Announcement Box

[Mr_Bob]

It was Vince's first time on Fortuna. He was currently taking a fly by over the top of the sea of trees.

He was already in awe of the place, never has he seen so much foilage in his life, it was a spectacular sight to behold for the young fox. He had been to many places now, but like the other planets, Fortuna had a flavour that Vince seemed to like.

He had decided to set foot for a quick snack and walkabouts, he had landed nearby a large canyon with a mighty river passing through it. He estimated it was about a 20 metre drop and that river looked very rapid.

So he sat on a rock nearby and started to tuck into a sandwich while he was enjoying the view, "What a great place for a snack!"

[Valiance]

She couldn't believe she had come back already.

But in truth, Singala wasn't back. Not back home, at least. No, she was far from home--a long ways from the dry, enclosed savanna and withering forest edge. Here, the jungle was fresh & green, littered with the heavy aroma of hanging foliage and air, some of the healthiest in the galaxy, she had heard, due to the great many trees photosynthesizing the atmosphere. It's nice here, as well, to say the least.

Singala rested yards away, also worn & currently sited atop a very similar rock, yet this one was covered heavily by a moist moss, receding from the rock's head below, residing as a mass growth near the river running vastly and wroded the orange-drenched rocks. Singala could not recall ever coming to this side of Fortuna before, but had hoped dearly that no one she had once known would be here. No one was to see her here, no, today was a day off.

She had tired from her hopeless attempts to find such a planet where her help was needed, and Fortuna seemed the only welcoming planet around. Singala lusted for a place to call familiar in such a vast & different galaxy, and yet she still felt that her own home was too far from being returnable. She shook her long head in a manner that showed her exasperation, one arm rested on her striped knees, the night cool on her limbs. Her golden eyes lingered on the flowing, clear water below, unaware of any other presence in the area. Softly, yet audibly, the okapi emitted a low sigh of heavy burden, her brow furrowing in thought.

[Mr_Bob]

Vince now had just finished his snack and had decided to take a walk around the area, but something had caught his attention.

A few metres from where he was, he saw a very odd creature; an opaki. He had known about opakis before but he thought he'd never see one in person. But something didn't seem right about this picture, opakis aren't found in dense jungle like this. That little thought gave Vince more of an urge to see what is going on.

He looked at the opaki, she seemed exasperated, but what was she exasperated about? Did it involve something about her home or was she mad about something that had failed? All this added fuel to Vince's urge. He must meet this exotic person! He made his way to the rock she was sitting on, he made sure he didn't look thereating in anyway just in case.

"Hello there..." Vince greeted with a polite voice, "Beautiful night isn't it?"

It was a start...

[Valiance]

Is it a beautiful night?

At first, she had thought the voice to have come from within her, a rhetorical question that seemed to ironically contrast her mood. But sooner than later, the short sound of breathing came from her side, causing a tad bit of confusion & surprise. Her head whipped to the side, a look of near cynical ignorance. What--or who--was caught in her vision was a sight in itself.

He was a fox, most obviously, one that may have been around her age, had he not looked so young in comparison to her own self. His stature equaled that of herself sitting upon the rock, so she estimated he measured somewhere around six feet, so she ultimately assumed that he certainly was not from Fortuna. Though, one would hardly guess she was either--besides, of course, her strange species. With a cocked eyebrow, her cold expression vanishing into one of pure curiosity & defense.

Singala recognized the excitement in his eyes, the determination the fox had. It must have been his fascination--that was the way everyone looked at Singala, almost. A face that almost seemed superior, close to that of people gauking at animals in a zoo. Normally, it bothered Singala, but she had begun to ignore the expression.

"Good evening," the okapi responded dryly, almost apprehensive in sound. "And yes, I suppose it is." Until then, Singala had neglected to observe the night, but now realized the clear sky, filled with glittering signs of stars & planets, not so far away to her, now that she had traveled. Swiftly, before the fox could shoot another conversation bore her way, Singala managed a few questions of her own, hiding a concern that could have been a warning in itself.

"What are you doing out here? You're a far way from home--I can tell." She paused, for an effect in the darkening evening. "It's dangerous out here, especially at night. You should know that."

[Mr_Bob]

Well, it was a bit obvious to Vince that he stuck out. He had heard of giant creatures on Fortuna, but that didn’t bother him. He was only going out for a quick walk after he had finished a quick snack on the planet just to stretch his legs. He really was here because of his curiosity and the fact he had been hard at work for a week.

“Well…” Vince replied, “I’m just here for refreshment.” A bit odd considering that Fortuna would be the last place most people would go for relaxation considering the dangers, but Vince felt confident that he wouldn’t get to that stage, he wasn’t planning for a long stay. “Yes, I’m aware of the dangers, I’m not going to stay long at all.”

Now that he was closer, he was able to get a closer look at the okapi, he had noticed some rather interesting markings on the okapi, although he couldn’t really tell if those were natural or tribal. He then noticed the necklace she was wearing. They started cerulean and got lighter the closer it got to the centre where a green triangle and two pearls on a string were on. Vince figured that the necklace was also of great importance.

Vince was now even more curious of the okapi, but there was still one thing that needed answering.

“It seems that you too, are a fair bit away from home as well,” Vince replied, hoping that he wasn’t making an idiot of himself with his clear lack of knowledge about Fortunan geography, he was only saying it because this wouldn’t be a place where he’d expect to find okapis on Fortuna. “What seems to be the matter?”

Now, he wasn’t expecting much there as he didn’t know what the issue really was.

[Valiance]

Her brows rose even more against her chocolate-hued coat, the braid behind her elongated head swaying softly as her head moved. Hardly a place to come for one to relax. At this, Singala mentally chortled, thinking herself a hypocrite at such a thought. Her eyes lingered on the fox's face for a moment, taking his remark for granted. You do, do you? Somehow, that's almost hard to believe for myself…

"Oh, well, while you are here, at least," Singala murmured, a vague expression upon her snout, "do be careful."

And there was that look again. He had begun to study her--no, not her, but something, of what she was wearing perhaps. Without movement or expression, Singala stared on back, watching as his glinting eyes ravished from her own eyes to her neck. Unconsciously, a single hoof raised to the necklace hanging there, rolling a single deep blue bead along the thread on which it hung. As the fox spoke again, her eyes still did not leave him, installing an awkward, frowning look upon him, not unlike that of a domesticated feline goaded into an unimportant staring contest.

At his remark, Singala had to laugh aloud this time, a sound that could have sounded nostalgic if one knew what to listen for--the exhausted ending, the nasal exhalation that narrated her lack of wanting to open her mouth. Looking away now, Singala had to keep back a sharp reply of fact in order to keep her calm. In truth, the okapi was far from home, not quite so physically, but mentally. Such a thought remained far from what the fox would understand in a single sitting, she surmised, so she kept it to herself.

"You could say that, I suppose." Her eyes shifted around the landscape, knowing that during the day, it must have been laden in heat, intoxicating those who were unfamiliar to the harsh sunlight. Singala silently wondered if she would be so unfamiliar to the sun these days, even if her leaving hadn't been so long ago. At his final que, Singala was tempted to remain silent, but shrugged off her austere instinct to give a vague reply.

"What's the matter with anyone these days?" Singala countered. "I wouldn't think myself to have any more problems than anyone else. In fact," the okapi paused, hinting at the smallest of smiles. "I wouldn't say anything was wrong with me at all."

[Mr_Bob]

"Well...fair enough then..." Vince replied, deciding not to go any further with that point. But another curious point came to mind for the vulpine, did people on Fortuna really give a stuff about the war going on? Or is it something that doesn't even emit a blip on the radar?

"How about the so-called war then?" Vince asked, "What's you thoughts on that then?"

Yes...it was still quiet, but Vince got that feeling that something really major was going to happen real soon.

[Valiance]

Just as when he had approached, Singala ripped her head to the side, except that her face held something much different from before, not quite disgust, but something horrifyingly close. At the very mention of war, Singala sneered. What a filthy word. The okapi shifted uncomfortably on the rock, her hand resting heavily on her thigh, for a reason of insecurity and defense.

"The war." Singala nearly spat the word, though it came out more as a hiss, between clamped omnivoric teeth. "It's a disgusting thing--with plenty of disgusting people in it." The slits of her eyes darted over the landscape angrily, images scraping at her mind in a blur of flames, screaming words at her that seemed intelligible. She continued in somewhat of a rant, never quite meeting eyes with him.

"I despise Apostasy," Singala stated fearlessly, her voice roughening out to a growl. She gave no clear reason for such a statement, just a harsh intonation. "And I'll die before I see them live on making others miserable. If you don't agree, then, well, I can't help but think it's your loss."

Had it been a threat? Her eyes still traced the ranging landscape far off, the receding forest caps, a hill or two somewhere in the fading distance. Her hoof tightened into a hardened fist in her lap, and had she willed them too, her cheeks would have flushed radiantly in anger, not at the question exactly, but just, at everything. At war. At Apostasy. And at fire.

[Mr_Bob]

Vince felt a bit of sweat go down the back of his neck, that wasn't the response he expected. He could see that she totally hated the whole thing.

"Well...OK then..." Vince said, who was wondering if the next question was worth asking, "Have you actually joined up into one of the Alliance factions?"

He was hoping that the disgusting people she had meant refered only to the Apostasy and not to the other side as well...

He didn't even know why he was asking such a question, but Vince had a feeling this was no ordinary Fortunan tribeswoman. Either that or he was totally mistaken about the tribes of Fortuna.

[Valiance]

Singala sucked at the inside of her cheek a bit, nibbling at the tissue, giving her cheek an odd shape. She looked dejectedly at her hoof, as if examining some unseeable particle of dust that disfigured the caulky surface the resembled fresh tar. The question irked her, almost embarrassed her in a way. She didn't like to admit her faults in directions, and certainly not to strangers.

With a sigh similar to that of her first, her knitted brows fell in the slightest, showing her anger cool for the moment. Singala scolded herself inwardly for speaking so passionately & violently out of thin air--he must have thought her a lunatic. Not that she assumed he thought her otherwise by her words alone.

"…No," she admitted in a low voice, though not nearly as gruff as her previous angered tone. "I haven't… had any success in locating a recruitment center." Singala swallowed hard at the confession, knowing full well it would make her seem quite incapable. She had asked so many people so far that she was almost tired of explaining herself, but still longed to locate such a spot where she could serve the Alliance, though of course, in her own ways.

Looking at the fox's expression once again, a sly smile, not one of happiness in the least, crossed her bleak lips for a passing moment. "I think I might know what you're thinking, boy." Singala's voice was haughty & confident, though was standing on thin ice when speaking in such a broad manner. "'How would she know about the war, why would she feel so passionately?' Well, I'm not like most of the Fortunians here, I guess you would think of." She looked away again, not insisting on the topic of her differences from her own society.

[Mr_Bob]

"Yes..." Vince nodded, again he was well read like a book when she told him "why the passion"...

Again, Vince was left to wonder a few things. If she was searching for recuritment bases, that should mean she has a form of transport. But failure to find centres? Maybe she had only tried out for the NCF base. Unlike the name, The base is on Katina, not Corneria.

He knew that was easily the best bet to join up for the Alliance. Titania is similar, but there are a few factors there that would affect how new recurits would go. Culture wise, the NCF might be the better bet, but maybe she could tough it out with the rebels as well.

"I'm presuming that you've tried to sign up for the NCF, yes?" asked Vince. "Well, the only withstanding base left is Grey Base on Katina. Which I know sounds odd, but hey, I'm not one that runs it." he took a little pause before giving out another option. "Or...you could try your luck at the rebels at Titania."

"Your choice really Miss..." he didn't know the name of the okapi, so he just stopped it there so maybe she could give him a name, but at the same time, it sounded like he was only going to stop there without giving an actual name.

[Valiance]

So I was right. Singala confirmed this proudly in her head, restoring a bit of egoism to her stature. Though, again, the male fox seemed to be enraptured in his own mind once more, causing the okapi to continue her bored examination of her hoof until he spoke again. At his suggestions, Singala managed an ignorant smirk, trying closely not to appear as though she were not listening.

"Katina, Titania…" Singala repeated the names with a hint of bated sarcasm & dismay. Shrugging her broad shoulders but once, her voice lightened with a laugh heated in trouble. "The names of planets hardly mean a thing to me. Give me a map and I'll throw it away. Directions are of no use to me--I never learned how to use them."

What the okapi spoke was not false, for back home, hundreds of miles from where she sat, no one needed directions or names to identify locations or crafts of transportation. They had led a simplistic life, and, as she surmised, still did. Familiarity with places & their names did not come easily to Singala, and she doubted they ever would.

At his final statement--or was it a question?--Singala couldn't help but feel obligated to finish his odd remark, of course, with her formal name. She didn't doubt that by it he would be fascinated as well, for it too, was slightly unique. The okapi started to rise form her spot on the mossy stone, reaching her full height, head & neck stretching only slight inches above the fox whose name with which she was unconcerned.

"Singala Zetah," she said with each vowel & consonant accented, not bothering to look at him, to extend her hoof. From one side of the rock she drew her staff and carefully lunged it onto her back, adjusting the strap busily.

Before Singala decided that this conversation had dragged on her nerves long enough, she grew curious once more, looking at the fox perhaps for the final time. "Might I ask, boy," she began, blinking her golden-orange eyes lazily. "Would you happen to be affiliated with the Alliance, or Apostasy? I can't help but be curious, you see."

[Mr_Bob]

"Come on...if you intend to join up, surely you'll have to get some knowledge of where things are..." thought Vince.

"Err...well...you see, about that..." Vince stuttered when Singala metioned that directions were of no use to her. "You'll need to have at least a bit of knowledge where you're going, otherwise you're basically a wanderer. Consider that a test to join up the forces then..."

He didn't honestally know if she was going to be ready for this sort of thing, she couldn't even find the places she was meant to be going nor looks like she would bother with it. He was really hoping she'll prove him wrong.

Just as she was about to leave him, she asked him about what side of the war he was on, he just replied, "Alliance, of course." Vince replied. "Hopefully the next time I see you, you'll be part of the Alliance faction for sure."

"Just for a note, the name's Vince" he added after, offering his hand for a handshake.

(OOC: Thanks for the RP Valiance. I too need to get going soon, I'll write the conclusion post when I come back. You can post ahead.)

[Valiance]

"A test, hmn?" Singala retorted, a bit amused at his challenging replies to her independent & personal statements. It was entertaining to see the fox so easily deterred, eager to point her in a direction of his own advisment, and for her own good? I am the only one to be concerned with my own good. "I was always a bit of a wanderer any way, so I can't see how it would be much different. But, if you believe that I should learn directions, then, I suppose I can try to."

The last line was accompanied by the slyest of smiles, unreadable to most anyone unfamiliar with Singala, which, conveniently, included anyone. In actuality, though she was quite aware of her inability for direction following, she assumed that nothing could quite make her ever recognize the common knowledge of the galaxy's workings.

At his response to her own question, Singala had turned away from the open canyon and towards a lengthy walk into the shaded forest that loomed like storm clouds on the horizon. There, beneath a tumult of branches & undergrowth stealthily awaited the Elimnyama. She nodded her brown head in approval, her black mane tossing at the movement. She murmured a reply before beginning to walk. "Yes, let us both hope so."

And as she began to make her way from the young fox who in fact was not so far from her own age, Singala heard his offering of a name, but ignored it. If he had extended his hand, it was to be dropped, for Singala was not concerned with such formalities. To herself, the okapi admitted that she doubted they would cross paths again, especially not here. It would be a long while before she would return. Already, the itch inside her that said she needed to leave this planet of her homeland nibbled at her, urging her to gain pace, to make it to the ship faster than before. But as she began to vanish at several yards and yards away, a single hoof raised in the air beside her in good-bye, and a muffled sound of speech went unheard.

Vince, be careful out here--let's hope my friends are full this night, for your sake.

[No problem--and thank you, as well. That was a good RP, for Singala, even if she is like, super mean. XD]

[Mr_Bob]

Vince waved back at Singala as she got further and further away. He saw her lips move, but he didn't hear anything. He knew she must've said his name, but he was unable to catch what the rest of it was.

He hoped that Singala would have a safe journey.

He then thought about what had happened, hopefully he had helped a potential recruit for the Alliance, but he still had his doubts. The passion is defiantly there, but would she be able to convert that?

"Maybe she underestimates herself?" Vince thought, hoping that what's the problem and goes under the "don't try, don't fail" philosophy. Sure, maybe she was hopeless in directions, but one could always learn, you're never too old to learn. She may come from a place full of different values, but he was hoping that she could adapt to those changes. That’s the fun of travelling, you learn about different cultures. Which reminded him, he never got a chance to ask her about it!

He heard the clasp of thunder out in the distance, even tho Vince had only experienced that phenomenon once, he wasn't willing to experience it here, so he made his way back to his Arwing and set a course for his next destination.