avalononline | Video / un; Chasseur / #knightquest

[Belgium looks so sharp and tidy once again! She knows how to do PR, unlike Hijikata. Back in Edo his public anger outbursts didn't really help the Shinsengumi's reputation... anyway, the reason he calls in is his bafflement over that last part.]

An egg? Just one?

[Lies! Hijikata would be, like a god of PR! Just look at Hakuoki!]

Mm, just an egg. There's a second one but that ones been entrusted to someone else.

Edited 2022-04-11 17:38 (UTC)

[Hakuouki's Hijikata is a totally different calibre!! He actually has a romance route! But then again this Hijikata kind of had one too (thanks Prismatica). As for that mystery egg, it's starting to sound more and more intriguing...]

"Entrusted"? Those must be pretty special eggs. Let me meet up with you at the castle.

[In the knights' area there, but that's implied! Sorry, AOL, he'll keep this developing egg story under wraps from curious eyes if he gets any say.]

[Hijikata is still Hijikata, dang it! He can absolutely still have an awesome romance route bo matter what!]

Oh! Sure!

[She is planning on keeping a good majority of the details under wraps right now. Though, given this is Hijikata, she can probably trust him with helping her out. At least as far as carrying the huge thing goes.

Anyway! She goes ahead and meets him at the chosen spot.]

[He turns up not much later, though Belgium may not recognise him in his get-up that includes a helmet with a dark-tinted face shield. He kind of looks like a motorcyclist, but not quite. He raises a hand to greet her, though.]

Hey! It's Hijikata. So, where's the egg?

Oh, it's there.

[She points a thumb over to a large cart. On it sat a large, vertical, rectangular frame. With black sheets dropped over it. From beneath the faint glow of a warm, red light could be seen. Under the cart was a battery and cable running inside of the setup.]

It's rather heavy and kind of... stands out.

No joke.

[He inspects it... this is one hell of an early Easter surprise (never mind that Avalon doesn't celebrate Easter)!]

Where in the world did you get it? Or did you have to confiscate it from some shady subject? Do you know what kind of egg it is?

Oh, no nothing like that. It was a gift, I guess you could say. From someone we helped out last month.

[She asked around about it earlier. So knows who the mystery stranger had been. What they gave her and Walter, and so on.

It was still a surprise!]

It still has a little bit before hatching. Until then I was hoping to take it to the shelter to help safeguard it.

It better not be a dragon egg.

[Dragons aren't exactly well-regarded on Avalon these days... but then again the deeds of one of their kind oughtn't mar the entire species' reputation. Hijikata still remembers the playful little dragonlets that came down from the mountains last spring.]

Can I take a photo? I'll compare it with whatever information I can find in the library later once we've gotten it to the shelter. Do they know it's coming?

[She'll treat the first part as rhetorical. It was better to stay silent on some things.]

Yes! Or at least they will be. Their facilities will still need to know what they're dealing with.

[She's got a new mission!] Also please no pictures yet.

Edited 2022-04-17 15:20 (UTC)

Huh. alright.

[He puts his phone away again, moves over to the art and grabs its handle, read to pull.]

You lead the way! I haven't been to the shelter yet.

Sorry, I know I announced this over the network, but there are still some details rhat need to be kept under lock and key.

[She gives a wink while holding a finger against her lips. Mums the word here, sort of.]

But sure! It might take a but of time getting there from here.

[Who know what sort of traps might await them along the way!]

As long as you keep me in the loop!

[He's curious now! If the shelter is far off the beaten track or anyone accosts them on the way there he'll complain, but he'll still ensure that this mystery egg gets to its destination safely.]

Don't worry! You'll be one of the first to be in the know!

[Besides, once it hatches she doubts that either her or Kadoc will be able to keep a baby dragon much of a secret.]

'Ello, Anri. What kind of help you be needin'? If its just transporting something, I'm your guy. Bit of an oddity though, innit? Transporting a single egg.

Hey, Anri. Do I even wanna know what the deal with this egg is if you need help with just one egg?

[He says this in his typical complainy way, but also, he's not really hiding that he's immediately fascinated too. He wouldn't have ended up taking over the shelter if he didn't feel that way about the fauna!]

I can help if you still need it. We've got transport.

You will want to when it hatches. Or, well- you'll see once it hatches.

[Again, keeping things purposefully vague over the public network. Ar in regards to the egg.]

Anyway, I did manage to find someone to help me move it; but I wouldn't say no to extra help. I do still need help looking after and raising it.

Edited (Last edit!) 2022-04-17 17:33 (UTC)

Heh . . . you're playing your cards close to your chest. But I get it. You on the way? We can talk about it when you get here. We should have everything you need to incubate this thing. . . . Maybe I shouldn't make that claim so casually in this place.

[Watch her bring in like a seven foot tall egg that needs to be incubated on a bed of dry ice. That's the kinda thing that might happen here.]

You can say it's rather important, and someone trusted me and another with it. Anyway, sorry about being kind of stingy on details. Hopefully we won't have to do anything too fancy. It will need quite a bit of space...

[It's not that big! Granted the whole setup she's using to cart it around does make it look larger than it actually is!]

But yes, we'll be on our way shortly. Or as shortly as we can make the trip.

[She'll have to remember to bring some chocolate along for him as a thank you!]

I'll wait for you out front. At this point you've got me feeling like I'm in on a state secret or some shit. Like this is actually gonna be a diamond heist.

[As if. But he can't deny that the part of him that's still a young man with some young man type tastes doesn't feel a little badass right now, even if all he's doing is going to make sure he has a large incubation area open for whatever this is going to be (the Hope Diamond) and a path clear.]

Hehe... I'll be sure to bring an NDA with me as well. Trust no one from this point forward~.

[She lets out a teasing giggle. It did feel like a huge, state secret didn't it?

But yeah, they'll be along shortly. Along with a large cart with a black blanket thrown over it. She was honestly super lucky to have Hijikata around to help her out.]

[Oh shit, there it is! The diamond! Kadoc is lurking near the entrance gate by the time they arrive, leaning on it with his arms crossed, which looks much more cool and disaffected than he feels. Despite himself, he is totally excited to see what the deal is. It's pretty obvious in the way he perks up when he pushes onto his feet to get the gate open for them.]

What the hell even . . .

[She saunters on in, cart behind her. You see why she needed help now?

Ain't no way she was getting this into her place and be able to monitor it!]

Kadoc, hello! [At least she's in a cheerful mood! Excited even. Waving at him as she stepped on through.]

Well, this is it. Or, well it inside.

[The wooden gate opens onto a dirt path that soon splits into a few additional dirt paths: one short one that leads to the front entrance of the office, one long one that leads out to the pastures, and one medium one that leads to the indoor stables and other housing between. It's the last path that Kadoc begins to lead her down, though he slows down pretty immediately to fall in step with the cart.]

Is it heavy? You need any help with this? I mean, I'm not the best guy to ask, but I could either call in a helper or go get Akaky.

[His horse. This is what you do with horses! They can pull carts!]

I wouldn't say no to the extra bit of help. It is still kind of hefty!

[Horses can pull carts! So can people! Kadoc, show off your strong muscles here! She's not going to tease him with that, though. Instead she'll go ahead and stop pulling her cart. Opting to stretch herself out instead.

It was quite a journey, even with help!]

The egg itself isn't that big- well it's big, but it's... well you'll see.

You've got this way of amping up the anticipation.

[He takes a long look at the cart. He could go get help . . . or he could try . . . it's easier to just try, rather than have to go all the way back and get Akaky geared up, but what are the chances of embarrassing himself? Probably high. Can he handle it?

. . . He makes an awkward motion to grab on and see how easily it tugs along with a pull. There's no casual way to do this. He's just going to have to be embarrassed if it's too heavy for him.]

It comes with years of practice.

[Practice selling things and getting rich! Thr cart itself, it's like pulling a wagon that's been loaded with a small, light fridge. Not too heavy!

Hopefully!]

Trying to show off~?

Ugh. Like I've ever managed that in my life.

[Read: maybe a little, even if he's telling himself it's just more practical to not pull anyone else away from their work. He can in fact manage this much, to his relieved surprise, even if he still wishes he had access to his magecraft to give himself a boost. But he begins lugging the cart down the path with a little grunt.]

Indoors okay for this thing? I figured it probably needed to be warm.

I'm sure you've managed more than once. Don't be silly. In fact, I'm quite impressed you've managed to run this place by yourself! An animal shelter takes a lot of work.

[As much as she'd also love to sit by and watch him work, Belgium goes ahead and offers to help him as well. It's not bad, especially since it has wheels.]

Yes, it's a reptilian, or I'm certain it's a reptile. I'm not very good with animal biology.

Hey, you're supposed to be resting.

[She's helping! Helping is forbidden! Even if he's grateful for it, he can't just admit that and let her push herself when she was clearly tired! . . . But boy is he grateful for it anyway. It's much easier with two. Still, gotta complain.]

. . . Is it a dragon egg?

[It's the first thing that comes to mind. Reptilian, large, secretive. What else?]

Maybe I just want to show off a little bit too~.

[Sorry, sorry Kadoc! She knows just how much he wants to show off and flex those strong muscles of his!]

Ah- I guess I wasn't doing a very good job of hiding it, huh?

It's just the first big-ass reptile I thought of. No offense to Kovalyov.

[His hydra, who isn't with him right now, so the apology is just one of those things you say to cover your own ass in case your familiar decides to open up a psychic link with you right that second or something. Not that Kadoc's ever has.]

But are you serious? Where'd you get something like this?

Well... that's a bit of a long story. The short answer to it is, we saved someone who was supposed to be looking after dragon eggs or something. And they decided to reward us with two.

[Something about how they'll be in safe hands with them. Belgium wasn't certain about that line of logic. But she was going to do her best!]

Damn. That's really taking a risk, but obviously it was a risk that paid off.

[Because here she is, bringing them in for safekeeping and hatching, and not selling them off to the highest bidder or something. There has to be a market for this kind of thing here . . . that kind of thing happens everywhere. It's not like Kadoc would do it himself, even if he fashions himself as a pragmatist who would refuse to cite morals as a reason for not doing it—but he still thinks about the possibility. There are people here who definitely would.

He lugs the cart along behind him, the physical strain of it falling into the background of his mind as he focuses on the situation instead.]

How much do you know about it? . . . Back home, I specialized in what we'd call Magical Beasts. But I don't have a lot of luck applying that knowledge to the same beings in this world. They're like apples and oranges, or maybe more like oranges and grapefruit.

[A dragon is a dragon anywhere, but the details? He can't hope to know them based on his studies at home.]

That's what I had been thinking as well.

[Also excuse you Kadoc! Do you really think she looks that sketch!? Huff... but yeah, she gets it. It was something she thought was kind of an odd decision, and had been hesitant to accept the egg. But she was a bit less hesitant after learning who the person had been.]

Not much beyond what I've been able to research here. Back home dragons were more or less just stories. And most of those stories kind of reflected the one that attacked the city.

[Speaking of... this egg is a strangely familiar hue to the said dragon that had been made unalived.]

Yeah. Personally, I did more honing my magecraft to take them down rather than mommying them, so my knowledge wouldn't be much use even if they were the same dragons.

[He rests his hand on the egg, just to feel what that feels like; he's not sure what to expect. Something warm? Smooth and cool? Weirdly breathing like an alien egg from a sci-fi movie or something? Leathery like a turtle egg? It's as he's investigating the feel of the shell that he gets a better look at the color of it, too.]

. . . Wonder if they all look like this. Or if this one's related to the one I went out to try and kill. That'd be ironic.

[So he suspects it is.]

[The egg is smooth, slightly warm from the heating elements she'd been using to help incubate it until something more permanent could be arranged. She at least knows that much!]

Ah- yes, the stories from home usually focused on that aspect as well.

[Dragonslaying, that is. Maybe if she was another nation she might have more of an opinion on them rather than just as fun stories and legends.]

Mm, I mean, the flower dragons from last year were all different.

Video / un; Chasseur / #knightquest

Video | UN: hijikata

no subject

no subject

no subject

Video => Action

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

video | un: nleclair

video; un: wolfcountry

Video / un; Chasseur

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject