the-radical-hamato

[the-radical-hamato]

"Yeah, and absolutely no offense, but probably the same amount of hassle you was giving him, right?" Artimesia decided it was probably a bad idea to go ruffling this lady's feathers any further, but she doubted she'd actually turn the bar to splinters now that she had her drink, "I mean, in all fairness, you do look old enough to have that ID. Maybe you coulda gone a little softer on the poor guy? It really can't be that big a deal to yell at him over it."

the-radical-hamato‌:

Artimesia sighed, she partially regretted speaking up since this woman just seemed bent on getting her drink. Arti looked at the ID then back to the barkeep, shrugging with her wings as she started to speak, “Look, dude, she seems legit. Besides if this is a town of cartoons how could you know if she was underage? Maybe that’s just how she’s drawn! But she also might turn this bar into splinters if she doesn’t get her way.”

She was surprised that the girl turned to her side so quickly, but she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Instead, she simply turned to the bartender and cocked an eyebrow. He looked between the two for a moment, before seemingly sighing in defeat. When his back was turned to grab her a bottle, she did a little celebration dance that she hoped the girl didn’t notice, and then turned back to her once the transaction was over.

“Thank you so much. You have no idea how much hassle that man just put me through.”

[the-radical-hamato]

Artimesia let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in, seeing that the little puppy was okay made her feel a lot better, "It's no problem, I'm just happy I got to help with this little guy. Oh, a name? Uhm- I'm not terrific with names really. Last time I had a pet it was a turtle I named Parmigianino who we nicknamed Nino...accept one of my uncles who called him Parmesan."

"Anyway," She cleared her throat and stepped a little closer to pet the puppy, "I always thought names like Copper or Baxter or Bear were cute for dogs. I know those are kinda used a lot, but if a lot of people like those types of names it's got to be for good reason, right?"

Open Starter: Healing a friend

Charlie was walking in the woods one cold day when he came upon a few hunting traps. Crouching down to inspect one he saw that this particular trap was a bear trap. He took a stick and pressed down on the middle, jumping a bit when it clamped down. Picking up the trap he looked around for more traps.

He walked forward a ways before he heard a whimper coming from the bushes and looked in to see a small dog caught in a trap. He quickly released the dog and picked it up and starting to run home before it started to loose too much blood.

“Hey, are you ok?” He heard from behind him, causing him to whirl around in surprise.

[the-radical-hamato]

Artimesia knelt down to help with the bandage then put them back in her bag. She liked to keep a roll on her since she still sometimes hurt herself when training on her own, "Yeah, no problem! You run pretty fast but I might be able to fly her there? Just, uh, point me in the direction?"

"Oh, right, I'm Artimesia. Or Arti, resident mutant bird-girl," She was still knelt down by the puppy, trying to check any other areas for major injuries but nothing really stood out to her. She was pretty used to dealing with other animals...even if they were usually a little different from this pup, "So, uh, what do you think?"

Open Starter: Healing a friend

Charlie was walking in the woods one cold day when he came upon a few hunting traps. Crouching down to inspect one he saw that this particular trap was a bear trap. He took a stick and pressed down on the middle, jumping a bit when it clamped down. Picking up the trap he looked around for more traps.

He walked forward a ways before he heard a whimper coming from the bushes and looked in to see a small dog caught in a trap. He quickly released the dog and picked it up and starting to run home before it started to loose too much blood.

“Hey, are you ok?” He heard from behind him, causing him to whirl around in surprise.

[the-radical-hamato]

Artimesia rolled her eyes and sipped her soda, "Sure. I mean, he was doing his job but it was probably the only way to end it, right? The hassling or whatever," Her tone was jokeful and she took another drink to keep herself from laughing at the victory dance, "Sorry sorry, I already said that didn't I? I'm Artimesia by the way. You seem familiar but I can't really recall if we've met, what's your name?"

the-radical-hamato‌:

Artimesia sighed, she partially regretted speaking up since this woman just seemed bent on getting her drink. Arti looked at the ID then back to the barkeep, shrugging with her wings as she started to speak, “Look, dude, she seems legit. Besides if this is a town of cartoons how could you know if she was underage? Maybe that’s just how she’s drawn! But she also might turn this bar into splinters if she doesn’t get her way.”

She was surprised that the girl turned to her side so quickly, but she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Instead, she simply turned to the bartender and cocked an eyebrow. He looked between the two for a moment, before seemingly sighing in defeat. When his back was turned to grab her a bottle, she did a little celebration dance that she hoped the girl didn’t notice, and then turned back to her once the transaction was over.

“Thank you so much. You have no idea how much hassle that man just put me through.”

[the-radical-hamato]

Artimesia really wasn't sure where the reserve started, positive! Okay, maybe there'd been an ignored signed, but she'd heard the dog whimpers from where she'd been and had to come check it out. Bit before she could actually check it out this dude (had he been the one she'd seen before?) was running faster than she'd ever seen any normal person run. She ran after him, thinking maybe she could offer assistance, especially if it wasn't just the dog that was hurt.

"Hey, are you okay?" She called out, not expecting him to whirl around so fast but she kept going, trying to explain herself before even stopping properly, "See, I heard that dog from a while away cause, well, I just hear really well and- jeez that looks bad. Hold on, I got bandages in my bag that might help ya-"

Open Starter: Healing a friend

Charlie was walking in the woods one cold day when he came upon a few hunting traps. Crouching down to inspect one he saw that this particular trap was a bear trap. He took a stick and pressed down on the middle, jumping a bit when it clamped down. Picking up the trap he looked around for more traps.

He walked forward a ways before he heard a whimper coming from the bushes and looked in to see a small dog caught in a trap. He quickly released the dog and picked it up and starting to run home before it started to loose too much blood.

“Hey, are you ok?” He heard from behind him, causing him to whirl around in surprise.

[the-radical-hamato]

Artimesia shrugged again out of habit rather than out of not knowing how to answer. She finally took notice of the other's...uniqueness, "Well, t-b-h, I was just gonna say go buy a coat or something. But you look like you probably need something that's a little more not-made-for-humans? I mean, if you're cold now you're gonna get colder later. It'd be easier to deal with it now before you freeze solid."

the-radical-hamato‌:

Artimesia had lived moat of her life in New York, so the winters and everything that came with them was of very little shock to her. She was just on her way to get more supplies from the store when Lauryn yelled. She wasn’t sure who she was talking to but shrugged and responded anyway, “Eh, some humans build a tolerance for it. Trust me, this really is nothin’ compared to most New York winters. This is just the beginning…you should probably look into some better winter clothes. I could help if you wanted. The cold doesn’t bother me anyway.”

Lauryn looked down at her uniform. She’d requested an official police jacket weeks ago, but of course, none actually came to her, “It used to not bother me. But it never snowed where I’m from, and it’s just such a pain to move anywhere,” The gem’s bones felt stiff just standing there, “What do you mean by help?”

[the-radical-hamato]

Artimesia had lived moat of her life in New York, so the winters and everything that came with them was of very little shock to her. She was just on her way to get more supplies from the store when Lauryn yelled. She wasn't sure who she was talking to but shrugged and responded anyway, "Eh, some humans build a tolerance for it. Trust me, this really is nothin' compared to most Bew York winters. This is just the beginning...you should probably look into some better winter clothes. I could help if you wanted. The cold doesn't bother me anyway."

Snow. Why’d it have to be snow? Always getting in the way, freezing her toes, making it hard to move. The gem shards in her hands have cut clean through any gloves Lauryn had tried to wear. How did humans stand this, “Why couldn’t they have built this stupid bunker closer to the beach!” Lauryn called out to no one in particular.

[the-radical-hamato]

"You...you do what?" Granted her family Christmas traditions were seen as a little odd...and one year dad did make a mechanical Santa Claus (that ended with fire, broken gears, and the truth of Santa) so maybe this was just normal in his world? Honestly almost nothing seemed to be constant dimension to dimension, so it really shouldn't be all that hard to grasp, "Robot Santa sounds neat. I mean that's really legit."

Artimedia decided not to bring up the fact that she'd been talking about Halloween still, not Christmas. She figured bringing it up would embarrass the poor guy. She didn't want to embarrass him when he already seemed sc o wound up. She checked the time, close to midnight. Which meant no one was out for trick or treating still. Great, she'd missed most of it for this stupid City Hall and the dumb black out!

"Ugh- It's-...you know it's getting pretty late. Did you get to do anything tonight at all?" Artimesia was trying hard not to sound frustrated, especially since she doubted he'd react well, even if the resentment wasn't aimed at him, "I hit up a few houses but I'm so unready to just get back home. Nights like these make me wanna stay up till, like, four in the morning or sonethin'. Ya know what I mean?"

[the-radical-hamato]

Artimesia sighed, she partially regretted speaking up since this woman just seemed bent on getting her drink. Arti looked at the ID then back to the barkeep, shrugging with her wings as she started to speak, "Look, dude, she seems legit. Besides if this is a town of cartoons how could you know if she was underage? Maybe that's just how she's drawn! But she also might turn this bar into splinters if she doesn't get her way."

the-radical-hamato‌:

Artimesia was sitting next to the lady at the bar, not drinking obviously since she was underage, but it was more comfortable for her wings to sit on something with an open back. She startled a little when the other yelled, looking up at them, “Hey, lady, he’s just doin’ his job. You don’t have to get all worked up. I’m sure you can do this calmly, yeah?”

“If he was just doing his job,” America gritted her teeth, turning to face the girl. “Then he would let me have my drink.” She was sure that she meant no harm. After all, she was technically in the right, as was the bartender. But being ‘in the right’ didn’t get her wine any faster. Or easier, for that matter.

[the-radical-hamato]

Artimesia looked Caroline over subtly, figuring she was from a place without artificial light. Honestly Artimesia had gotten so used to living under the artificial lights of New York City she had to take some time to adjust her eyesight when the power went off. It was weird, her eye sight was over human perfection (an outcome of her mutation) but it was still adjusting, now only to the lantern she'd been handed by someone from City Hall. She checked the time on her watch, it was getting close to midnight now and she'd barely gone out. Well, maybe she found just get the half-price candy from the stores in the morning.

She turned to the other, holding the lamp awkwardly as she definitely wasn't used to it, and sighed, "Honestly, I know animals better suited to lead a city! It's- it's really angering, y'know? We get thrown some place totally different, have to adjust to life here, and we have to deal with this level of foolery."

It was hard not to smile after saying something like 'foolery', she smirked and shook her head, "Then again it is kind of entertaining, in a weird 'I was getting bored anyway' sort of way. I mean this sarcastically but we definitely needed something else going on, right? And I'm sorry I don't think I got your name, I'm Artimesia."

Open Starter: Sleeping City

"'Go trick or treating', they said, 'It'll be fun!' they said. Yeah, well, what fun is this?" Artimesia stood outside the dark City Hall in her full costume. Which was, upon closer inspection, just her. Her family rarely did actual costumes as Halloween seemed to be when New Yorkers bothered them even less. Although there was that one year Uncle Mikey went as a pizza slice. But that's a different story.

She'd wanted to just go and have fun tonight, maybe go on a hayride maybe get some candy and go watch a scary movie. But no. The lights had to ho out. Artimesia's first thought had been panic, the last time she'd seen something like this the Kraang had invaded again. The adventure after had left a resonating fear in her mind that she just couldnt shake.

Artimesua huffed and crossed her arms around her, she'd forgotten to bring a jacket and the sunless sky was a bitter reminder. She switched her thoughts back to the reason she was even outside. She turned to someone next to her and gestured at the building, "Any thoughts on this? Personally I'm pretty ticked. It's like a buncha clowns are working up there."

[the-radical-hamato]

Artimesia chuckled, nodding her head and sighing, "Yes, I know, I thought of it as soon as it came out of my mouth. But my point still stands that I have good reason to be angry. I mean, I'm an inventor, I had experiments to run tonight and tomorrow, how the shell am I supposed to do that when there's no electricity? I mean, I'm no Leonardo Da Vinci, I work with electricity and the modern era things for the most part!"

She threw her hands up into the air in exasperation. How was she supposed to test out her new and improved (and hopefully working) portal machine if she didn't have electricity? Artimesia knew she couldn't create electricity in these means either, so it was up in the air when she could actually find out of her latest invention worked.

"I also think it's a little weird how they seem to be dealing with this on their own. I mean, didnt the government of this world put us here? Shouldn't we be asking them what's going on and not leaving it up to people who've never run a city, let alone an actual life?" Yeah that was a little harsh, but so was Artimesia right now. She rolled her eyes and looked at Tai quizzically, "But you seem pretty calm about this black out business. Lemme guess, you're from an era with none of this modern stuff? Right?"

the-radical-hamato‌:

“Dude, I’m not panicking, and I know that, I just don’t happen to carry around candles, ” Artimesia dug her t-phone out of her bag and turned it’s flashlight on just to prove she had light, “I’m just saying that for once I’d like this city council to have a little competence. I’m ticked because there’s nothing right about any of this. I’m ticked off because no one knows what’s going on but no one is trying to get answers out of the so-called government!”

Her New Yorker accent thickened as she rambled on, she huffed and shoved the phone back in her bag. She didn’t need it at all, her eyesight had improved tremendously when she’d mutated. The problem for Artimesia wasn’t the lack of light, but the lack of answers.

“I mean, really, no one knows a thing up there! Like I said, a buncha bozos. Actuando como un montón de burro,” She muttered the last part towards the building then turned back to the guy in front of her, shaking her head softly, “They’re idiots up there. And I’m Artemisia by the way. Resident angry bird-girl.”

“You’re not wrong.” Tai can’t argue. The grumpy old man in him (despite his being only thirty-six years of age), always leans toward assuming the worst out of youngsters around him—that they’re blissfully unaware, too trusting, and incredibly naive. Perhaps he’s just projecting—he wasn’t the cleverest in his youth, though he’d hate to admit that.

“Their competence should’ve been put into question from day one,“ he continues. “But, to be fair, this did just happen. A failure of the electrical grid is one thing, but I feel like it might take longer to figure out why the sun’s not coming up.” Her muttering in a different tongue piques his interest. It reminds him of the Latin language, something he’s heard in his travels.

“I go by Tai. Now, when you say angry bird…you realize that the first thing that comes to my mind is the phone game, right?” He gets along fine without technology, sure. But that doesn’t mean he never indulged in it. If he were honest, he’d admit that he’s pretty ticked off about not being able to catch up on his favorite shows, or enjoy the latest update on a puzzle game he’d been hooked on. But he has a reputation to uphold, right?

[the-radical-hamato]

"Dude, I'm not panicking, and I know that, I just don't happen to carry around candles, " Artimesia dug her t-phone out of her bag and turned it's flashlight on just to prove she had light, "I'm just saying that for once I'd like this city council to have a little competence. I'm ticked because there's nothing right about any of this. I'm ticked off because no one knows what's going on but no one is trying to get answers out of the so-called government!"

Her New Yorker accent thickened as she rambled on, she huffed and shoved the phone back in her bag. She didn't need it at all, her eyesight had improved tremendously when she'd mutated. The problem for Artimesia wasn't the lack of light, but the lack of answers.

"I mean, really, no one knows a thing up there! Like I said, a buncha bozos. Actuando como un montón de burro," She muttered the last part towards the building then turned back to the guy in front of her, shaking her head softly, "They're idiots up there. And I'm Artemisia by the way. Resident angry bird-girl."

the-radical-hamato‌:

Open Starter: Sleeping City

“‘Go trick or treating’, they said, 'It’ll be fun!’ they said. Yeah, well, what fun is this?” Artimesia stood outside the dark City Hall in her full costume. Which was, upon closer inspection, just her. Her family rarely did actual costumes as Halloween seemed to be when New Yorkers bothered them even less. Although there was that one year Uncle Mikey went as a pizza slice. But that’s a different story.

She’d wanted to just go and have fun tonight, maybe go on a hayride maybe get some candy and go watch a scary movie. But no. The lights had to ho out. Artimesia’s first thought had been panic, the last time she’d seen something like this the Kraang had invaded again. The adventure after had left a resonating fear in her mind that she just couldnt shake.

Artimesua huffed and crossed her arms around her, she’d forgotten to bring a jacket and the sunless sky was a bitter reminder. She switched her thoughts back to the reason she was even outside. She turned to someone next to her and gestured at the building, “Any thoughts on this? Personally I’m pretty ticked. It’s like a buncha clowns are working up there.”

It was as if Tai had the upper hand for once. The city had plunged into darkness, but he’d never felt so light. This was his terf. A world without electricity, devoid of any sort of electric-based technology. The incessant buzzing had ceased, and he never thought he’d ever hear true silence like this again. It felt like home.

So, of course, his initial response to the stranger’s question had to be laughter.

“Candles exist, y’know,” he points out, gesturing to the lantern he’d been carrying around with him since the lights went out. “Electrical power has only been used in this world for what? A mere hundred years or so? And yet human civilization has existed for thousands, if not more. I’m sure we’ll live.”

[the-radical-hamato]

Artimesia looked his outfit up and down and grinned widely, "Dude, I love Star Trek! Obviously it's not as good as Space Heroes is, but your costume is totally fire man!'

"But uh, hey," Artimesia looked back at his face and remembered him immediately. The guy who needed 'How to Chillax and Go With the Flow' classes or something. She wasn't sure what had him so wound up. Sure she was also pretty wound herself but she knew her own reasons, "You okay? You look, like, upset over somethin' that's not just the lights."

There was probably a lot of different reasons, but Artimesia reckoned staying around City Hall for now probably wasn't helping, so rather than let him answer she started talking some more, "Hey the clowns in there are probably gonna take all night. We should get outta here and go, like, trick or treating. They still have that in the future? Or is everything automated or whatever?"

This was a bad idea. He should– He should just go, go back home, and change out of this stupid outfit, and…

Steve scrutinised his getup for, like, the millionth time, and… uh, this was lame, and he had no idea how he’d gone this far in, like…

He audibly sighed. He was wearing a, well, a costume he’d cobbled together himself, consisting of a bright red shirt – it had some… emblem on it, like an ‘A’? Kind of? The guy behind the counter had said it was from something called Star Trek? – some off-white, tatty boots and gloves, and a… red skirt.

It was meant to look like his dad’s uniform. But it wasn’t nearly as cool. Steve just felt like a phony. Yet, here he was, outside of City Hall. Again, how he’d come this far was a mystery; he’d been fretting all the way over, and yet he kept going. Until now. The lights going out must have knocked something loose, he guessed?

Then he heard someone talk. To him. It was Art… Artemis… no, that wasn’t it. Arty, at least? It was someone he sort of knew, anyway, and he was wearing this, making a clown of himself, never mind who was working in City Hall.

“Uh…hi. N-No,” he said, sheepishly.

[the-radical-hamato]

Open Starter: Sleeping City

"'Go trick or treating', they said, 'It'll be fun!' they said. Yeah, well, what fun is this?" Artimesia stood outside the dark City Hall in her full costume. Which was, upon closer inspection, just her. Her family rarely did actual costumes as Halloween seemed to be when New Yorkers bothered them even less. Although there was that one year Uncle Mikey went as a pizza slice. But that's a different story.

She'd wanted to just go and have fun tonight, maybe go on a hayride maybe get some candy and go watch a scary movie. But no. The lights had to ho out. Artimesia's first thought had been panic, the last time she'd seen something like this the Kraang had invaded again. The adventure after had left a resonating fear in her mind that she just couldnt shake.

Artimesua huffed and crossed her arms around her, she'd forgotten to bring a jacket and the sunless sky was a bitter reminder. She switched her thoughts back to the reason she was even outside. She turned to someone next to her and gestured at the building, "Any thoughts on this? Personally I'm pretty ticked. It's like a buncha clowns are working up there."

[the-radical-hamato]

Artimesia was sitting next to the lady at the bar, not drinking obviously since she was underage, but it was more comfortable for her wings to sit on something with an open back. She startled a little when the other yelled, looking up at them, "Hey, lady, he's just doin' his job. You don't have to get all worked up. I'm sure you can do this calmly, yeah?"

“What do you mean it’s fake? This is a government sanctioned ID! Yeah, you can ask the mayor yourself! Besides, are you saying that this face looks a day below 21?”

[the-radical-hamato]

Artimesia nodded, piecing together what his world was like from his rambling. She didn't want to comment much more on physics in case he really did just not know about science out of ignorance, which was totally fine, "There might just not be a name for it, which is cool. So, balance to the world? That's...wack, and I mean that in the best way. So your uncle had to do a lot of world saving? Or did things just sort of magically become better when he could bend all of the elements?"

"And I totally relate to the whole 'not having powers' thing," She used air quotes to emphasize her point, though she thought her mutation was pretty wicked it didn't count as a power like her mom had, "My mom is a mutant but...not? She's not part animal like me or anything but she gas these awesome psychic powers. She can, like, read minds and move objects through telekinesis. Me? Nope."

the-radical-hamato‌:

Artimesia breathed out, happy that he’d at least gotten the gist of it through her unneeded rambling, but when really wasnt sure how yo respond to basically anything he said next, “Okay, yeah you got what I said, sorry again about all that, but I just- I mean you don’t- You don’t….know what physics is? I mean is there even science in your world? Physics is a branch of science focused on nature and properties of matter and ener-….energy. You didn’t ask for an explanation of physics but I just- I mean is how we understand so many things. Although I prefer mechanics and biology, physics is still fun to read about…for me at least.”

She closed her eyes for a second, reminding herself that there were other things to talk about, “Okay water bending sounds totally radical. Any type of bending sounds radical, really, can you bend anything? And why is the Avatar guy the only one who can bend all four?” Artimesia decided she was going to ignore the screaming in her mind that reminded her that, scientifically, “bending” shouldn’t be possible. But her mom was psychic and she was a mutant bird-girl, so who was she to judge?

“Oh, oh that? Oh, my bad, yeah, we totally have that. We just, don’t have a name for it yet, I guess? Or maybe we do. I mean, I’m not really a science guy, so that’s kind of out of my wheelhouse, know what I mean?” Spirits, he was starting to think that maybe he should know this stuff. Was it really just more common knowledge where she came from? Or was he actually just more of an idiot than he thought?

Ah yes, the dreaded question. “Oh, no. I-I can’t bend. I have a lot of family that can! But I just, didn’t get the gene, I guess…” He trailed off, clearing his throat in an attempt to fill the silence. “The Avatar can bend four because they’re meant to help bring balance to the world. I, don’t understand all the mechanics of it. I’m not sure anyone does, yet. I think it’s something to do with the spirits? But the Avatar is actually my uncle, so that’s something! Not by blood, though. He just married my aunt. Not that that would make a difference! It isn’t, genetic or anything. It’s actually really random, other than the whole nation thing.”

[the-radical-hamato]

Artimesia shrugged with her wings, still using her arms to settle her bags. Once that was over she looked back up at him and sighed, that was always the question with humans. She didn't mind so much but it was a little tiring to answer, "The wings? They're a mutation. It's...complicated to explain so I won't go into the full story but where I'm from I'm a mutant, part human and part bird. I started out as a human, like you, but I got mutated into...this."

She gestured broadly at herself, as if to show off her feathers, "And, yeah, my family gets a lot of flak for being mutants. But we make do like a mutant do, and it's not as bad as it used to be now that a lot of mutants have come out of hiding for the most part."

Artimesia didn't really think he'd understand the whole mutation aspect, but she wasn't going to explain unless asked. The bus lurched forward and she checked the map to make sure she was heading in the right direction, "Hey Steve, where ya goin'?"

Open post: One door closes...