[voice testing] loogie woo kreznix (don't ask)

[chromatose]

[It finally happened. It was really only a matter of time- and Ludger now finds himself in a fractured dimension on his own, without his friends to help him. It's... probably better this way, anyway. There's no reason for them to have to bear the burden of dealing with these places. It's on him, right? Both as an agent of Spirius, and as a user of the chromatus.

Still, it's kind of lonely. Especially without Elle, even though he knows he can use the chromatus without her right now.

Oh well. The sooner he gets out of here, the sooner he'll get back to the others. Best get down to business and find that catalyst.]

Comments

[chromatose]

[This is weird. This is super weird. It's not that he dislikes Ivar or anything - the guy's been pretty helpful on occasion, and when he's not trying to start fights with Jude, he's surprisingly friendly. Ludger appreciates how he treated Elle, especially.

But.

Why the heck are they suddenly being paired up by Spirius, exactly...?]

"Find the catalyst." That's more or less all they ever give me.

[It's not the most specific instruction ever, but at least the catalyst tends to trigger when he's in the vicinity.]

[beastcraft]

[ He hops from one tree to the next, grabbing onto another branch and swinging himself up higher. From here, he can see the outline of the familiar trees and houses that he'd once called home.

Welp.

Definitely not setting foot in there. He stands up straight, folding his arms and tapping a foot against the branch. ]

Great. No wonder these things take so long. Hey, I could send a friend in there to check things out.

[chromatose]

[And Ludger, in his infinite understanding of the techniques of all his other battle partners... has no clue what Ivar is even talking about.]

A friend?

[They just got here, how the hell did Ivar make a friend already?]

[beastcraft]

This friend.

[ He gestures above them.

It's a fucking dragon. ]

[chromatose]

[THAT'S A FUCKING DRAGON

And Ludger immediately whips out his pistols, because of course he does, it's a fucking dragon. Holy crap.]

I don't think that's a friend!

[beastcraft]

Hey, woah!

[ ARE YOU READY FOR A TINY BROWN MAN JUMPING ON YOU TO SMACK THE GUN OUT OF YOUR HAND! because that's whats happening. ]

He's a friend, relax! Okay so, maybe not my friend specifically, but if he's here then he's a friend of the other Ivar and so he's also my friend too.

[chromatose]

[OW GODDAMMIT

Ludger grimaces and rolls, shoving Ivar off. He could have just said not to shoot.]

You can talk to monsters?

[beastcraft]

[ He springs back to his feet, striking a pose - one finger thrust truimphantly up in the air. ]

Of course! I am a master of beastcraft.

[chromatose]

[what

does that even mean]

Is that some kind of spirit arte?

[Rieze Maxians really do have some strange abilities.]

[beastcraft]

Right. I keep forgetting how deprived you all are.

[ He rests his hands on his hips. ] The arte of beastcraft is a very specific and rare spirit arte. You have to be born with it to use it. And I, as it just so happens, was born with it. I can hear and understand the voices of animals and monsters as easily as I can hear humans.

[chromatose]

["Deprived" is really not the word he'd pick - he does okay, as a matter of fact - but whatever, he doesn't want to pick a fight.

Of course you have to be born with it, though. Seems like everything that's happened recently is all about who you are and where you come from. Why would Ivar be any different?]

Well... cool, then. So you can send it into town?

[beastcraft]

Yep.

[ He calls up into the sky. The dragon flaps its wings and turns toward town. ]

That should be able to tell me what's up.

[chromatose]

It's not usually that easy, but... it might help.

[Can't hurt to get a feel for the place.]

The divergence catalyst is almost always the cause of whatever made this dimension significantly different from the prime dimension. We need to focus on that.