fandomhigh | Sneaking 101, Thursday

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stealth

Sneaking 101, Thursday

It was a decidedly sedate Atton who met them at the Danger Shop that Thursday, his mouth set in a thin line. The area they were in now appeared to be the overgrown remains of an old mall. The escalators were dead, and there were holes in the wall. Vegetation peeked out from most gaps; there were bricks and broken bottles strewn around here and there.

"Last week, we practiced with sight lines," Atton said. "This week, it's sound. When I activate the sim, creatures are gonna come out. They can't see, but they can hear really well. Now what I want you to do is to make it from this foyer here, to the Mexican food place up the stairs and all the way at the back. With a partner. The both of you have to make it there, or you'll be sent back to the foyer. Clear? Clear. Go."

He punched the button, then vanished behind a wall.

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Quietly.

Ada Miller

Garik Loran

Tali'Zorah

Ezra Sagishi

Vider Bearskin

Kathy Li

Alex Mack

They're notably short. Atton's just not in the mood today.

Find someone you can work with before venturing out into the sim.

Ada could do quiet, she just needed a partner.

She waited around, weight already shifted to the balls of her feet as she looked to see who was available.

"Looking for a partner?" Face asked. Because it wasn't like he was picking potential partners based on body language or anything.

Ada started slipping off her shoes, hoping he wouldn't notice (or comment) on her slightly webbed toes. "Sure. I'm real light on my feet, we can do this easy."

She hefted a shoe with a grin. "And if something thinks it hears us, well, we give it something else to hear! Got a good throwing arm, too."

It was impolite to comment on webbed toes or massive facial scarring.

Face grinned at her. "I like the way you think."

Ada's mamma was a mermaid, and she had a bearded lady as a cousin. Scars weren't nothin' but good stories (lies) for when you had some stolen drinks and too much time.

"You say that now," Ada laughed, shaking her head. "Wait until I decide I want one as a pet. They're pretty interestin' for stuff that wants to eat me."

"But I'm prettier," he pointed out. "So I'll have to hope that counts towards you picking me over them."

"Of course you're prettier. You're cute boy who doesn't want to make me into a non-consenting lunch," Ada retorted, still laughing. "'Sides, if I don't pick you, Mister Atton'll probably wack me on the head a few times, and I got enough brain damage already."

"Of course not, I never eat girls on the first date," he said, because he was terrible and Cassandra would make that disgusted noise if he tried it on her. "Especially without their consent."

"Good, 'cause I got a couple hundred cousins would kill ya for tryin', assuming I didn't drown you first, and you're too pretty to die," Ada replied cheerfully, because she was just as terrible. "Shall we dance, then, Mr. Pretty?"

"I'm glad we agree on that part." This could be the start of a beautiful friendship. He nodded towards the foyer. "Ladies first."

Well, that sounded easy enough, but actually accomplishing it? Especially with all the debris lying around? That would be the tricky part.

"Hey," Ezra said, with a winning smile that masked all the curiosity he had. "Want to partner up?"

"Hi yourself, and sure," Tali replied, nodding at him. She could have been smiling, but . . . literal mask. So it could have been a mystery for the ages, except that her voice and posture were both distinctly cordial. "I'm a lot better at being quiet than I am at being inconspicuous, I promise."

"I don't doubt that." And not just because she was kind of conspicuous, yes. "Any preliminary ideas on how to do this? Keep in mind that I can turn into a fox if need be."

Or even if it didn't need be, honestly.

Kathy had been tracing out the best route to get to the escalators and had nearly missed the part where Atton said they needed partners. Oops.

She was happy to team up with someone, but a partner was probably going to require a different path, hmm.

The foyer is large. There's some bits of debris strewn around, including some throwable bottles and bricks. The dead escalator sits in the center, leading further up.

Upstairs, there are a series of ruined storefronts to the left and right, but there's a large T-shaped gap in the middle. Only some of the old barriers are intact-- be careful you don't fall off.

Two of the stores are so damaged you can't enter them.

There are four clickers below, and six roaming the upstairs. Their patterns are random, and they react to anything louder than sneaky footsteps, although the intensity of that reaction is based on how loud the noise is.

Good luck.

Up on the balls of her feet, just like the highwire girls, and Ada stretched out her long legs and took a step. And another. Quiet, careful, and taking her time, letting her breathing slow and her heart still, holding on to the image of deep black water at the edges of her mind. Dark and silent, like the water.

She'd spent her entire life sneaking around places she wasn't supposed to be. For once, she was gonna take the time to practice her art. Not just move as fast as she could to get what she needed.

Joy shot through her, and she pivoted on one food, waving at Face as she picked her way through the foyer, folding and unfolding on herself, finding spots with the least amount of debris or glass or anything that could give them away.

Having a proper Lorrdian appreciation for the performing arts and people who knew how to use their bodies well, Face watched her as closely as he could while still paying attention to where he was stepping. Because he really didn't want to get up close and personal with those things.

That was what shoes were for, Face! Throwing them at things that got too personal too fast! Or throwing them in the opposite direction to distract things that might be too close for comfort. But definitely not for wearing.

Which, those things weren't near as neat up-close as they were far away, and Ada slowed her momentum to study the nearest one, then looked at Face and tilted her head towards it in an unspoken question. They could probably get by just fine, if they were careful, but it wasn't that far away.

Face considered it (quickly), and bent down to silently pick up a handy chunk of brick. Best to save the shoes for when they really needed them.

He mimed throwing the rock in the direction that seemed most likely to draw the thing attention away from them, then looked to Ada for confirmation.

[And it would have been nice for this comment to actually have gone through the first time I posted it, LJ]

Ada nodded and crouched down. Yeah, it couldn't see her right now, but that didn't mean that the sim wouldn't change that once the students started getting proactive.

Paranoia was healthy and kept you in one piece. She gave him a thumbs-up and waited for the brick to go sailing.

[No worries, LJ sucked last night]

Face threw the brick, also crouching down s it sailed through the air.

It landed with a clatter some distance away and the thing turned towards the sound, that clicking noise intensified as it started in that direction.

And much like last week, if you make it to the end, there's food!

Nachos, of course, but Atton has been gracious enough to bring some burritos (vegetarian and non-) as well.

Largely because he just really wanted burritos, but hey.

Was Atton in a shitty mood today? Yeah. Had he been in a shitty mood all week? Also yeah.

Sometimes he missed the mental and emotional chill of being Sith-- just a little.

Ezra was not in a shitty mood. Of course, Ezra was basically never in a shitty mood, as far as anyone outside his head could tell, and he preferred it that way.

He was cool with being the more approachable person here today.

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Sneaking 101, Thursday

Sign In!

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Listen to the Instructions

Pick a Partner

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Traverse the Mall

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Treats!

Talk to the Teacher and the TA

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OOC