TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 10

[avalonmods]

{ QUICK NAV } Premise ⚔️️ Rules ⚔️️ FAQ ⚔️️ Taken ⚔️️ Reserves ⚔️️ Apply ⚔️️ Locations ⚔️️ Bestiary ⚔️️ Top-Levels Only ⚔️️ SUMMARY: New arrivals drop into the lake and have to climb up a cliff to the Rent a Ride, where they are given their device and some headphones and can retrieve their personal materials. They travel to Camelot, which is a multiple day journey, so they stop at the Red Springs along the way and stay at an inn there. A ⦿ Soaking in Your Arrival KERPLUNK, SPLASH! Regardless of what you were in the middle of, you and your familiar have been magically pulled into the world of Avalon just above the Bay's waters. After a brief plunge into the Bay, the rush of water filling your ears and soaking up into every creak and crevice of your body, you may need to cough to clear your airways when you rise above the surface. It's still chilly, but not enough that you can't manage on your own. The Lady of the Lake is swimming around under the water, helping to rescue any wayward travelers who look like they're struggling in the water. This month's helpers are giant pillow jellies, a species of jellyfish that is capable of ballooning itself at the surface to create bouncy pads for characters to hop across to the shore, should they choose or not be able to swim. They come in a variety of bioluminescent colors, but do not seem to be very talkative even to animal magic users. Those who try may find themselves being ignored, even if they hear the jellies talking amongst themselves about this and that. If anyone tries to ask the Lady of the Lake for directions, she will direct you to Archimedes at the Rent-a-Ride. The shores themselves are littered with new arrivals complaining their way up a staircase carved into the walls of the White Cliffs. There is no railing, so be careful, but if you do fall, be prepared for a mysterious sand hand to reach out of the side of the cliffs to catch you. The hand will pat you atop the head twice before retreating back into the wall. This is the Cliff Beast; despite the name, he is quite friendly. (Though.. given how hot and muggy the weather is this first week, maybe you might want to ask him to toss you right back into the lake where the waters are still cool.) *Reminder: Your character's familiar may or may not be with your character in their initial plunge. If the familiar isn't partial to water, it may meet your character on the beach or sit atop their head while they swim. Or if they are, they might splash about and swim alongside your character. Familiars have different personalities and body specs and we leave those up to the players. B ⦿ The Caravan to Camelot Once everyone is wrangled up to the top of the White Cliffs, the handsome owner of the Rent-a-Ride, Archimedes, will distribute smart phones and a pair of ear buds and tell them to "Check the Shit Box." The "Shit Box" refers to wardrobe more formally known as the Wardrobe of Finding, a hammerspace-like wardrobe that opens to each person's items and pets when the person touches the handle. It was recently enchanted by Merlin to prevent people from having to fish their waterlogged possessions and pets out of the water with them. From there, Archimedes directs everyone to settle in groups into modernized carriages pulled by horses and gives them a basic explanation of why and how they've been brought to Avalon: The rest of the universe is frozen in time and your character has been brought here by a familiar that was able to bond with them. They'll have to learn magic to help save their own world from destruction, but first they've got to get them to Camelot. It is here that you have the first opportunity to decide who they will be in their new home. You'll have about an hour to wander around here, meet and greet, and pet the horses before it's time to go. These carriages use fae technology that combats weight, so your character will be able to get in regardless of whether they're light as a feather or weigh two tons. The carts have air conditioning when it's hot, heating when it's cold, and a mystical shield to protect from bugs. There is also a mini-bar that pops out of the console with whole coconuts filled with tropical drinks and topped with tiny umbrellas. Strawberry daiquiris, pina coladas, margaritas, mai tais, and more... all frosty and in the spirit of keeping you cool during the sunny month of August. (Naturally, virgin editions are available for the underaged.) Characters can use their smartphones to connect to Camelot's internet service, avalononline (AOL), to chat with other characters, watch dumb videos, learn about the world, contact Camelot Support (they'll answer any questions they can for you, from how to use a smart phone to where to find quests and resources to learn more about your magic). Be careful if you decide to use your phones while in the caravan-- if you don't use those earbuds and start forcing everyone to listen to your nonsense, Archimedes may make you walk. C ⦿ The Red Spring The journey from the White Cliffs to the City of Camelot is a long one, and the first evening you arrive you'll end up spending at the Red Spring, a booming resort town. Because of the volume of new arrivals and vacationers, inn rooms are assigned two-to-a-room. The rooms have two twin beds, a bathroom, a mini-fridge and microwave, and a TV equipped with a couple of entertaining video games and a few free movies. If you don't want to relax in the room, try taking a dip in the spring for another chance to meet your fellow travelers. The waters have restorative properties that help horses and travelers recover quickly when drunk. It is known to relieve stress, improve energy levels, and mildly accelerate healing. It may be a little chilly when you get out though, so make sure you don't slip rushing back indoors when you get out! The springs are also home to a large training grounds just outside town limits, where there are teachers who will teach basic magic safety and help you discover what kind of magic you have together with other new arrivals. Try target practice, obstacle courses, meditation circles, and other ways to try to figure out just what you can do... if you didn't already have an accidental discovery on the ride there. SUMMARY: The first attempt at using the mounts to travel en-masse up to fae territory is filled with problems: mandrake sprouts caused by recent murders drumming up requests to dig them up, two titanic creatures face off in the lake and catch characters in a maelstrom, and a mysterious underwater town with a strange curse being good neighbors with a last minute save... at a slight risk: becoming a merperson, naga, or cecaelian for a little while. With communications with Elphame in Celliwig disrupted by specters and Arthur temporarily decommissioned, the Hall of Mirrors is temporarily off limits for cleansing rituals. Celliwig has encouraged people to return to Camelot for the time being, which is just as well with all the newcomers flooding in. Last month's new arrivals through the old guard got an introduction to the new aquatic mounts and there are now plenty of people versed in how to handle and work with the magical alpacapies, mossatees, and deinosuchus. As scout parties head out further, there are a few problems that they've run into that need a helping hand from Camelot's otherworldly population. A ⦿ A Mandraconian Task Just as volunteers are asked to bring supplies for the journey to fae territory, a series of grisly murders involving strung up corpses appears around town (see this month's quest, "Not-So-Good Morning" for more details), and the dripping blood and fluids of these corpses seeps into the ground to give birth to strange, leafy plants that sprout leaves in all directions at once. They're small, and the locals seem weary of them, but ultimately they're breaking up pathways and making them into trip hazards... the locals recognize these plants as mandrake root, which is known in different cultures for... very different things. The mandrake root is a cursed plant that screams in a way that curdles blood enough to kill small creatures if they're too close and make a grown person go deaf. The reason anyone would pull them up however... well, their magical properties are astounding. It is said that Joan of Arc carried one in her possession to give her the power to take control of her own fate. Some religions claim that it has the ability to restore a person's fertility, and before clever manufacturers started using the name for tomatoes, Islamic tradition called the "apples of the jinn" and cause strong bouts of lust. Needless to say, a good many people are cautious about pulling them up, but more than willing to offer a fair sum of money to a newcomer who can get them out of the ground. The cause of their sprouting may be tragic, but there's no way that you're going to make it through town center with trip supplies without getting pulled aside and asked to help harvest the mandrake roots for a pretty penny... or maybe you're interested yourself. Either way, it may behoove you to practice a little magic with a friend to try to get them up. B ⦿ Clash of the Titans Finally everyone has gotten going and a mixture of brave Camelot citizens, Celliwigians, and otherworlders have headed back to Albion's White Cliffs to take off with their mounts (and partners... you're going to have to ride with someone, there aren't enough mounts for everyone to get their own!) and things are going well. It's about two days into the waters of Lake Avalon that things start to send a chill down your spine. Back on land, even for the first two days there, the weather had been hot and sunny, a beautiful summery start to August, but as the party starts to approach the southern banks of Dinas Emrys, they see a gargantuan beast run at bewildering speeds off the land and straight across the surface of the lake. The creature appears to be some kind of centipede formed of black clouds and lightning that illuminates its exoskeleton from inside of its body in deep purple and blue hues. Each of its legs kicks up a titanic wave headed straight for the party of explorers as it charges towards its target, what appears to be a tsunami wave containing a dark, shadowy figure emerging at least twenty stories above the water. The only part of it that isn't black are the blank, soulless eyes. As the lightning bug monster charges what some may recognize as an umibozu, it crashes into the tsunami wave and all three fall asunder... which is bad news for the traveling party, as the waters are now extremely choppy and lighting up with charges of the centipede's lightning. The result? As the two monsters dive down below the water, a maelstrom forms in their path and starts sucking everyone down! C ⦿ Fresh Waters Anyone who manages to escape the maelstrom will find that their mounts aren't moving forward this time around and are heading back where they came from, even with lost supplies. You may find yourself having to switch mounts with others nearby or talking to a strange beachball on the back of the alpacapie that's carrying your ass back to the White Cliffs... Or if you weren't so lucky, you may find yourself waking up on a slightly different shore. An underwater shore. An underwater town, in fact. After the initial panic of realizing that you're not drowning when you wake up settles in, you'll realize that you seem to be able to breathe underwater just fine. In fact, the real panic is probably about to start when you realize that like the fine people of this town that saved you, you've been temporarily gifted gills and a bottom lower half of either a merperson, a naga, or a cecaelia. Your caretaker, a nurse of the local town, offers the explanation that the only way to save everyone from drowning was to pull them into their territory, which is cursed to turn them all into sea monsters. Not to worry though, as long as you leave before the sun sets on the third day, you'll turn back to normal just fine. ...Though, they're not really sure when that was or if they battle is over, so you should probably find your friends and any possessions you had with you and start heading toward the surface. Not too much time to explore this strange, underwater town... especially since you don't have much practice not having legs to get you up to the surface. Don't worry, if you don't make it out in time, the Lady of the Lake will come fetch you... though perhaps not in time, so you may need to spend some time back in Camelot seeking out someone to break a curse. SUMMARY:After the recent event, people need to recover and heal. So Camelot's castle opens its doors for an open house, a swap meet and poetry battle auction, and a healing circle ritual. Arthur is injured and recovering, and news has spread on social media about it. There are lots of well-wishers and gifts being sent to the castle... enough that there's just too much for Arthur to do anything with it. He needs time to recover and rest and not be bothered, and as such declares that all those who need it shall share in the wealth and generosity of those wishing him well. The abundance (Especially from guilty Celliwigians who didn't realize what was happening right under their own noses) results in a few things happening... A ⦿ Open House Camelot's castle halls open up to all those who would like to come. Invitations are sent and a feast is prepared. A huge table with all manner of foods from different cultures is prepared. The only thing they ask is that you stay out of the wing of the castle that Arthur is resting in, as he is not available right now. Try new foods made from recipes from all around the different worlds or invite yourself to use the castle's royal public baths, remodeled from more ancient styles to include cool things like old architecture mixing with jacuzzi jets and waterfall shower rooms. There's even a water slide. It's more a water park than anything... Explore the library (except for the forbidden section, which has a very powerful magical barrier preventing entry-- even trying to tamper with it could result in your character glowing colors by their mood as punishment for messing with the magic). Those are dangerous texts in there! There's even a live show with a magician! Which sounds lame, but he's more or less showing off his skills in tricks, knife skills, and has a mean comedy routine to go with it. He's even willing to teach lucky volunteers how to escape death-defying stunts... hopefully. You may want to bring a buddy for backup. Or perhaps you're more interested in heading out to explore the rose gardens or finding a place to stay for the evening... don't worry, if you've had too much to drink or simply tired yourself out, you're welcome to stay in one of the guest rooms during this open house celebration. B ⦿ Swap Meet Not interested in exploring the castle? Well perhaps you'll enjoy the open-market bazaar that seems to have set up in the courtyard. All kinds of oddities are being exchanged in the castle courtyard and you may just find something rare.. or maybe it's a piece of crap. It's hard to tell, and the chances of getting swindled are just as high as the chances of getting an antique masterpiece. There is an auction for those willing to pay more for authenticity, but auctions in Camelot go a little bit differently... to win art, you must first prove yourself worthy of art-- all bid submissions must be performed in stanza. Haikus, rap, short poems-- all are valid, as long as they follow the rules of your chosen form of poetry and express why your bid deserves the win. The last person to falter wins their right to pay their bid, with at least 10,000G upped with each poetic rebuttal. C ⦿ Healing Circle After Party It's good to take care of yourself with a little fun, but if you're still stressed, hurt, traumatized, mildly upset, hung over, or just want to feel better about yourself, consider joining in some of the local witches and wizards in a meditative healing ritual. Step one: Gather herbs from the castle gardens. They've got all kinds, but you're looking for things like yarrow, apple blossoms, cinnamon, and lemon balm. Once you've gathered your herbs, join in the silent meditation circle with an available partner. Anyone is fine, but once you've entered the circle with someone, it's very important that you do not make any noise. Silence is important, and as you burn each of your herbs with your partner, you'll find that the smoke forms a barrier that surrounds the two of you. Put your hands together, and focus on the source of your pain. You will share your emotions with the person you're performing the spell with. They will feel everything you feel in that moment, and be able to share the burden without having to speak of or share what caused this pain. With the pain lightened, you will find that the smoke lights up and dissipates up at the top. Whether or not you choose to share with your newfound partner... well, that's up to you, but they sure are going to know how you're feeling right now, and that definitely wasn't warned about when you were asked to join the healing circle. MOD NOTES: • All test drive prompts are open to anyone in the game at any time to create your own logs with, but this post should have top-levels by potential new characters only. Current characters may reply to any threads, but should not top-level comment on this post. • If your application is accepted, you may accept TDM threads as game canon as long as both players consent. Characters may begin threading as soon as their journal is accepted to the communities. •If nothing here tickles your fancy, try one of this month's Quests for your TDM prompt. • The first "Arrival" prompts are present on every TDM, but contain seasonal tweaks for flavor. All other prompts will change monthly. • Questions about this TDM's content? Comment here! If you have a question about the game at-large, please head over to the FAQ.

Comments

[prontissimo]

Yeah, but none of them were me — I'm an expert. I practically invented swimming. And I'm an expert at walking, too, so— we've got both covered.

[ Who the fuck brags about walking...

He swims to float by Tsuna's side, a lazy smile on his face. ]

Okay, so, your tail is different than mine, but I've seen plenty of fish with tails like that, so... It can't be that different. First of all, forget about gravity. When you're walking, you've gotta stack yourself on top of yourself, right? But when you're swimming...! [ He flips sideways onto his back suddenly, resting his arms uselessly behind his head as if he were lounging on land, tail whipping beneath him. ] You can go in any direction! C'mon, you try! Swim lying down!

[ He's... not the teacher he thinks he of himself as, but hey, confidence is key half the time in life, right? ]

[theskyaccepts]

[Alberto is getting so many skeptical looks right now. Like who even is this kid? Not that Tsuna has any legs to stand on. And right now, that's quite literal.

But, once again, he doesn't think he's getting out of this one any time soon so he does as instructed, lying flat like he's going to attempt a frontstroke.

And he's a little surprised that he's floating that he tries to sit up again.]

I...I was floating!

[prontissimo]

Yeah, you were!

[ He responds laughingly, an air of encouragement in his voice as his smirk widens a bit. He moves on eagerly, sitting up again himself. ]

Okay, okay— now try moving...~! Loosen up, but not like, too loose, so you can propel yourself — you wanna wiggle your butt side-to-side, but your tail kind of— up-and-down? But keep your top still. [ Too complicated, grisjknf ]

Pretend like—... Like you're a piece of pasta in the pot! But you wanna swim al dente~ Got it?

[ Oh, boy... Swim al dente, Tsuna, you heard the guy. what the hell does that mean ]

[theskyaccepts]

[It's definitely an awkward movement as Tsuna tries to parse out all the instructions. It mostly results in him moving his hips in kind of a square like motion, trying to compensate for the side to side, up and down movement.

Who knows where al dente figures into all that.

There's movement but not by much.]

I don't think I get it. That's a lot of instructions.

[prontissimo]

Hrmm, okay, okay! Just— follow your intuition — what’s your first instinct? Just move forward without thinking about it! No, no, don’t think about it!

[ That’s… also not exactly helpful, is it? But still encouraging? Vaguely? ]

[theskyaccepts]

[But that's Tsuna's default setting. If he's not thinking, then who is?

But he can follow intuition. Though, it's hard to say if the Vongola intuition ever had to deal with being a mermaid.

So without really thinking, he starts flailing his arms in something that could be called a front stroke, if you were really liberal with the definition. But it seems to be adding some propulsion, and the tail starts to move as if he were kicking.]

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto grins as soon as he sees Tsuna move forward, but after a beat disguises it with that characteristic nonchalance again. ]

Great! I mean— fine, whatever. Now stop that weird human thing with your arms. Just move. Let your arms hang at your side and rely on your tail. Watch me.

[ Alberto zips in front of Tsuna, doing figure eights around and before him, but he's purposefully drawing attention to his butt tail and hips as he moves, keeping all four of his limbs straight but loose, his tail swishing side-to-side, but he starts to mimic how he imagines Tsuna must have to move with his weird fish tail, and takes a short dive, kicking his lower back up and down with legs pressed together, as if they were they same shape. And actually... it's a fairly good demonstration, finally, perhaps. He descends not far at all, but he's got his own intuition on how a mermaid might move, not having met one, but having met lots of kinds of fish and other sea animals. The standstill kicking in his descent is on point, even if his tail is still swishing side-to-side to keep himself moving forward. He's glancing over his shoulder after a second, before finally flipping back onto his back to observe Tsuna following him, hopefully. ]

Think like a fish, ragazzo! You've got this!

[ His instruction is slightly improving with each moment... At least he's as encouraging as he is snide and odd. ]

[theskyaccepts]

[Tsuna wants to say that he is a human so he doesn't have much choice but he supposes that he isn't really a human right now. And he could try thinking like a fish. Not that he imagines fish think a whole lot.

But he watches Alberto. And after a few moments tries to mimic his movements, and steadily slowing his arms. And eventually, he's following Alberto, and starting to catch up. It's still not quite graceful, definitely more jerky, but it's an improvement?

When in Rome, right?]

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto keeps on his back for a moment, and as Tsuna starts to successfully wiggle his way over, however stiff, it brings a big grin to Alberto's face as he calls out to the boy, cheering him on. ]

Yes...! Yes! That's it! Almost!

[ Genuinely encouraging and excited about his progress. He swims more upright, doing a little unnecessary twist in the water to get there, but it's all one nice fluid motion, as he faces Tsuna more attentively, calling out again. ]

Remember, pretend you're pasta— loosen up! Al dente!

[theskyaccepts]

I'm trying. I can only do so much at one time!

[The combination of techniques can only go so far. But as he gets used to the motions the jerkiness goes away.]

[prontissimo]

Ha! You're not trying — you're doing it! Yeah-hah! Keep going, try diving — like this, follow me! Via, via!

[ And he twists his body slightly, descending deeper in a dash, a bit quicker than he'd been before, which hopefully is encouraging of Tsuna all the same that he's upping the ante now, satisfied with his fast (albeit awkward) progress. He does flip over again effortlessly after a beat, though, to make sure Tsuna's actually lowering himself and following, since... Alberto didn't really give much instruction about diving. But he wants to show he trusts this guy to figure it out.

...And he wants to hurry down to the sea monster village, too, eheh— he's not a shining pillar of patience. ]

[theskyaccepts]

[It takes a little bit of figuring out but eventually Tsuna manages to get moving in a downward direction. It's not as fast as Alberto, but he's managing to at least get where he's going.

On that note.]

Wait! Where are you leading me?

[prontissimo]

I told you— to the sea monster village! C'mon, avanti, let's go!

[ Alberto shoots back up toward Tsuna a bit acrobatically, with a little unnecessary twist to get himself moving upright again, but grabs Tsuna's hand this time instead of his wrist — seeming a bit more friendly and excited, rather than grabbing a random person at his disposal. He likes Tsuna. Doesn't know why. Just does. Maybe his caution and clumsiness reminds him of Luca a little. Maybe he's just eager to like anyone in this world — but even for all his time spent in isolation, Alberto's still fairly discerning in his choice of company. But somehow in this swimming lesson, Tsuna's passed the test, which even Alberto doesn't know the criteria for... But he's got his own kind of intuition, and he gets good vibes. So hand-in-hand it is now, webbed fingers and all, as he starts to drag him downward alongside himself. At least it's at a fairly comfortable pace? Not overexerting the kid's newfound skillset... ]

Can you see it? Look, down there— those are kelp farmers, I can tell!

[ And indeed, way in the distance at the bottom, there are tall but tiny forests of kelp, waving in the waves, and if one looks closely some of the long stalks are falling, only for one sort of sea person or the other to reveal themselves from behind the fallen seaweed. Alberto speaks with all the confidence that he knows what he's talking about, but somehow... just this one statement comes off as more genuinely knowing what he's talking about than anything else he's said so far! ]

[theskyaccepts]

[The idea of a land under the ocean isn't an entirely foreign idea to Tsuna but mostly as a story. One that his younger self would likely be scared of because sea monsters and other things in the deep, dark ocean. Which he is still hyper aware of. Especially since a sea monster is apparently dragging him to his village?

He's not going to be eaten is he?]

Kelp farmers?

[And it's like reality is finally catching up to him.]

Wait, who even are you?

whoops escaped my radar but i like alberto and tsuna's CR so i'm responding 50 years later lol

[prontissimo]

Ha— Alberto. Alberto Scorfano.

[ Alberto grins knowingly, still tugging Tsuna down with him. But he suddenly flips over to face him as he gives his name, releasing the boy's hand for just a second before grasping it again with the opposite hand in a handshake. But what starts out to be a normal handshake suddenly turns alarmingly strange, especially swimming in zero-gravity water as they float and slowly descend now. The magic of Avalon's language processing can only go so far, at least making it clear to any listener he's saying "it's a pleasure," though it's in deliberate Italian, but... the next bit just does not translate, and is just as confusing here as it would be back home. If not even more so. ]

Piacere! Girolamo— Trombetta!

[ He twists Tsuna's hand this way and that, then tugs it back and forth, not unlike a trombone. D-Does he have any clue what he's saying? He sure delivers it like he does... But the fact that it doesn't naturally fall on the ear like any other magical language exchange in Avalon is, uh, odd and concerning. ]

[theskyaccepts]

[Tsuna is about to respond when he's suddenly tugged into the handshake and almost shaken around in the water with how off guard he was caught.]

Hieee...what are you doing? Or saying?

[prontissimo]

Ha! It's a human thing~ Right?

[ Like Tsuna should know. Cuz he's obviously human. Alberto doesn't know about this undersea curse, doesn't understand what's going on himself, but he can just tell this is Tsuna's first time experiencing the Change, except... backwards. This guy reads "human" all over. ]

It's nice to meet you, that's the point, ha~! C'mon, let's go~ There's only so much sunlight.

[theskyaccepts]

Uhh...I guess? It's usually not like that though...

[The handshake, right? He means the handshake? Really, Tsuna is trying his best to be more open minded about things in this world, but it still kind of weirds him out sometimes.]

But I guess it's nice to meet you to...

responding another 20 years late and oops forgot to use sea monster icons the last two tags...!

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto rolls his eyes a bit, giving a crooked smirk as he swims backwards comfortably with his hands resting behind his head, floating nonchalantly. ]

...Aaand~? Your name iiis...?

[theskyaccepts]

Oh! Uh...Tsuna. Tsunayoshi Sawada.

But most people call me Tsuna.

[prontissimo]

Okay, then, Tsuna— piacere. You can swim, uh, more or less now, right? Then let's go meet the weird sea monsters, eh?

[ He flashes him a convincing grin, sharp teeth and glowing green eyes hopefully lending to the charm, although this kid definitely reads "human" despite his fish tail, and seems to be kind of nebbishy... maybe he just needs a good guide, like Luca did at first. ]

We're in this together now, sooo— just follow my lead, got it? Andiamo~

[ And with that, does an unnecessarily showy little flip in the water and darts off downward again, glancing over his shoulder to make sure he's being followed. For extra encouragement, he waves Tsuna along and calls back to him after a moment, voice trilled with lighthearted laughter. ]

C'mon, Tsuna, forza! You're doing great at this sea monster-ing stuff so far, keep going!

[ At least he's nice, even if... pushy and confusing... ]

[theskyaccepts]

[Tsuna follows, at a slower pace but enough that he's got something of the basics down. Everything has just moved a little too fast for him, and he's trying to catch up and swim at the same time. It's not the most coordinated.]

Yeah, yeah, I'm coming.

feel free to write sea monster NPCs as you please!!! winging it!

[prontissimo]

[ The scene below really does look like some strange, otherworldly, but quite simple farmers at work, the closer they get. The kelp grows tall, waving in the water, almost like a little forest. As they draw quite near, a naga farmer is approaching, but turns around when a mermaid calls to him, and they strike up friendly conversation there on the edge of the patch, the naga holding an odd sickle in his hands, the mermaid carrying a large basket of live crabs. Alberto slows suddenly, so that he and Tsuna are level, seeing this as a golden opportunity, then turns to Tsuna with a knowing look and one webbed, clawed finger placed over his mouth to silently tell him to keep quiet... Then, Alberto takes the poor boy's wrist again, and darts inside the kelp, dragging Tsuna along with him at full speed, going into hiding, and watching the native sea monsters carefully from within. The sudden motion and bubbles catches the pair's attention, and they both look on at the boys' absence, though completely miss the fact that there is anyone hiding in their crops.

Oh, boy. From the start, this seems... bad... Bad idea... ]

[theskyaccepts]

[Tsuna pauses, taking in the view and looking around. He hadn't really imagined a place like this existing before. It's really like something out of a book, and he wouldn't mind exploring more before he's pulled into the kelp.

He winces as it brushes against his face and arms in a slimy, uncomfortable way.]

What are we doing?

[prontissimo]

Shhh...!

[ Alberto scolds, a wry smirk growing on his face, then beckons Tsuna further in once he sees the farmers take off in the direction the boys had come. He waves Tsuna along then to exit the kelp a ways down, entering the path and heading toward the little village in the distance. The farmers are far enough behind them now to be out of earshot and distracted by their search; Alberto even checks over his shoulder to see they've returned to work without much further question, not even noticing the boys snuck in through their field. Success. He relaxes right away then, swimming along comfortably as if strolling down a lane, like it's the most natural thing in the world, feigning confidence — but it's not really that much of an act. It really does seem like he's familiar with this place, even though it's entirely foreign to him in reality. ]

C'mon, Tsuna~ I wanna check out the sea monster village! If they saw us, they'd definitely stop us to ask questions. We're strangers here — and kids. In a place like this, everyone probably knows everyone, heh... Typical sea monster town~ ...Oooh, look, I see some homes! I just wanna see — real quick! Just follow my lead, okay?

[ None of that is comforting. He swims a little faster, tail whipping fluidly, as they reach a pocket of apparent dwellings, little more than a few caves, some hiding spots tucked away behind large rocks, some vaguely constructed little dwellings made from what seem to be firm mud bricks, not unlike igloos. It's interesting for Alberto to see the difference between homes in the bottom of a lake versus homes in the bottom of the sea. Definitely strange to him. He's gawking all over, an enchanted, wide-eyed smile stuck on his face now. How's he so brazen and at ease? He doesn't seem to be from here, from what he says, but... acts like he knows exactly what he's doing. ]