hurt?"

"More like... I guess you'd call it a street gang? But with ATs, everything is... more dangerous." Way more dangerous. "During the last big scramble, there were a couple of deaths, and a lot of hospitalizations..."

"So, more like clans back home. Are resources scarce? Is that why you fight?" Jalian paused. "I'm curious. I'm told it's sometimes rude, so you don't need to answer if you don't want to."

"I don't mind the questions. They just..." Ringo smiled sadly. "There are some bad memories there, is all."

She shook her head. "And I suppose scarcity of some things is part of it? Most of the fighting is over the Regalia, and there are only eight. Or maybe nine, depending on how you count."

A frown crossed her face as she contemplated her own role in all of that.

"Regalia - like official clothing?" That didn't make sense, but it was the only meaning of that word that Jalian knew.

"Maybe? Sort of. The Regalia are... they are symbols of authority, I suppose, but mostly they are tools used to exercise that authority. The Regalia are... a source of power, I suppose."

She sighed unhappily. "And power is one of those things that humans seem to always be ready to fight over."

Jalian made a disgusted noise in agreement. "Always, yes. Although," she said, thinking about it, "there isn't much fighting here. Not among ourselves. Sometimes things attack, though."

"That's a relief," Ringo sighed, in relief this time.

"Though... things attack?" That sounded worrying.

"There were eels with masks and flying devices a few months ago," Jalian said. "And ghosts a little before that."

"That sounds..." Weird. "Different." Ringo shook her head. "I'm really only used to fighting people." But in this case, different was probably a good thing.

She hoped.

"We could spar if you like," Jalian offered. "Cassandra," she pointed her out, "also is a fighter. It's good to learn different styles sometimes."

"Sparring?" Ringo considered that. "I don't know. It might be interesting?" She smiled a bit awkwardly, looking down at her feet. "Though I've never really fought without ATs before, so... I don't know how it would work..."

"ATs?" She'd mentioned that before. "Those are your weapons - why not use them in sparring?"

"Well," Ringo reached up to take the strap of her backpack, swinging it off her shoulders, "they're not exactly weapons." She zipped it open and pulled out a pair of things that looked like inline skates, except for only having two wheels on each of them.

"There's a huge difference between wearing them, and not."

"Oh!" Jalian eyed them curiously - she'd never seen anything like them, but with boots attached it was fairly obvious what they did. "You must be very fast and agile on those." Momentum would be a strength and weakness, she imagined.

"Yeah. Very fast." She fondly ran her hand along the wheels, setting them spinning. "AT battles are very different from what I guess regular battles are like. Faster, higher, taking place over much broader spaces..."

"There are small motors in the wheels, so it's not just momentum, there's a lot of additional power involved."

She shrugged. "I suspect that some knowledge transfers, but I bet I'm a terrible fighter." A little laugh. "Besides, I find it more fun to just ride." Without the violence.

Jalian nodded. "I love to drive cars ~~like a maniac~~. That feeling of speed and power. This must be a bit like that."

Yes! Ringo's face lit up. "Except that it's basically just you. You're not boxed in by a car or anything, and you can go so many more places! Speed and power, yes, but the best thing about ATs is freedom! Nothing tying you down, nothing holding you back!"

Someone was ~~a maniac~~ an enthusiast about the subject.

"That sounds like a lot of fun!" Jalian agreed. "Do you have more than one set?"

[OOC: SP for a bit? Concert to go to!]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]