"Spooky. . ." Tooru murmured. This had to be where the witch was; they radiated misery, right? And this definitely looked weird enough to be a witch's lair. From what she could see, anyway. "I wonder. . ." It was hard to see with all these wire things around. The main wire looked important, so they should probably follow that, but it could go right into a pit or something. And there were a lot of wires above too. "I have an idea!" Tooru squeaked, and then cupped her hand over her face after realizing how loud she actually was in the quiet place.
Tooru braces herself for a moment, and then tries to leap up to, grab ahold of, and climb atop the net of wires if possible.
[Joy]
You leap up just enough to grab one of the lower wires with one hand. You wince as the metal digs into your palm a little, but you quickly pull yourself up enough to grab it with your other hand, and then loop your legs around the wire as well. From there, plenty of other wires are within reach, and you carefully climb further up until you're held up by four different wires. It's an awkward position, but you can get a view down the street.
[Creativity]
As expected, it's much easier to follow the cables from this angle. Apparently the crowd of wire people thins out the farther away it gets, and the road is completely straight so you actually have a decent view of the couple hundred feet left in the cables. They lead to the center of a large area at the end of the road, where they attach to some mechanisms you can't quite make out. Then they redirect straight up, presumably going towards the ceiling--you can't see anything higher than fifteen or so feet, since the net of wires you're in blocks your view.
You also notice that the road seems to have a lot of side paths, where smaller roads branch off. All of them have traffic going through them, except for the closest one on the left side, which is so choked with stalls that nothing can walk through. You start to move to try and get a better look at the blocked road, when a wire leg steps on a hanging wire right in front of your face.
You jerk away with a small yell, but the wire person just continues walking to the wall, which it steps onto and promptly walks up, defying gravity. It just keeps walking up, but you lose track of it a moment later when you realize just how
tall this place is--there's at least another three stories of ribbons and paper lanterns, if not more. You can't see higher only because the space is so thick with ornaments.
Asha felt inspired by Tooru's initiative. From her position, she raised her voice.
"What are you seeing ?"
You stand back and watch as Tooru monkeys her way into the wires hanging above. The net is clearly terrible for climbing around in, but she still climbs confidently through with remarkable speed. You've always been terrible at climbing--you recall the last time you tried to climb a tree, which you fell out of almost immediately. You didn't get hurt then, mostly because you hadn't gotten far up enough for the fall to hurt. You frown and position yourself to try and catch Tooru, just in case she falls...
You're just as surprised as her when the wire person steps in front of her--it was practically invisible in the net, since it's so thin and made of the same stuff. Once you've spotted it, though, it's not hard to follow at all; you carefully watch its path as it walks to the wall and starts walking right up it. You keep watching as it walks directly to a store that's apparently operating through a window, and see a pair of wire arms hold a chainsaw out, which the wire person takes and carefully cradles in its own arms.
"This is a very strange place. I'll follow your instincts, Mina."
Jump up and retrieve the club. Return to the ground then, and try to seek out the grinding sound at ground level. At some point try to put my foot on the wall to see if gravity shifts 90 degrees.
[Joy]
You decide to test the wall for gravity at the same time you retrieve your club. You take a couple steps away, and then run straight at it, jump, and run a few paces up the wall. Gravity doesn't change, so you kick off at the height of your run, launching yourself towards the lantern. You catch yourself on the wire it's hanging from, and casually reach in to grab your club. With it retrieved, you drop down in front of Mina, who just stares at you wide-eyed.
You stare back for a few seconds, eventually pointing out to her that she's the only one who can hear the sound. She sheepishly nods, and then turns to follow it. She's even slower than usual, trying to pick her way through the crowd without touching anything, a task which you know is impossible from experience. You sigh, and just follow along in her wake.
"Uh... yeah, this is new to me too." Mina says in response to the first question, before making that observation. She sees the other girl's club, and wonders - is that magic...? She reaches out, and then she has a halberd. "Oooooh, cool."
Look for the sound! Oh, and stick with Alida. Keep an eye out, too! Never know when the witch could show up.
You watch in slight confusion as Alida backs away from you, facing the wall. A moment later she charges at it, and runs directly up the wall,
getting almost ten feet high, before jumping off and grabbing a hanging wire, where she reaches into the lantern she destroyed and grabs her club. Then she drops down in front of you and looks at you casually, as if elaborate parkour is something every fourteen year old does regularly.
It takes a dry comment from Alida to remind you of your role. You nod and quickly turn away, focusing on listening to the sound as you forge ahead. The wire people are thick in the street, and seemingly completely ignorant of you. You try your best not to touch any of them, but it's impossible in the crowd, and you brush up against some. They just slide past, like liquids, almost entirely without weight or mass. It's odd to feel, but you get used to it, and soon are forging ahead while barely paying any mind to the strange figures that surround you.
[Creativity]
Soon enough you come to a branch in the road, leading to your right. The sound is
much clearer now, a steady grinding of gears which comes from that path, though you can't see the source even once you start walking down that way. Only when you get to the end of the path, where the crowd thins out to only a few wire figures, can you see.
In front of you is a large circular chamber, fifty feet across, which is almost entirely empty. There's no wire figures, no shops, and even the hanging decorations are much thinner, making the entire room feel much more open, though some have fallen down and dangle to the ground. The only objects in the room are a collection of seven short machines in the center, six of which have thick cables leading out towards your right, down a larger road than the one you came through. Two of them are currently active, mechanisms spinning quietly inside as they steadily drag their cables closer.
Additional cables hang above each of the machines, unconnected. Six, above the machines which have their own cables, hang inches above with nothing attached, but the empty machine's hanging cable is four feet above the ground, and is wrapped in a massive bundle which extends another seven feet up. It's only a couple feet wide, somewhat thicker towards the middle and top, and very thin towards the bottom.
Aside from the machines and their steady grinding, the chamber is completely empty, and deathly quiet. The ceiling still can't be seen despite the thinner adornments, because they get suddenly get extremely thick about four or five stories up. There's another three entrances to this room, one large one to your right, and two smaller alleys to the left Even Mina can't hear or see anything else in the room, or see far into the mess of wires and ribbons above.
Character sheets:
Soul Gem: Glowing with a shining light.
Age: 14
Hair Color: Salt-stained blonde.
Health: Fine!
Totem: A fishing club.
Stats:
Bravery: Talented~
Joy: Skilled!
Innocence: Amateur...
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Skilled!
Creativity: Cursed ;-;
Love: Cursed ;-;
Abilities:
Mobility Lvl2
Close Combat Lvl2+1
Totem Manipulation Lvl1
Berzerker Lvl2
Painless Lvl2
Effigy Lvl1
Soul Gem: Glowing with a vibrant light.
Age: 13
Hair color: Ashen
Health: A bit banged up, with a throbbing headache.
Totem: A Ribbon. The one her late sister wore.
Stats:
Bravery: Skilled!
Joy: Cursed ;-;
Innocence: Cursed ;-;
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Talented~
Creativity: Amateur...
Love: Skilled!
Abilities:
Mobility: Level 2
Close Combat: Level 2
Totem Manipulation: Level 0 (+1)
Heal and Steel: Level 2 (Active: Mercy++)
Soothe: Level 2
Flagellation: Level 2
Soul Gem: Glowing with a radiant light.
Age: 14.
Hair Color: Bright green.
Health: Fine!
Totem: A halberd.
Stats:
Bravery: Amateur...
Joy: Skilled!
Innocence: Amateur...
Purity: Skilled!
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Talented~
Love: Cursed ;-;
Abilities:
Mobility: Level 1
Close-Combat: Level 1 (+1)
Regeneration: Level 2
Sixth Sense: Level 2
Semblance: Level 2
Projection: Level 2
Soul Gem: Glowing with a radiant light.
Age: 13
Hair Color: Bright scarlet.
Health: A bit banged up.
Totem: Ofuda talismans, primarily thrown as manabolts.
Stats:
Bravery: Cursed ;-;
Joy: Talented~
Innocence: Skilled!
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Amateur...
Love: Skilled!
Abilities:
Mobility II
Mana Bolt II (+I)
Regeneration I
Gourmand I
Outburst II
Duet with Reality II