❥ SECOND DRAGONSTONE | ACTION [ANYWHERE] | FOURTH WALL

[invigorating]

[Nowi's a pretty easy-going girl. She's also ridiculously curious, and since she's been (presumably) teleported to somewhere other than Cherrygrove, she's got a lot to explore. She'll be up in the trees, searching through the tall grass for Pokémon, or even exploring the city, if she's lucky enough to land in one. The only noticeable difference are Nowi's ears - they're no longer round and human, but instead long and pointy. But her curiosity dies the moment she sees something familiar.

Something very familiar.]

Oh no... What are you doing here!?

[The thing moans, but that's not exactly a helpful response. Nowi narrows her eyes and reaches to her belt for a Pokéball. Instead she comes away holding something she's been missing for awhile.

Her eyes light up immediately and she holds the Dragonstone above her head. Pink petals burst from the ground and surround her and when she emerges she's no longer a tiny girl - she's a dragon. The transformation looks like something from a magical girl series.]

Yeah! This feels soooo good!

[Her voice is a bit distorted, but it still obviously belongs to Nowi. She does a few flips in the air before remembering that the Entombed is still standing there.]

Oh, right! Hey, you! Let's go already!

[She rears back and releases a blast of fiery dragon breath. It slams right into the golden creature, but it doesn't seem fazed at all.]

Uh oh...

[Alternatively, you can run into her after she's beaten up the Entombed and is currently flying around as a dragon. Because that's not going to scare anyone or anything.]

Comments

[invigorating]

[Nowi watches the transformation in awe, so thankfully she doesn't even think of trying to roast the person who emerges.]

Oh-- Hi! Wow, you've got a really cool flying-thingy! But yeah, I just found my Dragonstone today and my ears are back to normal so I figured I could transform again!

[captainash]

[Good to hear. Surviving dozens of battles against dragon-shaped mobile suits only to be killed by a real one would have been embarrassing.]

Thanks. Looks like this really is the best day to find lost belongings around here. Don't get too used to it, though; it never lasts.

[invigorating]

What? Really? You mean I've gotta give this up again? But that's...

[Nowi sounds upset, but she doesn't really look it. It's kind of hard for a dragon to look sad...]

That's awful! I've really missed this! I don't wanna go back!

[captainash]

...Yeah, I know. I get it.

[Alright, losing your livelihood and passion isn't quite the same as losing a part of yourself, but he still understands some of it.]

You still have three or four days, though. Enjoy every single second of them, make the memories last until autumn. These weekends don't last, but they always come back.

[invigorating]

Autumn? You mean this will happen again? I'll get to be a dragon again? Even if it is only for a little bit?

[Nowi sounds like she's brightened up a lot already.]

[captainash]

Well, this is the forth time I've been through this in two years; twice during spring, twice during autumn. Chances are the pattern won't change too much.

[He hopes.]

[invigorating]

Oh wow, that's great! I mean, it's not perfect, but it's better than being stuck as a human forever!

[Nowi pulls a backflip again. She's definitely going to miss this, but at least it won't be forever!]

You said I've got a few days, right? Then I'll make use of it! I'll be a dragon the whole time!

[...........]

Hopefully my Dragonstone doesn't break...

[captainash]

[...........]

Maybe you could put it in a padded box and hide it in a safe? I mean, today it might not actually help all that much, but it's still better than nothing, right?

[invigorating]

Oh gosh, that's not what I mean! Though it is a good idea, so I'll probably see if I can do something like that...

But no! Weapons break when you use 'em too much, right? Dragonstones are no exception!

[...it's a video game mechanic, don't question it.]

[captainash]

[His video game version has completely different mechanics. Questioning everything can't be helped.]

...Mobile suits have a higher chance of getting shot down if you use them often, sure, but every other problem linked to usage should be caught be the maintenance crew long before anything breaks. Then again, how would you even maintain a stone?

[invigorating]

What's a maintenance crew?

[GUESS WHO'S NEVER TRIED TO TAKE GOOD CARE OF HER WEAPON but this really isn't surprising, considering that it's Nowi.]

[captainash]

They're the people who keep your weapons clean and make sure they haven't been damaged between battles. Like... blacksmiths, I suppose, except in a mobile suit's case they'd be engineers.

[While he'd love to do it all by himself, there's those pesky little things called work and responsibilities in the way.]

[invigorating]

Ohhh, yeah we have blacksmiths! I don't know what mobile suits or engineers are though. I don't think we have those!

[captainash]

This is a mobile suit.

[He taps the door of the cockpit with a nod.]

And you could say I'm an engineer, though little more than an amateur. I'm better at it than I'd be at smithing swords, at any rate.

[invigorating]

Oh! It's super cool! So outside of flying and trying to shoot down dragons, what else do you do with it? It seems like it'd be good for destroying a city or something, but I don't think that'd be very nice for the people in the city. Oooh, maybe you use it to protect the city?

[Sorry about that, she got horribly off-topic. As usual.]

[captainash]

My crew and I use our mobile suits to run interference between the two sides of a war, to make sure they don't end up destroying each other. We fight against spies and ensure no one has the resources to commit large-scale atrocities.

[That pirate motif isn't just for show. Even if they did end up helping the Earth federation directly, during that last battle.]

[invigorating]

Oh... That sounds tough. Are you guys okay then?

[She knows how tough war is. She's seen a lot of nameless NPCs people die. Her dragon form isn't really capturing how concerned she is, but she's pretty worried.]

[captainash]

We've lost a few people during the weeks before I was brought here, but we're fine now. The fighting finally stopped, after over sixty years; we can't ask for much more.

[Except maybe for every victim of the war to come back to life, but there's no way that's happening.]

[invigorating]

Sixty years... Wow. That's a really long time for humans. But... at least it's over now? Maybe things will get better?

[captainash]

It's not like they can get much worse. But yes, all impending crises have been averted, and everyone is willing to try talking. It's always nice when people learn from their past mistakes.

[invigorating]

Yeah, it is. I'm really glad people are willing to learn though! Hopefully it'll prevent wars in the future.

[captainash]

It'd better. If the war ends up restarting and lasting another sixty years, I won't be in any shape to enjoy peace by the time it ends.

[invigorating]

Oh no, I really hope that doesn't happen! Peace is really nice and war is... not. I kinda like fighting sometimes, but I'd rather fight against Risen than people, even if they are bad guys.

[captainash]

That's understandable. They don't have families or homes to return to, so you don't have to worry about breaking anyone's heart by winning.

[invigorating]

Yeah, exactly. They're already dead anyway so it's not really killing them. Sorta? But they're definitely not like us. They're not smart and I don't think they have feelings or anything.