[Closed] Let's Help Some Moogles!

[timecrash]

Who: Serge, Corrin, Klonoa, Terra
When: Oct. 1-30
Where: Various
What: There's a bunch of moogles with problems around. Serge wants to help.
Warnings/Notes: As they come up.

I'm posting all five of Serge's prompts here. If you'd like to be added to one of them, send me a PM and we'll go nuts!

Comments

Graveyard Smashing

[timecrash]

Serge bounces slightly, as he strolls through the streets of Golsaucia. "Man, who'd have thought that a ghost moogle would wanna learn how to dance? I kinda feel sorry for the little guy."

He looks around at the evening, seemingly unbothered by the cloying fog that hangs around everywhere. "Still, they don't seem to be too hostile. This could be fun!"

Re: Graveyard Smashing

[timecrash]

Mochi quirks an eyebrow. ”Maybe. Hey, if there’s a scary ghost running around that people are afraid of and he’s trying to learn how to dance…”

Serge groans. “Mochi, no…”

Mochi giggles, looking up at the human. ”Would that make him the Boogie Mog?”

“Uuuuuugh.”

Any further arguing is interrupted, however, by the presence of a small, translucent moogle, standing in the street, wearing impossibly thick glasses and a bloodstained white lab coat. ”Help… me…”

Serge stops cold, looking down at the creature, before kneeling with a smile. “Hey there. I’m Serge and this is Mochi. We heard you needed help, so that’s what we’re here for, okay? What do you need?”

The deceased moogle twitches slightly, taking a step closer. ”The dance. So perfect. I never learned…”

Serge remembers this. “That’s right, you wanna learn how to dance. I think the Dancer’s guild is nearby, I can help you find them!”

There’s a violent shaking of the head. ”No… only one dance will do. It was so popular. I wanted to learn, but there was never time…”

”What dance are you talking about.? Neither of us are the best dancers, but we can try!”

The moogle sighs. ”I was so busy, there was never time… If only I could master the Mogster Mash, then I’d be the life of the party…”

Serge and Mochi share a look. ”Did you just say…”

“The Mogster Mash?” The spectral moogle looks on in confusion, as the pair turn their backs in whispered conversation.
“Sure we should do this?”
“It’ll be fine, he’ll love it-”
“-haven’t done it since the Incident-”
“-more than two years ago it’s fine-”
“-ban us from all future-”

The two turn back, and Serge grins. “Congratulations, mister moogle. You get to be witness to the greatest dance craze ever.”

”Sure, we might not have done this since the freshman talent show, but it’s just like riding a bike, right?”

It takes a few moments for Serge to dig up the old audio file on his iMog. And then they’re standing, side by side, backs turned to the ghostly moogle… and the music starts to play.
”I was working in the lab, late one night, when my eyes beheld an eerie sight.
My mogster from his slab, began to rise, and suddenly, to my surprise…”
”He did the mash!”

It’s… it’s bad. Surely there can’t be anybody that bad at dancing. If anybody from the Dancer’s Guild is watching this, they’d best avert their eyes. Or plug their ears, if a Bard is watching. But in between the enthusiastic-if-terrible dance moves and the horribly off-key ’Kupooooo!’s, the ghostly moogle at least seems to be getting into it.

By the end of it, both Serge and Mochi have lost any ability to take the scene seriously. There’s laughing, there’s stumbling, the last pose is badly mistimed, and by any account the entire affair is a miserable failure. Why, then, is it that everybody seems to be laughing?

”You said you did this at a talent show? What on earth did you win?”

“Dead last!” Serge beams. “Crowd loved it, though.”

”Ahaha… I don’t… think that was very good, to be honest. But if you’re right, I’ll definitely be the life of the party with moves like those… thank you. I haven’t laughed like that in… well, ages.”

”Not a problem, kupo! I guess you could say I hope you knock ‘em dead.”

There’s a very undignified snort that dissolves into giggles, fading into silence as the spectral moogle fades at last into the mist. Serge can’t help but feel that he’s done good, tonight.

Legalize Awoo

[timecrash]

Thankfully, Hisan City is not at all unfamiliar territory. Serge can even get a place to stay for the night, free of charge, since he texted his mother ahead of time. So this quest hits a little close to home. A werewolf, prowling around the city his mom lives in? That's not okay.

He's actually fairly tense, as he walks the street, turning to glance at his companion. "Hey, keep your ears peeled, okay? Lemme know if you hear anything."

Re: Legalize Awoo

[wind_in_my_ears]

Klonoa nods resolutely, adjusting his cap as they give a flap behind him.

"Okay, got it!"

Re: Legalize Awoo

[timecrash]

Serge looks around, frowning. Cripes, how can anyone see anything in this fog? "Hey, Klonoa-" He freezes, mid-thought, accompanied by an unpleasant rush of fear that feels like a bucket of ice dumped down his spine, as, far off in the distance, echoing through the streets, is a thoroughly-inhuman howl.
"Th-that... that didn't sound too friendly."

Re: Legalize Awoo

[wind_in_my_ears]

Klonoa turns, stepping closer to Serge and accidentally bumping into his side. Erf.

"Well, no, but we don't know that.. it might still be friendly."

He says, drawing his sword anyway as he looks around.

Re: Legalize Awoo

[timecrash]

There's another howl, closer now, and Serge is pulling the old boat oar out, gripping it two-handed and preparing himself with a bit of Meditation.

Kapoooo...

Re: Legalize Awoo

[wind_in_my_ears]

Klonoa stiffens up, and.. a boat oar? Well, Klonoa won't judge. His primary weapon is usually a ring. He takes a deep breath, his spare hand glowing with the ethereal green light of wind! ...his ear twitches.

"That.. sounded a little like Luta?" He says, confusedly.

do not insult the oar, fluffy

[timecrash]

Serge tenses, staring intently into the swirling fog... and when a small figure lurches out of the fog, making its way towards them, gleaming yellow eyes, claws raised to attack-

And then it passes under a street lamp, and is revealed to be... a moogle. Dressed like a werewolf. Paws raised in the air in a 'scary' position, mock-growling as she approaches, only to tilt her head back and howl. "Kapoooooo! I'm a big scary weremog, kapoooo!"

Serge is... nonplussed. "What..."

Head Games

[timecrash]

Nakagawa... another place that hits close to home. He hasn't actually been to Nakagawa in more than ten years. Headless moogles aren't usually known for their ability to hurt people, but he's especially on edge here, considering Nakagawa's had troubles with monsters sneaking into rural communities before.

The quiet of the night is broken by a quiet snickering from Mochi. "Hey. Hey guys."

Serge groans. "Mochi..."

"Guys. He's on chocobo-back, and we're on foot. D'you think we'll have any trouble heading him off?"

"Mochiiiiii."

Re: Head Games

[timecrash]

As it turns out, a headless moogle on chocobo-back is not an easy sight to miss, especially when it reacts to visitors by charging, and screaming.
”HEEAAAAAAAAAADS!”

Needless to say, Serge and Mochi were both feeling less than enthused by this development. They were, in fact, running for their lives. “Okay, so game plan! We’ve gotta have a game plan! What’re we doing about this?!”


”Running sounds pretty great, actually, let’s keep doing that!”

”HEEAAAAAAAAAADS!”


Serge yelps, ducking a thrown kupo nut. “We can’t keep running forever! I have a stupid idea!”

”Well whatever it is you’d better do it quick, kupo, or else we’re screwed!”

“Okay, so it’s actually really simple: I’ll knock him off his chocobo and you can hold him down!”

”Okay, then what?!”

“I dunno, I was hoping you’d-”

”HEEAAAAAAAAAADS!”

Serge takes his moment, pivoting in place and [Parry]ing the next thrown kupo nut, sending the hardened seed careening back towards the headless chocomog at speed. There’s a very pregnant pause, as it seems to hang in the air- and then it strikes, taking the spirit off its black-feathered steed with an echoing thok. Serge is left staring at the winded moogle, who is then restrained by an irate Mochi. “Huh. That… actually worked! I’m a genius.”

---

”HEEAAAAAAAAAADS!”

The headless chocomog, it turns out, is not the best conversationalist. “Okay, but dude, I’ve just said you can’t have ours. We need them.”

”HEEAAAAAAAAAADS?”

”Yeah, even if you ‘only need them for a bit, you swear.”

”HEEAAAAAAAAAADS...”

“I get that you want a head, but you seem to be doing pretty okay without one. Do you really need a head”

”HEEAAAAAAAAAADS!”

Mochi sighs. ”I don’t think we’re gonna get it, Serge. Guy has a one-track mind.”

Serge looks thoughtful, though. “Hang on. Does it have to be an actual flesh-and-blood head? What if it just looks kinda like a head?”

The headless chocoless chocomog gives this due consideration, and offers a noncommital shrug. ”HEEAAAAAAAAAADS.”

“Awesome! Hey, Mochi, you’ve still got those leftover party decorations for the Center, right?”

”Yeah, why?”

“I have another stupid idea.”

---

One hour, one plastic kup-o-lantern candy bucket, and a considerable amount of duct tape later, Serge beams as he looks at his handiwork. “So? What do you think about it? Pretty nice, right?”

The moogle tentatively feels over the plastic moogle’s face for a few moments… before finally nodding to himself. ”HEEAAAAAAAAAADS!” He seems… happy?

All in all, it turned out to be quite a productive evening.

Time keeps on slippin' [Locked to Corrin]

[timecrash]

It's a foggy, cloudy day around the Curti Center. But instead of staying inside away from the autumn chill, Serge is following reports of a moogle noble with... odd problems. Nobody knows who she is, and she's got a number ticking backwards over her head. Weird, but... probably another ghost, right? So they need help.

He turns to glance at the other person with him, grinning sheepishly. "What do you think about all this stuff? Pretty spooky how it's all happening right around the Night of the Thirteen Moogles, right?"

[bladeofconquest]

"Honestly? I'm still trying to find my bearings a little." Corrin laughs sheepishly. "I'm still not entirely certain what the Night of the Thirteen Moogles is. But I appreciate you letting me come investigate this with you, Serge."

[timecrash]

"Nah, don't worry about it. Seriously, I'm here to help, especially offworlders trying to get acclimated." He looks around, trying to get his bearings. In the fog it's so hard, though...

"Night of the Thirteen Moogles... it's kind of like a harvest festival? Only not really, it's about this old moogle king that was really bad and he died on the thirty-first of October so you dress up in spooky costumes and stuff to scare his ghost away. Or something. It's all just like myths and stuff, like they tell to little kids. So it's mostly just an excuse to dress up in costumes!"

[bladeofconquest]

Corrin glances around as she follows Serge through the mist. Goodness, the fog is very thick, isn't it? Well, as long as they don't get separated it shouldn't be an issue. "Oh, a harvest festival. Sure, I know about those, we celebrate them back home." Well, at least Xander and the others would always show up at the Northern Fortress and spend the evening (and most of the following day) with her. Even now that she's out of there, she still hasn't had the chance to attend an actual harvest festival celebration.

But at the mention of dressing up in costumes that Corrin's pointed ears twitch in excitement. "And did you say costumes?" You had her attention Serge, but now you have her curiosity. "I never get the chance to dress up in a costume!" This is really exciting stuff!

[timecrash]

Serge beams. "Oh, yeah! It's tons of fun. I'm still kinda trying to figure out what I could do this year. Half the fun's making it yourself and I dunno, maybe something... actually scary? Oh! I could be a pirate!"

His excitement is cut off, however, by a soft voice joining theirs, coming from below the waistline.

"Excuse me, young man and lady..."

[bladeofconquest]

"Oh, I think I know exactly what I want." Camilla's the seamstress in the family, but Corrin had plenty of time to work on her own sewing skills growing up. She can easily make due. "I'm definitely making myself a-" She stops when she hears the voice coming from below. Staring at Serge for a moment, she then looks down. "Hi. Are you the, uh...ghost?"

[timecrash]

"Ghost? Sorry, I'm not quite sure what you mean, kupo... A female moogle, dressed in a black gown and wispy black shawl. "Forgive me, but I simply must get past. I've a very important appointment, though I..." She looks troubled. "I can't seem to recall where, kupo..." Perhaps alarmingly, however, is the shadowy numeral floating over her head, a number five in wispy black smoke.

"Uhh. Ma'am, you have a, uh. A thing..." Not certain of what to do, Serge gets out of the way. "Over your head..."

"A... thing?" She looks up, directly at the smoky numeral, her brow furrowing. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean, young man. Oh, I shall be late unless I hurry, kupo. It's such a terribly important appointment, but I just can't recall- please, young man, young lady, can you help me?" Over her head, the number dissipates... only to reform a moment later.

4

Fire burn and cauldron bubble

[timecrash]

Oh, man, the Death Pool. Part of him wants to try fishing in it just to see what he'd find, but there's other stuff that needs doing here. Reports about cackling and funny smells... maybe someone's trying to do magic of some kind, like witches in the old stories?

He's come here with a friend, at least, hoping that nothing bad's going to happen but prepared for it, if it comes to that.

[wheretheresawill]

"So, uh, do you know much about this place? The Death Pool... Is the water dangerous?" Terra has to admit he's a little nervous about going out here with just two people, especially someone he's never fought beside before.

[timecrash]

Serge looks over at Terra, considering the options. "Well... only if you go swimming in it, I think. There's a couple monsters around here that're worth worrying about, but as long as you don't actually go in the water it's probably fine."

[wheretheresawill]

"No swimming, got it. What kind of monsters are we talking about? Have you been here before?" Terra's gaze wanders from one side to the other, keeping a lookout for danger. He has one hand on the hilt of his greatsword.

[timecrash]

Serge shakes his head. "Nope! It's kind of exciting, don't you think? There's this place most people avoid and we get to explore it. Monsters... I think Bombs, but they're not that hard, just get rid of 'em before they blow up. And there's those frogs-"

Serge is cut off, unfortunately, by a trio of voices, raised in verse.
"-Fillet of a fenny snake, in the cauldron boil and bake! Eye of newt and tongue of frog-"
"It never was tongue of frog, it was toe."
"Don't you start with me, Sandy! Tongue of frog, says right here!"
"I reckon it was toes, dear. You know your 'andwriting ain't the best.

Serge... has to stop. Should they turn back? It sounds like they've interrupted something. He looks up at Terra, silently asking.

"I- oh, kupo nuts. Yes, yes, I see it, it was toes after all.
"You did at least bring one toe, didn't you?"
"I... I didn't, I thought we just needed the tongue-"
"Idiot girl. Cindy and I remembered to bring everything! We've been planning this evening for months and you've forgotten the toe of frog! I suppose you've forgotten slips of yew, as well!"
"Now it ain't all Mindy's fault, Sandy; now I think on it I think I've sat on me lizard's leg a bit-"

[wheretheresawill]

They don't...sound...like bad people? Maybe this was all just a misunderstanding. Terra steps out from behind the trees into the clearing.

"Good evening, ma'am - uh, ma'ams."

[timecrash]

Serge follows Terra, somewhat hesitantly, to find quite a scene. A trio of moogles, one quite small, a second tall and thin, and a third squat and stout, all adorned with tall, pointy hats. "Uh. Hi. We're not interrupting anything, are we?"

The three share a look, and the tallest gathers herself up for a scathing retort.
"Does it look like you're interrupting something? Use your brains, you-"
"Now see here, Sandy, there's no call t'be rude about it! And besides, could be they'd be useful, 'elpin' us in our hour of need and all that."
"Oooh! Yes! We could get them to find the things we forgot and everything will be fine!"