⇨ Test Drive Meme: SPACE OLYMPICS

[ringleaders]

WELCOME TO THE SHOW!↴ Or, more specifically, Lost Carnival's test drive meme! This is an opportunity to try out your characters in the setting before you apply, or to put together samples for characters you've never played before. There are going to be options for both new arrivals and veteran characters. Before we get started, let's lay down some details: You can (and should) read the full premise here. Reserves and Applications are currently OPEN. Recruits can be either willing or tricked this month. You can apply as a newcomer or as a "veteran" character who has been in the carnival for up to three years. In the case of veteran characters, you will need to come up with an explanation of why they haven't been around the carnival recently. TDM threads can be used as game canon after the fact if both characters are accepted, the players agree to it, and it makes any sense contextually. If you are interested in additional IC and OOC plot responsibilities, consider applying for a Supervisor position. Head Cook, Foreman, and Treasurer are currently open. Otherwise, we're pretty much down for anything, roles wise. CURRENT STOP↴ ⇨ THE SPACE OLYMPICS ⇦ Welcome to the Space Olympics! The year is 3022. This year's host is Zargon, which is only hosting because the four previous hosts all dropped out. Still, Zargon's put lot of time and money into developing a complex perfect for the Space Olympics. Floating above the planet's atmosphere is a large spaceship turned athletic arena, obviously named Olympic Spaceship. Stadiums are on every corner, there's swimming pools every other block, and a large racetrack surrounds the city. Of course, not much about this matters to newcomers visiting the carnival, besides the wide array of weird aliens visiting alongside them. ► DIVERSITY: If you've arrived at the carnival without being aware that it was a separate world from your own, the presence of dozens upon dozens of aliens visiting its grounds may clue you in. All the big names from classic science fiction are here, apparently for some kind of sporting event? Wookies, Vulcas, you name it. Apparently they are from some kind of alternate reality where all of these species both exist in the same universe and are inclined to have sports competitions with each other. The multiverse is wild, ain't it? ► WIN OR RIOT: Along with sports comes bravado, and with a lot of alien races intermingling for the sake of competition, blood can run a bit hot. Don't be surprised if some fight break out before different species while visiting the carnival round, and also don't be surprised if you get mixed up in it. The carnival has security but, y'know. It's a busy day. Recruits from this month will be signing on with the carnival between Day 30 and Day 37 on the season calendar. They can appear in the carnival at any point during those days, or the week following if time distortions happen. NEW RECRUITS↴ You gotta start somewhere, right? These prompts are for characters who are arriving in the carnival for the first time, and who are destined to sign a contract. How they go about that is up to you, but in the meantime they can enjoy the sights and sounds of something truly out of this world. Will you become her most recent hire? ► ADMISSION FEES: After crossing into the carnival's realm and passing through the trees, most visitors will find themselves at the front gate - though not all choose to enter that way. If they enter legitimately, however, they will have to pass by a clerk who will trade admission and tickets for various attractions and rides in exchange for "anything of value." What is of value may seem highly subjective, and so some may struggle to produce payment at first, though in actuality the carnival will take anything from mundane currency to items of purely sentimental value. ► MIRROR MAZE: The mirror maze is a big attraction in the carnival, and stretches much further on the inside than it looks like it will on the outside. It's hard to get through, and what's more, after you've been in there for a while your reflections will start gaining a mind of their own - mostly in order to taunt and distract you with personal information. They don't know everything you know, but they know more than they should, and their mind games can be pretty hit or miss. ► GAMER'S CIRCLE: Almost all of the game booths are organized in a large ring around the Cookhouse, called Gamer's Circle. Your can play just about any carnival game you can imagine here, for a variety of prizes sometimes traditional, exotic, or outright magical. Dart tossing? Got it. That game with the water guns? Got it. Most of these booths are currently manned by humanoid spirits who look like they are made of smoke. If they can trick you into earning debt, they will. ► TUNNEL OF "LOVE": A brand new attraction in the carnival, the Tunnel of Love is mostly what you'd expect from such a ride - two people sit in a boat together which journeys through some glitter filled caves, complete with mood music. Unfortunately, there is also something else in there with you... in the form a moody kraken living in the waters, who has very particular opinions about shipping, and may either stubbornly interfere with any attempted intimacy, or may politely encourage it. Or they may just generally be a dick if they're in no mood for either. The Ringmaster insists it is a romance expert. ► TRYING TO LEAF: No matter where you came from, you seemingly emerged from a forest. Obviously, to get back home you should be able to go back in the same direction, right? It turns out you can't. Worse, trying too hard to get through the wood will result in you getting lost, or turned back to the carnival. The trees here are not normal, and are varying levels of alien, including things like trees with glowing fruit or orange flowers that constantly burn like candles. ► WILD CARD: Anything else you can imagine in this setting! There are a lot of possibilities and you're free to explore them. Check out the rest of the game info or the locations page for additional inspiration. Want to make a starter with your character experiencing their first theoretical change? Go for it! VETERAN WORKERS↴ These prompts are tailored to the carnival's existing employees, the veterans. Odds are they've been here from somewhere between a few months and three years already, and know their way around the block. For them, this is just business as usual - and depending on their attitude towards their job, they may or may not contribute to a few people accidentally getting themselves a contract. Whatever you do, though, don't warn visitors away from the carnival - the ringmaster hates losing business like that. ► DO YOUR WORK: This one's pretty simple - just have your character doing whatever you'd like to have their job be! There is a big list of ideas over here, and you could use this to try things out with a character you intend to be a new arrival, as well. ► BREAK TIME: Whatever you were doing, it's break time! It's time for you to relax however you see fit. Do you enjoy some of the carnival attractions yourself, or is that old by now? Do you hang out in the Cookhouse to get a snack? Do you take a nap? Yolo, baby! ► DUNK TANK: Sometimes acting like a dick will earn you the gentle reprimand of being sent to work in the Dunk Tank for the afternoon - you know that game where people throw balls at a target, and if they hit it you get dropped into the water? It's like that, only sometimes there are daunting (but harmless) critters in the water, or some other strange magical affects to spice things up. Hopefully, the visitors will have bad aim. ► WILD CARD: Anything else you can imagine in this setting! There are a lot of possibilities and you're free to explore them. Check out the rest of the game info or the locations page for additional inspiration. Want to do a performance? Hang out in the Backyard? Choose whatever appeals!

Comments

Yuusei Fudo | Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds | New Recruit

[alphudo]

[ADMISSION FEES: THE FRONT ENTRANCE]

It was merely a breath of fresh air at first. That was all it was supposed to be, and yet somehow...
The Signer War was over. The bridge was being built. What sort of longing was there to be had? This was practically a dream come true for him.
And yet something was clearly stirring within him, some sort of regret or restlessness, perhaps. A pressure of responsibility, maybe. Something that made him get up and walk off to go clear his head, and by the time he had the opportunity to really think on it, he saw the lights.

And from here, he can't help but approach this mysterious carnival in the distance. He knows it certainly shouldn't exist (for why would there be in a carnival in Satellite, and why now?), but there's a certain curiosity that wells within him, an excitement he's content to entertain with every footstep. Is this a child's eagerness, a desire for the loud sounds and luminescence brushing against the sky? Perhaps.

As interested as he may be in this place, he's not gonna just barge in. Nothing is free in life, and anything that is free should not be trusted. Martha taught him that much.
So when he reaches the front gates leading into the carnival, he doesn't bother trying to look for an unintended entrance, and for once in his life he happens to have money on his person. Being able to actually pay his own way is... oddly exhilarating in itself, in truth, as silly as that might be. It's a good feeling, though. Once he's actually inside, though...
Well, he's never been to a place like this before; what can he say except that he's overwhelmed with options?
So for now, he'll be lingering by the entrance trying to figure out just what the hell is going on.


[MISC: ADMIRING THE FERRIS WHEEL]

He's never actually seen a ferris wheel before - a real, full-sized ferris wheel - and he's blown away when he finally weaves his way through the crowds and comes upon it from its base. He doesn't really intend on riding it yet (the thought alone puts his stomach in knots, but he's sure he's been up higher still...), so for now he's perfectly content with just staring at it. He can't even begin to imagine how its intricate mechanics must work, and although he can probably figure it out eventually, it's just A Lot to take in all at once.
So for now he just looks at it, remaining out of the way of other patrons and mostly just off to the side, perhaps a little further off than he really should be, maybe...
And his eyes narrow, after some time, as he spots something that maybe looks a little too loose for comfort. He knows very little about carnival attractions, granted, but his gut feelings on machinery tend to be pretty good most of the time.
Unsure of what steps he should actually take with this, though, he just stares at this potential problem for a little bit longer, simply thinking.


[WILDCARD]
[hit me with your best shot honestly; he'll be wandering around the park periodically just Looking In Awe at stuff]

MISC OH BOY

[insidescoop]

To say that Carly recognizes Yuusei would be to say Carly recognizes most clothes at this point. It's a given. He's a 'given'. Or, well. He was the newly made duel champion (or 'King', really), who just dethroned Jack after a two year run. That was sort of a big deal.

And now, in a sea of aliens, he's...here?

The woman chokes part-way on her coffee immediately. Performance week is a slight down-time for the Wardrobe's tailoring section, since most focus is on prep for the performances and costumes needed to be done Ages ago. So she has more time to wander and possibly try any new rides set up for this particular location.

She's suddenly, who knows why, lost interest in that, and the marble-rainbow-hummingbird lady finds herself at lost for words.

And then finally-

"FFFffFff....FFF-FUDOU YUUSEI..!?!" HOLY SHIT

At least her voice, unlike literally everything, is the same.

IT BEGINS

[alphudo]

If nothing else, Yuusei sure has noticed the sheer variety of creatures around in this carnival, and he knows for a fact that this isn't normal; but given that this whole carnival by itself is clearly not normal, he's more or less just been taking things as they come to him. He was in the Underworld once, and while that trip was far from pleasant, he at least knew to (sort of) expect the unexpected. Unusual, unfamiliar things are going to be expected.

Therefore, the natural mirror to this mindset is that the familiar will be the unexpected, so when a very familiar voice reaches his ears, he's caught beyond off-guard, whipping around and taking a surprisingly lengthy time locating the source despite her... radiance.

Really, Yuusei was never fully acquainted with Carly. He met her once in a parking garage and promptly ditched her for the police to catch, and up until the Signer War, he never saw her again after that. Even during the War, he had only seen her when all of the Signers and Dark Signers had had a group confrontation, and after that she had it out with Jack and that was the end of it. It had taken Jack a great deal of time - two months after the end of the War and about a month and a half into the construction of the bridge - to finally get Carly to introduce herself properly to the rest of the Signers, although Yuusei hardly faulted his hesitance, for Carly had no memories of her time as a Dark Signer. As far as he's currently aware, she never remembered, and she had continued her life normally as if nothing had even changed.

So needless to say, he's squinting a little when he catches sight of Carly in this carnival crowd looking like she does. Surely, part of him thinks, this isn't Carly. With all of the weird folks around in this strange night-life world, surely he could've just had the dumb luck of running into someone who looks like her.

...but then, one might also reason that such chances would be dramatically lower in such a setting, and what are the odds of a coincidental double knowing his name? Regardless, he's definitely had his attention removed from the ferris wheel as he gawks at this person who is very definitely Carly, mouth slightly agape as he grasps for literally anything to say in this situation.

"...do... Do I...?" His eyes narrow further. "C... Carly...??"

[insidescoop]

Carly expected Yuusei to recognize her about as much as she expected the aliens being hosted to. Which is to say, not at all. No doubt that the line up meeting was only an identified moment in Yuusei's mind thanks to Jack himself, but the fact was, as far as memory went there was only one other moment in time that they'd seen the other.

And that was when he'd sort of ditched her to be taken in for police questioning. So. Fun times. Regardless, being addressed by name has her puff quite marvelously up, various liquid-like feathers rising in the tension. "Thf-bf- That- Of course I'm Carly!! Who else would I be, other than Carly!!" She frantically stammers, as if she weren't so tall that she were almost a foot above the other. "That didn't even answ-"

The woman blinks, and quite owlishly. "W...wait, you...remember my name..?" Wait a min- "Di- DID I EVEN INTRODUCE MYSELF BACK THEN!?!? HEHHH?!"

Ferris Wheel

[dressedtothe]

9S doesn't have much to do in terms of dealing with the various Carnival guests; he's not a performer, nor is he in a job that actively requires him to deal with them. In fact, he actively shirks his repairman duties... though he's getting marginally better about that.

In fact, he spends a lot of his time people watching. That's what he came to the Carnival for originally, after all.

But this guy... he's been staring real hard at the ferris wheel for a real long time. What's up with that? So 9S approaches.

"If you're so interested, you can go for a ride on the ferris wheel, you know."

Unlike many of the other Carnival staff, he doesn't look that different from a human. Other than the fact there are feathers threaded through his hair and his eyes are covered with what looks like a blindfold, he would look like a perfectly ordinary human.

[alphudo]

Yuusei doesn't seem particularly interested in this fellow approaching him at first, seeming as though he doesn't even hear him the first time. In truth, he doesn't really realise he's being spoken to in the first place, but when he does figure it out, his head snaps up and looks over his shoulder. He blinks at 9S, chalks the feathers up to a decoration or something related to the alien guests around, and looks back to the ferris wheel. He opens his mouth to speak, but on account of the blindfold, he hesitates. Reworks the words in his head, tries again.

"Something just looks a bit loose," he says, "is all."

He pauses again, wondering just how much he should really bother saying. He has no need in wasting a stranger's time. Maybe it's the festival air, though, that has him talking just a little more. "My tools are gone; I'd try to fix it myself otherwise."

...he has been thinking about it a lot. He'd at least tell someone first, of course.

[dressedtothe]

9S turns his head to look up at where the stranger was looking earlier. Hm. It's a bit hard to see, but... it's probably worth checking out. It is technically his job, after all.

But when the stranger says he'd fix it, 9S whips his head back around immediately. "Oh no, we couldn't ask a guest to fix our mechanical structures for us!"

Absolutely not!

"I'll take care of it." He opens a connection to his pod, who is currently in another location in the carnival. To the stranger, it would seem as though 9S is speaking to air. "Pod, can you run a check and perform any necessary repairs on the ferris wheel? I received a report that part of the structure may be lose."

Through the connection and clearly audible to the stranger, comes a robotic but distinctly female voice. < Affirmative >

Closing the connection, 9S turns back to the stranger. "Thanks for letting me know."

Admission Fees

[spaghettimonster]

Despite everything that's recently happened, painful and kind of awful as it was... 'The show must go on'. And so the Carnival has moved on, and opened its doors once again. This time they're not even taking a week to get to know the locals and practice - just directly going into welcoming guests.

At least this time has two big things going for it!

First is that, with the Foreman away, Papyrus is the effective head of the janitorial staff, able to decide his own schedule (cindersprites have to do what they're told, unfortunately, and the only other employees are temps assigned to janitor duties as punishment). So if he wants to go explore the spaceship, or stick around the carnival... there's not much stopping him, except maybe for the Ringmaster ordering something, or word coming about his brother's egg.

Second is that, unlike about half of their usual destinations, this one doesn't have just mundane humans everywhere. The people coming through the gates are only sometimes bipedal, a wonderful variety of shapes and sizes that feels like home. No hunted and haunted expressions from living with mysterious disappearances... and even a rock-riddled skeleton like himself hardly gets second glances, as they push forward to enjoy the rides, games, and performances.

It's a relief. Such a relief, after such a stressful time, that Papyrus is hanging out people-watching. Loitering by the entrance gate with a cleaning cart nearby, just in case something happens. Still in his Staff shirt but, really, off the clock.

So he's in perfect position to notice when one of the crowd pauses to stand and stare around them, even before reaching any of the major attractions. That they're one of the sort who looks nearly human, with only minor clues like pointy ears or golden lines... and that they don't seem to be here with anybody.

Well, if he wants to get back to feeling like himself, maybe a good place to start is welcoming this lost and confused person. Papyrus waves and calls out, "Hello, over there! Is there anything I, the great Papyrus, can help you with?"

[alphudo]

Yuusei's broken out of his daze by the sound of a voice cutting distinctly through the general uproar of the crowd. It isn't a voice he recognises by any means, but he turns to where he thinks it came from anyway since it sort of sounds like something someone might say to someone like him. To say there's no shock in his expression when he's met with a skeleton would be false.

He's definitely human, so the surprise is perhaps to be expected, but in truth, all it takes is a few blinks for him to settle back into the confusion brought about merely by his surroundings. In addition to currently being surrounded by aliens and other sorts of creatures, he's also been through a lot within the past several months. A very friendly-looking skeleton in a sea of sort-of-monsters is something he can handle.

To his own surprise, he returns the skeleton's gesture with a small wave of his own. "I... I'm not sure," he answers truthfully, continuing to glance around as if still gathering his bearings. "This is my first time here... Er, at a carnival in general, actually..."

[spaghettimonster]

For Papyrus, it's still a mystery. He'd thought he finally figured out which traits were common to all humans, and then keeps coming across exceptions. Humans who've been changed somehow, people that just coincidentally look human but aren't, now other species that look almost exactly human... Most of which have skeletons that look like him, and get spooked at the sight.

But, brief spooking aside, he smiles more widely at the answer and says a little wistfully, "Oho! I remember when that was me. Marveling at the sights and sounds..."

He turns and considers the bulk of the park. What would be best to suggest to a new, short-term guest? "Hmmm... There's plenty of food, if you're hungry! And rides and games, if you'd like to try something fun. Shows of astounding athletics, if you like to be awed... and, uh, if you have things you'd like to reflect on, there's always the mirror maze."

It's not the most popular destination, but it is a spot that upsets some people enough to break a rule and get in debt. Probably a few of the accidental employees started out there.

Six - Little Nightmares - New Recruit

[littlenightmare]

A - Trying To.... Not Leaf?

[Off in the foliage, there's a flash of yellow that shines bright in the shadows.]

[Six.... isn't sure how she's gotten here. She'd been standing there, at the top of the Maw with sand underneath her feet and the sun so distant, before she'd decided to turn right back around. If the top was not freedom, then she would surely be able to find another. Befitting of its name, there were many depths and spaces that she had never had a chance to explore. Everything had been too dangerous for her dilly dally, after all.]

[Except when she'd taken the step through the doors, and her eyes had adjusted to the darkness again... There weren't stairs, leading down down down. Instead, there were things she has never seen before, and a place so bright and brilliant as to confuse her...]

[And adults. And monsters. Creatures so much larger than her, her who is the size of a small gull.]

[She's no longer the small lost thing that had woken up in a suit case, trying to survive. If she wanted, she thinks, she could defend herself from these creatures. At the same time, they do not seem so.... grotesque as the Janitor, or the Chefs, or the Guests. Neither do they hover distant and cruel as the Lady had. As Six watches carefully from the trees, darting from one hiding place to another, it seems as though they almost interact with another. Like children do. Everything is so strange.... so different. So instead of lashing out wildly, she stays behind to watch.]

[...Well, perhaps not entirely that. As she looks up and around, she can't help but get distracted. She... cannot remember such vivid green things in her life before. Certainly, they had never thrived in The Maw. So if one looks towards the forest line, they may spot a tiny little figure no taller than a ruler darting about, trying to hide or investigate one of the enormous orange flowers.]

B - Fun And Games

[As she's done so many times, Six hasn't entered through the proper way, but instead through a little crack for a little thing, somewhere people don't bother to look. Still a little uncertain, she keeps to the shadows and inbetween places of the various games and stalls... for the most part.]

[Whether someone is playing a game or just passing by, they might notice that one of the small stuffed toys in the back a game stall is... moving on its own, apparently. While the Cinder Sprite isn't looking, of course. Six is trying to be as subtle as possible, moving only when she feels like people's attentions are elsewhere... but that can be hard to gauge perfectly when she has to peer around a large (to her) toy to be sure.]

[Or maybe it's afterwards, as she's left the stalls and hopped down to the ground in the side that she's found.]

C - Wildcard

[Six will be creeping throughout all sorts of places as she explores the carnival, so I can go with just about anything.]

A! idk how easy it'd be to sneak up on Six bc ~gameplay differences~ ah

[soft_focus]

[Well. Reira goes through the woods regularly, what with the Menagerie being through the woods. She goes back and forth on her bike in overalls and a work shirt, and she's very good at doing what she's meant to do. Of course, she doesn't always use the bike, and sometimes it's best to just go and do other things (like see space), which is why she's coming back from such matters on foot when she sees Six up ahead of her.

And Reira is quiet-extremely quiet, though it's not exactly her intention. She just comes a bit closer, and a bit closer, and-]

...Are you a 'small' alien? [a child's voice asks-but this child is Far Larger than Six. She's also wearing shoes but, y'know. Art Restrictions.]

fortunately, comic differences save the day

[littlenightmare]

Much as she has managed to survive for so long in dangerous places, Six is still human... Well. Mostly human. Probably human. She'd been distracted once, by something lovely and good, and she's distracted now by the strange beautiful thing burning before her. Even without Reira's sort of quiet, someone quiet enough would have surprised her.]

[Surprised her enough that the sound of a voice has her jolting, and she jerks back into the flickering shadows immediately, almost on instinct. One wouldn't think that such a bright yellow raincoat could disappear into the dark so easily...]

[...Although maybe "disappear" is a little more literal, as there's a sudden and tiny grunt from up in the branches of a tree, and Six's tiny frame has to scramble to keep her balance. The Lady had made this a lot more graceful looking... With her fingers digging into the wood, Six peers warily over the branch down to the other. Just like all the others, she's strange. She has the proportions of a girl, like her, but the size is all wrong, and her skin...]

[Six says nothing.]

Yoshiko Tsushima (aka YOHANE!!!) | Love Live Sunshine | new recruit

[hellzone]

fun and games
"Forces of darkness, give me strength! Let my aim fly true!" Yoshiko's standing in front of a ring toss game, look of determination on her face as she stares at an absolutely adorable stuffed bear. She is going to win that thing.

With utmost confidence, she chucks the ring a bit violently towards the bottles she's aiming for. Turns out that it's a bit too violently as the ring ricochets off of the side of a bottle, flies through the air, and hits some unsuspecting person in the head.

Almost instantly, Yoshiko turns pale. Aw heck. "I didn't mean to do that!" she quickly clarifies, turning towards the person the ring hit with a worried frown on her face before she quickly launches into an apologetic bow. "I'm sorry!"

tunnel of love
Yoshiko is a drama queen. She always has been a drama queen and always will be a drama queen. As such, there is a high school girl doing some INTENSE DRAMATICS in front of the tunnel of love. She staggers back from the tunnel of love sign, pointing at it with an accusing finger.

"Such powerful love energy! Ohhhh, I can feel it zapping my demonic strength already! The forces of light and beauty behind this attraction must have power a hundredfold!"

She's inevitably drawing a crowd. But does Yoshiko care? Not in the damn slightest. Very dramatically, she slumps against some random person, not even looking to see who it is. "Little demon," she starts dramatically, putting her hand to her forehead like she's on the cover of a romance novel. "Help Yohane get away from this cursed attraction of radiance."

wildcard!
This overdramatic loser can be found all over the carnival, getting into things, bothering people with questions, and probably accidentally breaking something else. Side note, Yoshiko is a normalass human. She just is a drama queen with a ~demonic persona~.

fun and games

[mylastchance]

Lauren looks from her the girl, to the ring, and then laughs.

"It's just a plastic ring." he says, watching her curiously. He's never had anyone bow to him before, and he's really not sure what the appropriate thing to do is. A week ago a situation like this would have made him nervous and afraid to respond, but recently he'd decided to adopt a new attitude when it came to the carnival. He had decided he just really didn't care.

"It's, ah, alright?" he offered, wondering if that would help the situation at all. If it didn't oh well. It isn't like he'd never upset a carnival visitor before.

[hellzone]

Well. Considering that nobody was yelling at her, Yoshiko's considering this a good situation. She stands back up to probably launch into some demon dramatics, when something stops her. Huh. Lauren looks weird. Granted, everybody here looks a little weird (Yoshiko's fairly certain she saw an ACTUAL BLUE PERSON earlier). But it's different when the someone who looks a bit weird just sounds so normal.

"What's up with your head?" she very bluntly asks, frowning a little as she looks over Lauren's various changes. "It's not Halloween for another few months!"

Tigerstar | Warriors | New Recruit

[catsatan]

(( A WARNING to anyone not familiar with Warriors - Tigerstar is an intact male cat, and he will be spraying on things. I'll try to keep those on the DL, but this is a blanket warning that some prompts will have more specific warnings about unsanitary content. If anything needs to be revised, please feel free to alert me and I'll get on that ASAP.

Terms used -- twolegs//humans; StarClan//basically warrior cat ancestor spirits; TigerClan//a short-lived united Clan established by Tigerstar ))

i. TRYING TO (GREEN)LEAF

[ It was a patrol. Nothing more. Tigerstar is quite pleased with himself, having an enormous, united Clan at his beck and call after many moons of careful plotting and patient waiting. So, as many toms are wont to do when they have achieved something, he had been patrolling his new Clan's expanded territory, trying to familiarize himself with the sights and scents of RiverClan's ranges, bold and alone as he often was. He certainly wasn't just trying to get away from fish-stink, no way.

This is where things began to get strange. He takes a left, following a track worn well by many cat paws and marked by many cat sprays. He follows the path as it curves to the right. WindClan is this way, he remembers, but the border must be farther out than he thought. Tigerstar continues further, the familiar cat scents around him gradually fading away from his senses. This is the first odd thing he notices. Even so, the path goes on, and so does he.

Broad paws carry him deeper into the forest, even as strange scents tease his senses - twoleg scent is strong here, yes, but it's mingled with...other things. Birds and cats and horses, but these scents are slightly different from the ones he knows. They have a certain bite to them. A tang.

He keeps on anyway. His heart pounds a little in his chest; his claws peer out of their soft sheathes in anticipation of something special happening. Is StarClan leading him somewhere, on this strange path? Is it a vision? There's only one way to find out, and so he keeps on.

This is where the oddities reach their pinnacle. There's a snap of twigs. A crash of leaves. A shower of pollen that smells much to sweet....and suddenly someone is there in front of him. Not a cat, but perhaps not a twoleg, either. Against his better judgement, instinct drives Tigerstar's claws to their full, wicked lengh, his hackles to their highest heights. Very fearsome for a cat to see, but maybe a little more comical for anything bigger than a fox. ]

INTRUDER! [ A brazen hiss accompanies the accusation. ]

ii. OF RODENTS AND REGRET (( This one is kinda gross! Barfy gets an unwelcome visitor. ))

[ Okay. So this is a "circus" or a "carnival" or something, and the not-twolegs here can talk. That's fine. This is fine. StarClan works in strange ways. Maybe this is a warning about one of these "attractions" coming to the territories. Maybe TigerClan will have an opening to strike their enemies in the chaos! He must pay attention.

Tigerstar elects to continue his quest after having gotten himself rather lost in those bizarre woods. He has seen the entryway, certainly - he has seen it several times, in fact - but no self-respecting cat uses the front door. Thankfully, one of the menagerie stalls has a window, and while it's by all means too tight a fit for a human, Tigerstar is not a human. It's still a bit of a squeeze to push through the bars into the rancid-smelling enclosure, and Tigerstar has a few regrets at choosing this one in particular, but a warrior never turns back until it's absolutely necessary.

He sniffs around a bit, and the stink of twolegs, animal droppings, and hay punish his senses in return. He can't help but bare his fangs in a soft hiss at the odors that assault the roof of his mouth. There's something in the corner, he knows - he can see it, some kind of rat-creature. The source of that rotting smell. It must be dead. Well, if he's going to wander around here, he might as well make some effort to make it smell a little less terrible.

It's not until he's raised his tail and made his mark that Tigerstar realizes he's made a grave mistake. A hiss answers his move, and soon after he feels several sharp somethings bearing into his hindquarters.

Fur flies. Claws swipe. What follows is quite possibly one of the most ungodly cacophonies to descend upon any of the menagerie enclosures, as this 13-pound cat finds himself locked in vicious combat with a rodent of unusual size. ]

iii. ADMISSION FLEAS

[ To put a Clan cat in a collar is humiliating. To put a Clan cat in a harness is tantamount to torture. Tigerstar had not ever considered that there might be something worse than either of those, but here he is - with these horrible, too-sweet smelling twoleg-made cobwebs strangling his legs and behind with more fury than any snake he's ever tangled with.

He sits, dog-like and sullen, on the admission table in front of the carnival after a worker so graciously deposited him there. He can't bend his legs. He still smells like rat-thing. And now he has to put up with more of these weird talking not-twolegs. All of it stinks, literally and figuratively.

But he is a Clan cat. Even when he's stuck wearing what's effectively a gauze diaper, Tigerstar still finds a little dignity in himself to sit with his chin high as he regards the carnival worker in front of him. Or perhaps the new arrival behind him. Either way, these twolegs make him angry and he has a few things to say to them. ]

This is an outrage! [ Another hiss slithers out under his words. ] First you invade TigerClan territory, then you humiliate me. I never imagined you twolegs to be the dignified sort, but it disappoints me to find out you have even less honor than I anticipated. What do you have to say for yourself?

iv. WILDCATS! ER, WILDCARD!

Somehow, Tigerstar does manage to get himself into the carnival the right way. You might encounter him somewhere on the carnival grounds, though most likely not inside any buildings or tents. Maybe you tripped over him. Or maybe he made a mad dash for your ankles. Let's get creative! Feel free to add or DM me on Discord @asraith#4423.

TRYING TO...LEAF.... the link is to an image ref GON LOOKS VERY NOT ICON-LIKE

[betheman]

[Well, speaking of foxes...

This 'fox' isn't quite a fox. Rather, this 'fox' has traits of one up the top, but then the forelegs of a bear, the hindlegs of a massive horse, and a mane of leaves from head to tail, fierce antlers poking from his brow there. And as comical as he seems to others, he is also quite large-nine feet tall, in fact, and peering downward with rather large, innocently confused eyes. In other words, certainly nothing likely to appear 'comical' to Tigerstar. A crash of leaves brings more leaves, upon great, massive paws.

And well, with such size, why would he be at all threatened by a spitting cat!] Hmm?

[Gongenzaka's voice is a rumble, and yet he does not move even to defend against what scratches may come.] Intruder? [he questions.] Have you perhaps wandered in from your own realm then, sir?

[And it must be a sir, that much Gongenzaka is certain of. From the voice which he hears, it cannot be a child...though it is odd, certainly, to be speaking to what seems to be an ordinary cat. Ah, well-there are all sorts of realms after all, are there not?

And so Gongenzaka continues.] Perhaps we may speak about this, if you are willing? If anyone is intruding, it would most certainly be yourself...however, such matters are hardly a serious crime with that in mind...

[Certainly not with the Ringmaster's latest judgement, anyway.]

[catsatan]

[ What in StarClan is that thing. It smells like a twoleg. And a tree. And a horse. And a few other things Tigerstar has never smelled before. But, more importantly, it's very big and it's very close. Now, Tigerstar isn't one to be frightened away by most things - he wouldn't play chicken with a monster, of course, but he's certainly had some close calls without being scared off or even especially ruffled.

This, however, scared him. Maybe it was the loud noise of Gongenzaka's hooves shaking the ground under his paws. Maybe it was the baffling cocktail of smells that blew in on his tailwind. Or maybe it was just because he was, in fact, very big. Either way, it's enough to prompt Tigerstar into doing something he has not done in many moons.

He swipes at one of Gongenzaka's forepaws...and then runs away. His retreat is far from quiet, of course, but it's pretty hasty. Regardless, it would not be hard for a quadruped of Gongenzaka's size to catch up.

Tigerstar hardly registers that he understands what this creature is saying until he's a few meters away. ]

3

[scientificist]

[After a notification from the Animal Keeping team, Herbert made his irritable way over to admissions. Apparently, he's not only functionally a vet now, what with the animalistic changes to various coworkers, but literally one, what with the newest arrival literally being a cat. A talking one, certainly, but still a cat.

He stands in front of the cat in his shirtsleeves, heavy gloves he borrowed from Maintenance tucked under one of his arms. On his back, his wings droop halfway open like an injured bird, as he's forgotten to keep them tucked up against him again, new as they are.

The cat seems to be a domesticated sort, if scarred and filthy in a way that suggests he's feral. It's actually something of a relief that he's talking, because Herbert knows how to respond to that in a way he never really knows how to with normal cats. Even so, his cat inexperience is fairly evident because he keeps eye contact through Tigerstar's entire complaint, his expression shifting from flat to a mildly more intense stare out of bemusement.]

Are you referring to your treated injuries or to being placed on a table?

[catsatan]

I'm referring to these cobwebs. [ He doubles over and lifts one leg to tug at his bandages with his teeth. It tastes terrible, but he would love to loosen them at least a little bit. ] They stink of those twoleg cutters and they look ridiculous.

[ The irate tabby tomcat relents eventually and glares back up at him. He wrinkles his scarred snout in an open snarl and hisses, the sound yet again undercutting Faeish in a peculiar way. ] If my haunches weren't bound I could easily leave this silly stump and get back to figuring out how to get you and your stinking contraptions off of my territory.

[ Tigerstar boldly maintains eye contact with the doctor, bristling from head to tail in response to what certainly, definitely has to be direct aggression toward him. This man smells bad. Almost as bad as the rat-thing he was fighting earlier. Maybe worse. He doesn't like him either way. ]

Trying to Leaf

[criticallyfucked]

[The bad news is that Tigerstar's intruder is about 9 feet tall from the top of his head to the bottom of his hooves.

The good news is that he stops dead in his tracks regardless, his brow creased just slightly, two dead squirrels closed tightly in one heavy bearlike-paw.

Foster has... seen a lot of things in the past several months, and very few of them have given him much pause. Dragons ('dragons'), fae, magic, terrible and awesome transformations, deaths and rebirths... all of that is well within the bounds of his reality anyway.

This is also technically within those bounds, but...]

[catsatan]

[ A horse? A HORSE!! Tigerstar has been close to horses before, but he's never been this close. And this one's carrying squirrels - it's a poacher!

But...wait. It has a twoleg body, too. Oh, okay. He's heard of this. Sometimes twolegs sit on horses.

A TWOLEG IS POACHING ON TIGERCLAN TERRITORY! ]

Those squirrels!! Those don't belong to you!

RODENT

[dontpokethat]

[Oh god what is going on over there. It's nothing new to hear horrible sounds coming from Barfy's enclosure, especially when he's in time-out the barn. Now, though, it sounds like there is more than one horrible nightmare animal in there.

When he gets close enough to get a look at the disaster unfolding in there, Ginko scrambles to unlock the enclosure and slide in. At least Barfy is too busy fighting to make a break for it.]

Hey--! C'mon, cut it out!

[How'd a cat even get in there? Ginko pulls his coat off, throws it over the two animals, and leans in to grab the smaller of the two.]

[catsatan]

[When a cat is locked in fierce combat with any animal, they usually don't have much patience for most things. This goes doubly so for unexpected tactile interference, never mind having some soft, faintly sweat-scented something dropped on top of them.

Still, Tigerstar is somewhat single-minded - before disengaging with whatever corpse-thing he had awakened, he slaps a pawful of claws across the thing's snout. That should teach it to deceive him like that. Just as he's about to turn tail and run, however, two hands close in on him - and he's much too entangled in this coat to get away. As Ginko hefts the furious tom cat into the air, Barfy returns Tigerstar's favor with a very unwelcome and unappreciated chomp to the tabby's exposed rump.

Which, of course, prompts a scream. Feline and Faeish all at once.]

CURSE YOU!! CURSE YOU AND ALL YOUR CHILDREN!!! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! A DISGRACE! STARCLAN WILL--

[The furious hissing, spitting, squirming, and ranting continues in a steady stream of vitriol from underneath Ginko's coat. Tigerstar will not tolerate this. Once he gets this unseen something off of him, anyway.]