Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » Trick or Treat: Kys'Jarok & Xá'Taren (Closed)

Xá casually flicked the brim of his hat as a kind of goodbye and settled into his chair. He had seen plenty of weird exits in the past couple of centuries of space travel. In a way, compared to some, the use of a portal was actually quite normal.

Sivwikkas let out a startled squawk when Kys addressed them. They'd been so caught up in looking at the docking bay that they hadn't noticed the other four-armed being! "It's really impressive!" they squeaked as they trotted over to the table Kys sat at. "They really went above and beyond. It's got so many little details ..."

Candy sounded great. This was Wikkas's first Halloween, and everything was new and exciting. They eagerly lifted up their pumpkin bucket and set it down on the table in front of Kys. "Um, do you, um, know where it is?" they asked, noting the lack of eyes.

"I heard where it landed, don't worry. And I can tell from the sound it made what its general shape is, where its opening is and how big that is," Kys explained. There was a roboticness to the response that suggested they had been through it before, though their soft smile suggested that they quite liked talking about their abilities. The responses were often fascinating enough to make it worth while. "I can even hear from the way non-rigid containers move when they settle into a position where the opening is no longer immediately accessible."

Casually, Kys reached for candy and deposited it into the bucket in a clean, fluid motion. One of each were chosen, and there were more than four options, yet there seemed no break in the motion. It was much like an accomplished pianist playing a complicated composition. "There, you see?" Kys said when they were done. "Now... I can tell your costume is quite expansive..." they leaned to either side, clicking their tongue thoughtfully. "Am I right in guessing it is insectoid in nature? My ability to make out exact shapes is limited, but... I can easily hear that much of your current shape is costume, and that the general... I suppose you could call it an 'audio silhouette'... is reminiscent of some insect species I am familiar with."

Sivwikkas listened in awe to Kys's explanation of their auditory capabilities, awe which only increased when they watched them demonstrate. Kys wouldn't be able to see the fluctuations of color rippling through Sivwikkas's spots, but their quiet whisper of "wow!" would be plainly audible.

Once the candy had been delivered, Wikkas stood back a bit and spread their arms to hopefully give Kys a slightly better "view" of their costume. "Yes, wow!" they exclaimed upon hearing the other tetrabrachial's analysis. "I'm a member of the species lasius alienus in the Formicidae family, by Terran classification!" They perked their antennae up and crooked them slightly to better resemble those of an ant. Each one was covered in a brown lycra sleeve.

What Kys could figure out was hard to put on visual terms - perhaps the best description was a fuzzy shapeless silhouette when it came to general shape; but there were also other cues that did not fully translate into a particular shape. The sound of individual materials in motion or rubbing against each other, for instance. Various discreet tell-tale signs of posture. Even breathing gave away subtle cues. Clicking their tongue certainly helped to clear up the 'image' of Wikkas's overall shape, but echolocation was by no means a perfect substitute for sight, and many creatures were better at this particular skill than Kys.

"I am not entirely sure what that is," Kys confessed. "Perhaps Xá would know better. Science is not my strong point. I dabble mainly in spirituality, philosophy and psychology. Whilst I would very much like to get a better... uh... look at your costume... such are the limitations of the English language... examination.... I think that is better... I do not want to keep you for too long. There are plenty of other attractions to see, after all. And this is only half of what we have on offer from our particular crew."

Kys gestured an arm behind them to the boarding ramp of their ship. "In the cargo hold, you may find my partner Xá'Taren, who has a selection of stuffed toys that he's giving away for free. Though you may only take one."

Sivwikkas did a little twirl in their costume, as though this might reveal something new about it to Kys, though it may well just obfuscate things. "They call it an ant. I have a colony of them! They are a communal collective, and really hard workers." They quieted down after that, not wanting to grow too excited with someone they really didn't know too well.

"Stuffed toys? That's so nice!" chirped the isswas. "Thanks so much for the treats. Have a good night! Oh--and happy Halloween!" They picked up their bucket of candy and circled around the table to reach the gangplank up into the belly of the ship. Even though they'd been invited to go there, they still felt like they were trespassing. "Um, hello?"

From his position upon a specially-decorated throne, surrounded by crates that were covered by a menagerie of spooky-themed plushies - mostly sea related - Xá hopped to attention. He stood up on the throne, clamping his foot onto one of the arm rests, grabbing it tightly with his toes, whilst he turned his waist to face Wikkas. Sweeping outward to point in the direction of the visitor was a plastic sword held fairly expertly in Xá's hand. Xá's other hand was held high as if in a fencing stance.

"Yarr!" He greeted Sivwikkas. "Avast ye who would wander into the bowls of this here sea cave! Do ye come for treasure most soft and squishy? For there be great riches within this cove - but a golden rule ye must follow, lest your fate be... well actually somewhat decidedly less brutal than that of the former dread pirate Bobby Bobbington..." he gestured to a decorative skeleton draped over one of the crates. It nursed a dusty-looking rum bottle in one hand... and its other hand was obscured by a sock puppet that looked somewhat like a duck. "But a mildly inconvenient fate ye will face all the same! For ye must take one - and only one - of the treasures here displayed. Get too greedy... and the spirit of Bobby Bobbington will curse ye!"

Even though Sivwikkas was expecting to be accosted, they still paled and slicked their antennae down when Xá hopped upon his throne and brandished a fearsome plastic blade. Of course, anything brandished with enough intent was bound to spook the anxious little alien. "Eek! I--yes!" They perked their antennae back up and squared their stance, bringing up their shoulders to look a little more formidable. "Yes, I'm here for the t-treasure!"

They snickered quietly when they noticed poor old Bobby-Bobs slumped over a crate. As they searched around for a good plush, they slipped a piece of candy out of their bucket and stuck it in the mouth of the sock puppet. "There you go, buddy. Tough break."

Eventually, they found a plush clam made from smooth vinyl-like fabric, which felt a little better on their isswasi hands than faux fur. They cupped the clam in both primary hands and smushed it against their face happily. "What a cutie! Thanks a lot, O mighty fearsome captain of the seas!"

"Yarr, ye be quite welcome," Xá replied, swishing the sword about aimlessly. He hopped down from the throne, then heaved himself back up again, this time into a sitting position, crossing his legs and resting his arms on the arm rests with all the charismatic energy of a smug villain. "'Tis not every day one lays eyes on such a colossal ant to be sure." Xá winked as though there was a need to express the fact that he fully understood it was a costume. After all, not all species in the galaxy could make that distinction so easily. "I hope that treasure brings fortune to ye colony."

Sivwikkas nuzzled the plush clam again before tucking it safely in the crook of one of their lower arms, where they cradled it protectively. "It surely will, um, matey! It'll be our prize possession!" The isswas stifled another giggle and waved goodbye with both of their upper arms, while ripples of color ran through their spots--some kind of instinctive farewell. "Good luck on your, um, plunders!" Wikkas turned on a toe and trotted springing down the gangplank, passing Kys again on the way back to the docking ring. "Thanks again! Happy Halloween!"

With that, the alien continued on their merry way. The evening was late, and they'd already accrued enough candy to last them weeks ... okay, maybe days. Time to go sort through it all!

Civil and respectful were not traits that travelers of the stars usually associated with Orkz.

But then again Gorgutz and his Warband had always been of a particular kind of breed of Orkz, and to their credit..

They at least managed not to crash into the docking station with their ship.

"WAAAAAAAAAAGGGH!!!!"

A roaring warcry of at least a dozen Orkz emerged from their space ship. It had narrowly managed to stay within bounds of the docking station and not overshoot into the space station proper only just barely, the Ork that was piloting it having shown remarkable restraint in not simply pressing the accelerator into full gear as usual and careening into the Space Station in a giant fireball as most Orkz would usually do.

The Orkz were an odd group indeed- for they were wearing costumes! Most of them were wearing particularly oddly shaped hats, tricorns, tophats, hardhats galore! With possibly some of them wearing what was essentially war trophies, as there were a few Comissar hats and Space Marine helmets attached to their heads for a crude mockery of a Halloween costume.

The largest Orkz emerged last, and this one had a proper gear. A giant tricorn pirate hat with the Jolly Roger symbol displayed proudly on his magnificent head.

"Alright ladz!! One last propa WAAAAAAGGGH!!! Before tha' end of ORKTOBER!"

"Right ya are, Boss! Tha' last propa WAAAGH till next yea--AAAGGHHSFSSGD!!!" One poor Ork got clobbered by the Warboss for having that gall of agreeing with his leader.

"YA DAFT GIT! That wuz a trick question! THA' WAAAAAAAGH NEVA ENDZ!!"

"Right Boss... stupid.. stupid me..." The clubbered Ork groggily got back up as Gorgutz and his Boyz strode forward in search for candy.

"Ooh, the COSMOS." Miretta sighed happily with a little cutesy fainting gesture. She hopped over and picked out her plushie with a whee! and then turned to the owner-operator, bowed, and stood into a salute. "Thank you very much, sir. I'll try my best not to get, uhh, cursed. That sounds really horrible. Anyway, good night and goodbye! Thanks for manning your ship so we'll, you're a uh... A credit to your fleet! Totally! I bet. Anyway, see ya!~~~"

The young lady bounced away with her stuffed plush under one arm, ready for more adventure.

Xá waved off the last of the present guests casually. Naturally, there were still plenty of toys - and candy - left over, but Xá knew that it was far better to overstock than to run out. That, and when it came to individual toys, there was no accounting for taste. Some shapes of plushie were more popular than others, and with so many species on this station, it was impossible to determine which was which. Thus it was best to imagine all of the designs would be popular.

Still, as Xá settled down back comfortably into his seat, he and Kys waited to see if any stragglers would show up in the closing minutes of tonight's festival.

Quite the group of stragglers would be flocking to Xá's ship.

Gorgutz along a dozen or so Orkz wearing funny hats naturally gravitated to the space ship made to look like it had sunk to the bottom of the ocean, with many an Ork pointing out that it looked 'Right Spooky' and maybe even 'A lil' Orky' since it was all green and what not. Plus, as it so happened, Gorgutz was wearing his pirate captain tricorn, which was his favorite Halloween costume, so he found it fitting to check out this ship in particular first.

"WAAAAAAA--OW!"

One Ork made the mistake of saying the wrong thing when they gathered in front of the ship, but this was quickly corrected by Gorgutz who bonked him on the head. Sometimes he wondered why he took THA BOYZ Trick o' Treating when they always got it wrong, but a Boss always had to keep his promise.

Alright, one more try.

"TRICK O' TREAT!"

There we go.

The direct route between the security airlock on the Avant-garde's berth and the ship itself was of course blocked by Kys's candy booth. Not that one couldn't go around them of course, but given the nature of the current festival, it was unlikely anyone would try to do that.

Besides, Kys had heard the incoming group long before they had stepped through the berth's inner airlocks. Their hearing gave them significantly higher distance range than most species, and even the thick walls between the bay and the access ring were nothing compared to the sounds of a rowdy gang. They were more than ready to let themselves be known, sitting up in their seat as the warband approached in a very deliberate way as though to suggest that they were one who should be sought out.

Though small and slender - and quite obviously blind - Kys was not in the slightest intimidated by the group that approached. Though elements of their posture very much mirrored a peaceful monk putting principles of peace ahead of common sense, an expert warrior would most certainly be able to see the disciplined confidence lying behind it all. Or at least... an expert warrior with the correct level of discipline themselves. Could an ork muster the nuanced insight to spot such things? Or would their first impression be of a soft and squishy creature unaware of what had come?

"Welcome," Kys greeted calmly. "If you would like some candy, please place your candy receptacle on the large barrel at the front of this makeshift kiosk, so that I may fill it. One at a time please, unless you are sharing a single container. I can hear how many of you there are, so you needn't worry about quantity if indeed you are sharing."

There was no such thing as one at a time between Orkz. As Kys essentially barred the Orkz's way from going any further with the promise of candy and announced that they had to take turns to get their bags filled, the Orkz immediately resorted to the usual way in which they figured out who went first. By punching each other until the strongest managed to fight and shove his way to the front.

"Iz goez first!"

"No! Iz goez first!!"

The Orkz shoved and punched each other with hard blows to the face, punches that would likely cave in a human's skull, and yet for an Ork it was more like a love tap. Though they resembled savage monsters, they were in essence just children, big, muscled, savage children.

Honestly though, the boyz often forgot themselves. It was cute that they thought they could fight each other to see who got the candy first, when it reality that honor was for their Boss.

Indeed, a regular Ork did not have the perception to realize that the little critter in front of them was anything beyond just a little, fuzzy, eyeless thing. Orkz didn't care about who or what they fought, they just fought.

Their Boss on the other hand was a far more developed individual. He could tell that the little critter was an experience warrior by the way Kys seemed to be aware of all of them despite having no eyes. How very interesting.

"Oi! Quit being gitz an hold still!" Gorgutz put his boyz in line by bonking them on the head with his fist before he stepped forward to go first and place his candy container atop the barrel where Kys was pointing. It was a looted Space Marine helmet which was twice the size of a regular human's head. Enough for a whole lot of candy.


"Hmm..." Gorgutz' cybernetic eye focused down on Kys to take a better look at them. Such a curious individual, and Gorgutz was rather inquisitive for an Ork that he just had to know more about this fellow in front of him!

"Wot sorta fing iz ya?? I've never seen someone like you before. And Iz traveled far and wide I has. You iz definitely not a 'umie. I can tell!"

The sound of the helmet hitting the fake wood of the barrel - which was actually just painted metal - was sufficient enough for Kys to immediately and without pause drop one of each type of candy on display into the helmet.

"I'm a sea monster..." Kys said. "Unless you do not mean my costume... in which case... I am... a homunculus? A golem? A flesh-and-blood robot? My species does not have a name, as I am not part of a species. My creators called my kind 'Xá'Taren', which my friend - you will likely meet him later - has kept as his own name. I am Kys'Jarok... which was also the title of the 'job' I was made for. A sort of... temple slave. Basically, I was assembled from individually-grown organs like a machine assembled from parts. To have grown me as one single being at the start would have been blasphemy to my creators' religion, you see." They grinned. "And no... I most certainly am not a human."

Gorgutz' one biological eye boggled slightly when Kys first said that they were a sea monster, only to belt out a loud laugh as they continued. "BWAHAHA!! Youze iz a cheeky one I seez! Yah! I didn't mean yer costume!!" He continued cackling as Kys went on to explain his nature.

"Huh! Youze iz some kinna made Grot?" In this case, the Ork supposed that a Grot was a sufficient equivalent to say slave. "Funny that'd they make a Grot thatz so killy as ya. I can tell ya can do more than just giving out candy. Yer knowz 'ow many of us are 'ere even though ya got no eyes ey??" Of course, Gorgutz and his Boyz weren't particularly stealthy, but something about Kys' mannerisms told Gorgutz they were perfectly aware of how many Orkz they were surrounded by, which was a difficult feat for someone with no eyeballs.

After Gorgutz' helmet was filled with candy, the Ork that had won the all out brawl went next to have his bag filled. He grinned widely at Kys, sporting a few missing teeth already.

"I wouldn't say killy..." Kys considered, serving the other orks in much the same way as each approached. "Killing is not in my nature. But I can defend myself easily enough. Thing about slaves is that the best ones are often dexterous and agile... and when you're made in a lab, you tend to be more obedient than those who are captured, so your masters can afford to be more... generous with the abilities they give you. It did take a lot of practice to get to where I am. After all, I was neither born with strength nor size to my advantage. But my natural reflexes are quick. And my hearing is sharp. Plus, my arms grant me an advantage compared to most species as well. I suppose they make up for the blindness. Which is only because my creators deemed it blasphemy to let someone who isn't a member of their species lay eyes on the sacred inner halls of the temple I helped service."

Kys somehow managed to shrug without even momentarily disrupting their distribution of candy. "If you're ready to proceed and have interest in such things, my partner Xá has a collection of plush toys in the ship's docking bay that he's giving away for free. I do not know if that is of interest to you - you could always treat it as a trophy from tonight's festivities. Your choice whether you would prefer to file in one-at-a-time or wait until you can all go in at once. But the rules are one toy each. And whilst Xá might not be as skilled a fighter as me, anyone who breaks that rule would have me to reckon with as well. And probably station security as well if things kick off."

The warning came with calmness and even a gentle smile. Spoken as a matter of fact. As if the threat of getting into potential battle was just a fact of life, and if it was to happen, Kys was apparently unperturbed by the thought. This was a being who had lived for multiple centuries and had seen many things in their lifetime.

Gorgutz decided that he liked this little fuzzy critter with no eyes. Because he's right! Fighting is a part of life, it is, in fact, inevitable. As any proper Ork knows, if you live, you fight, and that's the long and short of it. That Kys excels at combat and does not shrink away from it makes them 'Propa' Orky' in the eyes of Gorgutz and his Boyz, and that compensates for a lot of things.

"Hah! Well, call it wot ya want I suppoze, it doesn't change that yer propa' scrappy, and thatz a good thing to be one way or anotha'. I reckon I'd be annoyed if I couldn't see all tha gitz I stomped, but as long as yer doing some fightin', well.. thatz all that really matters don't it??"

More laughter came from Gorgutz as Kys reminded him that going deeper into the ship would mean being in his best behavior otherwise there'd be dire consequences in the form of the dealing with Kys, his partner and the guards.

"MWAHAHAHA!!!" Booming laughter in fact as Gorgutz threw his head back in laughter whilst his Boyz got their bags stuff with candy. "Neva threaten an Ork with a good time! As much as I'd LOVE ta see ya in a propa fight and take on tha Boyz of this station, I promised me ladz that they'd get their toys. Ya dun 'ave ta worry ta much 'bout me, I'll keep me Boyz in line. Cuz that's wot a propa Boss does."

Gorgutz had.. his reasons to no want to pick a fight with Kys and his buddies, even though that was what any Ork would do. For now, if Kys was finished giving him and his boyz candy, he'd be herding them towards Xá so they could all get their toys.

Even if they were all huge, muscle bound green ogres, Gorgutz was acting not unlike a father trying to keep his unruly children focused.