Ch.2: "Trouble in Paradise" / Volcanic Paradise Island Arcadia

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sonja says, "Funny, I felt the same way about you last night. Oh, but then I went and pushed you off the bed in my sleep."

Hanna says, "Sonja you goofball! We're not confessing feelings for one another!"

"Oh. Okay..." Sonja says, "NOW I get it." Her confused expression says she doesn't.

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto looks at Sonja, a little bewildered. "...Really?" It's hard to know how to feel about that.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell quickly removes her barrette, lets it turn to cloth, and wrings it out. Then she wraps it around herself, imagining a high-neck tunic, loose pants like the ones Wu Chen wore, moccasins, whatever she can think of that will make herself feel more covered and modest than usual.

She yells to Ben, "It lasts until I cover up, which I just did."

She tells Sonja, "No, I'm trying to determine what my range with the effect is, and whether it makes sense to turn the effect loose on Vin, Jerry, Ben, and Wilbur's former colleagues to try to gain a tactical advantage when we rescue the fiancees."

She tells Vin, "Yeah, you do get that date. We'll talk about wedding dates again when you're not so ramped up."

When everyone comes back together she asks, "So let's talk strategy, if you can. Or should I give you men some time to settle down a bit before we discuss tactics and strategy?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Jerry says, "Oh, talking about strategy. Yeah. Shooting people and not lovey things. Let's talk."

Bridgette says, "There is a tactical advantage there that I can see. I wonder, would the men be affected the same way the second time, or maybe not as much if they're expecting it?"

From 100 feet away, Ben shouts, "If you wanna test that, I'll be right here! Maybe even go back another 50 or 500 feet!" He starts mumbling Coleen's name to himself.

Sonja says to Leto, "Oh… yeah… but I didn't say anything 'cause I wasn't gonna do anything. I was just gonna sleep and even keep my back to you. Really." Sonja drags herself out of the water and begins to dry her tail with her skirt.

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto smiles. "Fair enough. I'm not interested in anything more intimate than hugs and kisses anyway."

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell asks, "So are you guys game for another test? To see if you deal with it any better if you know it's coming?"

I can't believe I'm the one leading this madness.

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto looks at the men. "I'm fine with it if they are."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"Yeah," says Wilbur with a little too much enthusiasm. Vin shoots him a look.

Ben turns his back and gives a thumbs up.

Sonja says, "So now that I opened my big mouth, does this effect only work on men? I think Leto's cute, and you have an amazing body if you don't mind my saying. But I didn't have any weird urge."

Hanna says, "You took off your skirt and swam with her."

Bridgette says, "That's not weird for Sonja."

Sonja says, "It didn't feel right for her to be the only one."

Nissa rolls her eyes and says to Kell, "If the element of surprise makes a difference, then I think we should test again."

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell says, "OK. Since the effect is obviously not blocked by anything we do, don't worry about repeating the jobs you were assigned last time. But to you men, do you whatever you need to to cope with the effect. There's no judgment from me about how you cope." Then glancing at Wilbur, she quickly adds, "As long as you respect that I'm Vin's."

She yells to Ben, "We're doing this again, and I want you to keep moving back until you don't feel the effect any more. Try to estimate how far you've gone - I'd like a sense of the outside limit."

She tells Sonja, "It affects women, too, but there seems to be greater variety in how it affects women."

She tells Nissa, "Clearly my nymph effect is disruptive, but I'd feel better about using it if we can somehow lessen the disruptiveness to at least some of the members of our side. Or if it's easier for them to deal with if they know it's coming, that works, too."

Then pausing for a moment to think, she continues to Nissa, "Tell me something. Sonja seems to be the most immune to the effect out of everyone - and as her sister, you obviously know her abilities. How do you think we could use her immunity to best effect during the rescue?"

After Nissa replies, Kell waits for everyone to indicate readiness, then starts moving back toward the sea for the next round of testing. This time, though, she removes the barrette as soon as it appears in her hair. She wants to cover herself - in clothing - as quickly as possible as soon as she's learned what she needs to know.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Nissa says, "Truth is, if you effect women who are, umm, attracted to you... I don't know why Spnja's not affected."

"Because she's Sonja," Hanna says."

"Sonja's always been a bit... different." Nissa smiles at Sonja. "You know we love you, Sonja."

Sonja says, "Yeah, I know."

The van Donks don't have an answer for Kell's question about immunity, but it does seem that the men are not so hot and bothered. Vin flashes a smile and says, "I can wait, Kell. I just hope if I ever say the wrong thing or pick my nose at dinner, you won't dump me, now that I know what I'd miss out on." He decides to avert his eyes, now that he's proven he can handle himself.

Ben shouts, "Can you hear me?" from almost a thousand feet away. "I'm about three football fields away! I think the effect is weaker. Um... nope. It's not."

It seems that the element of surprise made it very difficult for the men to handle themselves. None lost control the way Sapphire did, but Sapphire was only a couple feet away, naked and in an enclosed space. Outdoors, it seems Kell's reach is wide, but diluted. Taken by surprise, the effect is extremely potent. When the effect is expected, it's still powerful, but the men expect they'll be able to handle themselves--especially with their fiancées in grave danger.

Wilbur says he hopes they can still marry after the rescue, if Jenny will take him back.

Once Kell is dressed, everyone is ready to make the long climb. Vin offers to share his canteen with Kell, and Helix insists on carrying her so she won't thirst so much.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

"Thanks, you two." Kell pats Helix on the side of the neck and reaches her hand down to touch Vin's shoulder anytime he walks close enough to her. She really wishes he were riding behind her and she could lean back into him, but there's really not a need to and she doesn't want to tire Helix out unnecessarily - there may be wounded to carry back at the end of this.

She smiles at Vin. "I hope I don't have some habit you find unbearable, too, you know. We nymphs have a lot going for us physically, but that doesn't make us perfect."

She assures Wilbur, "Now that we've seen Io via the HearthVision, we can vouch for you, and I at least would be happy to speak to Jenny on your behalf."





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[Legendary Sidekick]

Wilbur thanks Kell. "I don't wanna lose Jenny. If she hears me out, maybe..." He trails off. Wilbur doesn't seem comfortable talking about this.

"Kell, I may've done wrong, me and Io I mean, but the chief's knife won't hurt me. I'm sure his goons have regular weapons that hurt, but that knife couldn't even hurt that little fairy. I don't know the best way to take advantage of this. Just saying you're worried about that knife. But I'm not."

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell tells Wilbur, "Well, the knife only hurts certain people, so you're lucky you're not one of them." She's unsure whether Wilbur understands the knife detects virgins. "It might make sense for you and whoever wears the necktie to be the ones to try to free the fiancées. Maybe Helix as well, since he is another the knife can't hurt. We'll just have to see where they are being held."

Then she asks, "What do you men know about the lay of the land where we're going, aside from the fact we won't be able to make a stealthy approach?"


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[Legendary Sidekick]

Wilbur says to Kell, "We're heading to the top of an open volcano. So, there's basically a pit in the middle of a large area. Only one road up, and the chief's altar is on the opposite side. He says the god of the island needs to be appeased. I just assumed he needed three virgin couples to get married and with me and Io it was once and well… quick. I didn't think it counted, but then the chief tried to cut me.

"Then he told Jenny and Vin that Io is a cow. She wasn't at the time.

"Anyway, we gotta go around that opening to get to the altar. If you're gonna use your effect on them, maybe we play it up like one of us is going over just to talk?"

Turning to Leto, Wilbur adds, "You got some expensive ammo. Loading makes an audible click, so if you're gonna use one of them special shots, you should load it now.

"Which one you thinking of?"

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell asks, "Why do we need to get to the altar? Is that where the fiancees are being kept? How much space is around the edges of the opening?"

"I'd rather send two of you over to "talk" - you can tell the chief you've brought more virgins. You simply don't tell him they are avenging virgins." Kell smiles darkly.

"So maybe we send two of you over for that, Wilbur, and one of the men. Whichever of you that is who isn't Wilbur should wear the necktie, so if the chief gets twitchy, you're protected while you're up that close. And I'd like to suggest that the second person not be Vin, and I'm not saying that just because I'm his girl. Your former chief doesn't know we saved Vin's life, so we may be able to spring him on the chief as an unwelcome surprise. The bounty on the chief indicates that he's wanted dead or alive, and I personally have a fantasy involving keeping Vin out of the chief's sight, and then if we can capture him or injure him significantly, turning him over to Vin to decide if he lives or dies before we turn him in for the bounty. That seems rather appropriate to me, considering what he did to Vin at Hearth-Throb."

She turns to face Vin. "But if that's not to your tastes, I'm not forcing you to make that decision. Consider it merely an offer from someone who enjoys seeing a bully squirm as his fate is placed into the hands of one whom he mistreated."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sonja says, "This plan has more credibility if they bring two virgins with them. Let me go with you. I can't fist-fight like Bridgette, but she looks like she'll put up a fight. And I don't need to fake the attraction, if you don't mind my saying—I mean if the chief wants to go through the whole wedding rouse. I don't know why you didn't effect me, but you didn't."

Wilbur insists that Sonja wear the necktie. "It'll probably work since you're not wearing much else." He also mentions that Kell is right that the fiancees will be kept behind the altar.

 

[Ireth]

Leto

When Wilbur asks about her hand cannon, Leto looks at it with a shrug. "I'm not sure. I don't know what any of them do yet, so it's hard to say. Arrows might be better; I'm more used to them anyway. And they're near-silent."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"You should still load one," Wilbur suggests. "Even if you use the bow, keep your hand cannon loaded." He shows Leto how to use the safety so the weapon won't go off in its holster.

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto nods, and decides to load a Warning Shot into the cannon before putting the safety on and holstering it again.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"Good choice," Wilbur says. "Aim at the center of a crowd. We might take a few of them alive."

Vin tells Kell, "I appreciate your idea, but I'll make sure the chief sees me making a stand against him. Whether he's alive or dead makes no difference. Since you spared my life, I'm inspired. I'll take him alive if I can."

Vin gives Sonja the neck tie. Kell can see that the tie's aura is stronger than that of the mermaid bra. This likely means that Sonja won't become a mermaid if she's doused with water, which is in fact possible given the current plan.