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Poultrygeist (10) : As Destiny City is a bustling metropolis, it’s not unexpected that there should be some strange animals running the streets. Sometimes it’s a tiger, sometimes a monkey, sometimes a chicken. Sometimes it’s something worse. Strange egg clusters have appeared in Destiny City’s parks and officials aren’t really sure what they are; these eggs have nothing inside of them. Though it’s an anomaly, they are chalking it up to teenaged pranks. However, they have advised to just leave the eggs as they are. Nobody wants to say why, but if you’re out late at night, you’ll find out. In the darkness, whispered between the sounds of the city: a guttural, rasping cluck. The creature stands on stilt-like legs, rooted to the ground with razor-sharp talons. It wears a cloak of long, oily feathers that drag on the ground with a sinister scraping. If you stare into the darkness, piercing red eyes stare back at you. That’s all it takes for a confrontation: a mangled bird, maybe a chicken in another life, comes barreling out at you. It stands easily as tall as a person, but the proportions are all wrong. The smell of sulfur follows it as it lunges, pecking and screaming and scratching as it attempts to chase you away. Maybe, from the nests full of empty eggs. The battles are fierce, but fleeting; it will viciously try to chase you away but the effects are always the same: at some point, the eggs are crushed. As always, there’s nothing inside of them, but with one final wail, the bird will vanish into a plume of foul smoke.
Note: If you choose to encounter one of these bird-like creatures, your character will recognize they are not youma. It is impossible to tell if it is a single entity or if there are many. The bird does not seem to understand or care to listen to human words. It will always disappear in a malodorous plume of smoke and leave nothing but a foul odor and a clutch of empty, broken eggs behind. This RP can be used as a battle requirement as long as there are two powered characters involved; you must be interacting with another player’s powered character. This does not count as the one youma battle per stage for growth. This can only be used as a battle requirement once per character, but there is no limitation for how many times a player can use this prompt.
Note: If you choose to encounter one of these bird-like creatures, your character will recognize they are not youma. It is impossible to tell if it is a single entity or if there are many. The bird does not seem to understand or care to listen to human words. It will always disappear in a malodorous plume of smoke and leave nothing but a foul odor and a clutch of empty, broken eggs behind. This RP can be used as a battle requirement as long as there are two powered characters involved; you must be interacting with another player’s powered character. This does not count as the one youma battle per stage for growth. This can only be used as a battle requirement once per character, but there is no limitation for how many times a player can use this prompt.
Charlie thought getting ice cream during Starfest was probably one of those things people were supposed to do. There were lights everywhere, and music, and vendors selling things shaped like stars that did not necessarily need to be shaped like stars but were much more fun because they were. Cookies, earrings, soaps, tiny painted jars, and at least one suspiciously expensive scarf with little constellations embroidered across it.
She had already bought a charm for herself and Aiden from one of the vendors on the way to the ice cream shop. It looked like a tiny ice cream cone with a five pointed star for the scoop, and hers was pink, because of course it was. She had clipped it to her bag before they had even left the booth, and it bounced against the other charms every time she took a step.
"I think it's cute," she said, even though Aiden had not said anything to suggest otherwise. "It's like regular ice cream, but magical. Or space ice cream. Although… I guess space ice cream is already a thing, but that's usually freeze dried and this looks much better," she hummed as she ran her hand over the group of charms to make them jingle even more.
The actual ice cream had been just as important. Charlie had chosen dark chocolate, because most of the brightly colored flavors looked like they would make her teeth hurt just from looking at them. She had added a few chopped nuts on top, but nothing too sweet. Candy had its place, but she didn't think it needed to be mixed into perfectly good ice cream.
Aiden had gone with something weird, which she found endearing. Something that sounded like the flavor an older relative might keep in the freezer and insist was better than chocolate. Something best enjoyed wrapped up in a knitted blanket while doing a crossword puzzle. Actually… that sounded kind of nice.
The park was quieter than the festival streets, but not empty. Lights from the nearby booths still filtered though the trees, and Charlie liked the way they made everything look soft and glittery around the edges. She had heard about the strange clusters of eggs people kept finding there, but so far she had not seen any.
She was only a little disappointed.
Not because she wanted to touch them! Officials had specifically said not to do that! And Charlie was very capable of following instructions when they seemed reasonable. She just wanted to look at them and maybe sketch one. Empty eggs were strange. They made her think of unfinished molds, like something had formed the outside and then forgotten what was supposed to go inside.
She was about to tell Aiden that when something scraped across the pavement up ahead of them.
Charlie stopped walking.
The sound came again, followed by a low, rasping cluck.
Her eyes widened. "Aiden," she hissed a whisper, reaching over to catch his sleeve. "I think there's a chicken."
Another cluck answered from the darkness. Charlie frowned thoughtfully. "A very large chicken."
Two red eyes appeared between the trees. The creature stepped beneath the nearest lamp, all long legs, hooked talons, and dragging black feathers. It stood nearly as tall as they did, and the smell of sulfur rolled toward them a moment later.
Charlie stared. "Oh," she said softly. "It's a cursed chicken."
The creature screamed and charged.
Charlie yelped and threw herself to the side, her cup of ice cream tumbling from her hand and splattering across the path, but she managed to keep hold of Aiden's sleeve, dragging him away as talons scraped through the space where they'd just been standing a second before.
"Aiden!" she gasped, scrambling upright once more while making sure Aiden was okay. Light swept around her as she powered up, hoping to give them at least even footing against this strange creature. Whatever it was, she could tell it wasn't a youma, although that wasn't especially reassuring when it had claws and clearly did not want to be friends.
Connie looked down at her ruined ice cream and her expression fell as she looked back up at the bird. "That was very rude."
