untitledcreativeproject

[untitledcreativeproject]

GUYS I GOT ENGAGED.

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[untitledcreativeproject]

Day 29. [419]

Took a vacation. Unfortunately I'm back now. Flew north to visit a couple friends and to check out a school that Captain was thinking of applying to. She loves it. Honestly I'm pretty excited by the prospect of living in that area too. There's a lot of stuff within walking distance (I'd forgotten how much closer everything is to everything else up in New England) and the reality of us relocating in another year or so is finally starting to hit. I'm so glad that Captain got to meet my BFF (do I already have an established name for her on this blog? I don't remember and I'm too lazy to go check) and I'm even more happy about the fact that they get along and like each other. BFF is the last person close to me that Captain hadn't met yet, seeing as how she's already met most of the Gingers and my whole immediate family. Something about that feels momentous and important. I dunno. Since coming back the other day I feel like V has been acting weird. I don't know if I'm being over-analytical but they seem like they have something to say but they're avoiding it, or like they want to hang out but don't want to just ask. It's a little frustrating but I think I'll just wait it out and see if it passes. I feel like this upcoming year has to be a productive one. I want to focus on my health more, because up until now I've only played at doing so. I had a really hard night recently where I was questioning my own motivations and came to the realization that I genuinely don't care enough about my own well-being and that that apathy is getting in the way of me growing as a person and living a better life. So I want to take my physical health more seriously from here on out. Please feel free to hold me accountable on this. As far as the job situation I'm conflicted. I know we're going to be leaving after another year-ish and because of that I kinda feel like whatever I end up doing this year isn't going to matter much in the grand scheme of things. HOWEVER. That shouldn't mean that I sit in complacence and let the year pass me by. Moving is going to be expensive. If I can find a better source of income to better help us prepare for it, then I should pursue it.

[Running Total: 24,626 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Day 28. [847]

Let's talk about how my shift at work went today, shall we? I spent last post talking in a more general sense about the new manager and how the store is running. Today I pull receipts. When I said that the store manager and our DM are allegedly fucking, I was underinformed. I have since been updated on the fact that those two are apparently living together, which would explain why every time they come in to work in the morning, they take separate vehicles but always manage to show up at the exact same time. So yesterday the only other person that I was working with for the latter half of my shift had to leave early because of an emergency. This in itself was unproblematic, and I was told by my manager to close down the lobby until the next person to come in arrived. I worked alone for about 40 minutes, and then the night lead showed up. She would have been my relief, but seeing as how the other person was gone, I basically accepted (without being asked) the responsibility of having to stay a couple extra hours later. The night lead and I are friends, and during one of our conversations she mentioned that the new manager didn't seem to want to acknowledge her as a shift lead. I told her that he had referred to her in passing as "the girl who works at night that always complains about stuff," which is true and was said with other people present. That pissed her off, so she texted him to address how she felt about being spoken of in that manner. A couple more texts back and forth, and suddenly her phone rings. It isn't him; it's the DM. Never mind how she responded so quickly to a conversation that didn't involve her at all. She even said during the ensuing 42-minute phone argument with the night lead that she was "reading the texts as they showed up on [the store manager's] phone." Now, during the text/phone confrontation, the other person that was scheduled to close the store had shown up and was in the process of counting her drawer so I could leave. Unfortunately the fact that the night lead was currently hashing it out with both the manager and the DM over the phone (funny how they both happened to be present) meant that I couldn't leave, since the other closer is relatively new and obviously couldn't be left alone in the store. Today, I showed up for my scheduled shift. The other person (the one who had the emergency yesterday) didn't. Now, at the time I showed up, there were five other people in the store. One was the other closer from last night, who I already knew had to be out on her scheduled time. One was another employee who had already clocked out for the day, one was waiting to be relieved by the employee who never showed, and then there was the store manager and the DM. Four people, two of them higher-paid than I, and not a one of them was willing to stay in the store to cover this person's shift with me. I spent three hours in the store alone with the lobby closed because clearly I'm the only person in this store who has any respectable work ethic. It would have been close to the full five hour shift if the night lead hadn't felt sorry for me and come in early to help. It's not even like the store was busy. That's not the point. The point is, I'm the assistant manager. It's not my job to find someone to cover a shift. For all the shit they wanna talk about our old manager, at least he was willing to cover a shift if he couldn't find someone else to do it. His first instinct wasn't "well, fuck it, I guess the assistant can just get some extra hours or work by herself of whatever." Those two have no respect for me and my free time, and according to the night lead, the store manager was also implying that either I or the other morning lead were starting rumors because we were upset that he got the job over us. First of 

all.

I asked if I could be trained for the position because I figured it was worth a shot. The DM told me no, and I accepted it and moved on. It's not like I was hellbent on getting it, it just seemed like the logical thing to do. And second of all, I have never repeated a goddamn word about somebody to anyone else unless it was a true statement. If the store manager had ever bothered to have half a conversation with me in the three weeks since he's had this godforsaken shithole, he would know that about my character. If it's true that that's what he thinks about me, then I hope he has someone else in mind for an assistant. I'm fucking done here.

[Running Total: 24,207 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Day 27. [581]

I like how I said I was gonna try to use this month to catch up on my word count and a week in I haven't posted anything yet. So the new manager at my store is the brother of the assistant manager who used to be at my old store (he got his own store a while back and seems to be doing well). Before he took the position, that's all I knew about him. He would occasionally pop in to help with the DM and I didn't think much of it. He mostly seemed to be there for grunt work. Now that he's the manager, I can't help but feel cheated. I opened with him this morning and also last Saturday, and from what I've seen he's really not very competent on the floor. He isn't familiar with all of the drinks, he struggles a bit with inputting orders, and he likes to stay away from drive-thru. Last week our DM mentioned with a deep sigh how much she wished she didn't have to take the time to show him how to do everything and teach him stuff in the office. Now at this point the new manager has been here long enough to sort of establish himself, and I can see a little bit of how he works and what his methods are. I can't say I'm impressed. As I said, he isn't at all fluent with our drink menu or our POS terminals. He knows how to make sandwiches, but as the manager (and with two dedicated sandwich station guys) he doesn't have any reason to be over there. Even if he did, he usually locks himself into the front counter work station. That's probably one of the more frustrating points to me personally, because we basically live and die by that drive-thru timer. The most he's done to "help" with our times is to periodically walk by and tell us we need to be moving faster, without giving any thought to why the timer might be bad or any constructive criticism on how exactly we could become faster. With all the rapid shifts in management since our previous manager was let go, we've lost a number of workers in our already paltry crew. As a result, there have been a couple of shifts recently where we've had to call in help from other stores. Interestingly enough, I ended up on a shift with a shift leader from the store that our new manager was originally from (his brother's store). The visiting shift leader had a lot to say about the two brothers, and the way that management tends to handle things in our franchise. I can't say I disagree with anything he said, but it was definitely interesting to learn that our new manager was a regular crew member-- a sandwich boy at that-- before our DM plucked him from there and transplanted him here as our new fearless leader. Why? Allegedly, because our DM and our new manager are fucking. So, fuck the "bench process" bullshit that our DM was feeding our night lead, who asked if she could start training to become manager. Fuck what she told me about "other people who've been waiting longer to get their own store" when I expressed an interest in taking on the position. Apparently all it takes to get yourself a fat promotion is some muscles and good dick. I'm so over this company at this point.

[Running Total: 23,360 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Day 26. [384]

Updates! So that bitch who was supposed to replace our old manager quit or was taken off the schedule by our district manager. Good riddance. Interesting chain of events though. The day after she was appointed the role, we had the shittiest morning. She turned down the manager position at our store, which is fair considering she was promised a new store that should be opening soon. However, subsequent shifts and complaints from the entire crew made our district manager reconsider and apparently a new person from one of our sister stores was assigned to the new store instead of Russian Spy Lady. Even still, she continued to act like she was people, until one of our shift leaders confirmed through our DM that she was essentially on par with a shift leader and had no power over me of the other manager at the store. Fuck her, tbh. She acted like everyone's best friend and then turned around and talked shit to anyone who would listen as soon as we were out of earshot. Like the whole store wasn't against her already, and like everyone she was talking shit to wouldn't immediately tell the people she was talking about? Fucking idiot. Anyway, we had our second session in our private D&D game last Thursday, but in between that and our first session I also ended up making an appearance at our local game shop for both of the other Dungeon Masters' Wednesday games. So that's cool. Captain is supportive of my new hobby and the socializing that comes with it, and that's also cool. I'll be there again tonight after I drop Captain off at the airport. She's going out of town to meet up with a friend for a concert. Which is exciting! I'm sad because it's been a long fucking time since we've slept apart from each other apart from like... naps. But I'm excited because she's going out of state and being social and seeing friends and stuff. Life experiences are good. =) Anyway I started this post like 10 hours ago and kinda got distracted with Critical Role and helping Captain with her midterm paper that she's hoping to submit before she gets on her plane later. Sleepy. Gonna need caffeine and snacks to get me through the game tonight.

[Running Total: 22,779 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Day 25. [509]

So. Uh, actually, let's go through the light-hearted shit first, eh? Our first session of the D&D campaign went smoothly. I had a good time, though the slight awkwardness was real as our party members acquainted themselves with each other and got on with their first venture together. We hung out at an inn, I talked to the son of a smith or forgemaster, and we killed some big rats in a warehouse. I got bonus XP for roleplaying, so that's definitely incentive to continue. My newfound enthusiasm for tabletop gaming has drawn in a few other people. People from work. I went with one of them to the introductory Wednesday games that run at our local game shop, and he had a blast. I'm happy about it, since it gives them a chance to be social and flex their acting muscle a bit. I get the feeling that he's loving the drama of it all. On to some of the other shit now: my store manager got fired today. The person taking over his position is new to the store as of 3 days ago and her arrival was met with heavy (and apparently well-founded) suspicion and hostility. I had a bit of a moral conflict because I'm literally a puppy when it comes to new people and I always want to be open-minded and friendly, but I was also a willing audience to essentially the entire rest of the crew talking shit about the new person once she was gone for the day. As mercurial as our store manager's disposition was from day to day, we had all seemingly bought in to the dysfunctional work family of which he was the patriarch. I already see the cracks in the foundation beginning to grow now that he's gone. It was already starting because of him; now without him it will surely continue. I stay at this store mostly out of obligation and a sense of loyalty to the manager who requested my transfer. I still miss my old store, though I feel like a transfer back at this point would be out of the question. The regional manager himself already spoke to me in confidence and told me to expect that the new manager would rely on me to help guide her and keep the ball rolling. If that's the role they want me to play, I don't see how they would ever agree to let me go back to my old store where they are not in as dire a need of my skill set. However, the sense of duty that bound me to this store is gone. I don't know this new manager, and I hope I'm not around for long enough to get to know her. I know three other crew members who were already planning to quit, and it seems like we're all rushing to jump off this sinking ship. Nothing's off the table at this point. I have my preferences, but I really need to get away from this franchise and this store.

[Running Total: 22,395 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Day 24. [1460]

[Wrote some expanded backstory stuff for my D&D character. Changed name, also.]

The stereotype of dwarves being an overall surly and belligerent race had never sat well with me as a child. I was never one to start or to finish fights, opting instead to explore all the hidden nooks and secret spaces that my hometown had to offer. My mother was a respected member of some rank within the city guard, and she kept a careful eye on my curious wanderings. I like to think that she appreciated me staying out of trouble, but I know she often worried about my ability to take care of myself. "Any dwarf worth their salt should be ready and able to fight when they're called to,"  she said. "You don't have to like it, Kyrus, but it's a dangerous world out there." Once I grew older, I longed to see beyond the outskirts of the city I knew so well. My mother could never be fully convinced of my safety as it was, so you can imagine how difficult it was for her to let me leave home. After she tried and failed to talk me out of it, she gifted me with two impressive-looking handaxes for my journey. "You're a dwarf, after all. Look the part and enough people might think twice before they try anything." She instructed me to keep my jaw set, keep my shoulders squared, and to basically do my best not to look like a target as I made my way to the nearest town outside the mountain. Life moves so much faster here in Irma compared to back home. Stumbling into my apprenticeship with the Cartographer's Guild took no time at all after my arrival. It... it doesn't even feel like it's been that long since Reeve died. It's been close to six years, but that memory never fades. Reeve was my master, and probably the closest thing I had to a stable father figure. He made maps and told stories of the places he'd been when he was a soldier. I was the errand boy in much of my first year with him, though I suspect he encouraged my travelling around town in order to help me find my bearings. It was upon my return from one such task that I found our map stall vacant one afternoon. I looked around to see if he'd fallen into a chat with a neighboring vendor, but I didn't see him anywhere. I checked the next row over, where Reeve would sometimes try to talk his way into a free meal from one of the food hawkers, but he wasn't there. After a few minutes I thought it would be better to go back to our stall and wait for him to come back. When I returned, I saw him standing out in front of our little booth, talking to another man. When the authorities questioned me about the other man, I couldn't remember a damn thing. He was wearing dark clothes, and from my perspective the two didn't seem to have been arguing. I'm getting ahead of myself though. I saw them chatting and thought nothing of it. Then the stranger moved forward, pressing almost flush against my mentor in one smooth motion. I was still approaching the stall at this point, but I was close enough to hear the sound Reeve made, right before he fell. It was unsettling, the way the bazaar sounds I'd come to love seemed to suddenly come muted and muffled, like my head had been dunked underwater. Reeve collapsed to his knees and time slowed to a crawl. The man--my master's murderer--took a step back and glanced in my direction before retreating into an alley nearby. I could see Reeve's fingers grasping at the cobblestones on the ground, as if he could somehow brace himself and get back up to his feet as blood began to soak through his jacket. My own blood was roaring in my ears. I'm told that I screamed for someone to help him, though I heard nothing of my own voice at the time. Belatedly, I tried to follow where I thought the other man had gone, but there was no sign of him. The look he had given me as he turned to leave... My next thought was that he would be back to kill me as well. Wasn't I a witness to his crime? I found myself lost in the chaos that followed, as more people began to notice the innocent man who'd been left to bleed out in the street. Unable to stomach the reality of the situation, I ran. What if I could have stopped it somehow? I thought of my mother, and of the handaxes she'd given me that were collecting dust back at Reeve's workshop. Shame coiled in my gut, mingling with the fear that pushed me to put more distance between myself and the bazaar. When the grief hit, it brought a wave of nausea with it. I slowed to a walk, stopping briefly as my stomach emptied itself messily in a part of town I hadn't previously visited. I made it a few more steps away before my legs gave out. I sat in the street for a moment, absently wiping the vomit from my mouth. Then a voice called out from behind me. "Hey! It's a little early in the day to be a sloppy drunk, isn't it?" I bristled at that. "What," I snarled, "you see a dwarf lose their lunch in the street and they just have to be drunk, is that it?" I shakily got to my feet, my adrenaline surging again as I turned to face whoever had addressed me. My fists were clenched; whether I liked it or not, that dwarven temper had finally erupted in me. "Oi, oi," the man who'd spoken said as he put his hands up defensively. "Not that I'm a stranger to picking a fight for fighting's sake, but I didn't mean to strike a chord there." He chuckled. "Not that the big man would probably mind." "What?" "Don't you know where you are?" the man asked. He gestured to the statue I'd failed to notice until just then. It was of a flexing, bearded human with a greatsword in hand. I didn't respond, so he laughed again. "Ah, well. This is the Temple of Kord. Welcome." "Thanks, I guess." My fight reflex had passed, and I felt overwhelmed with the weight of the day. My shoulders slumped. "You look like you could use some water. Why don't you come inside?" As I passed through the entrance to the temple, the man introduced himself as Zanos. He explained that Kord was the patron god of the temple, although most of his followers would consider his most important title to be Warrior rather than God. The main tenets of his house were simple: "Be strong, but do not use your strength for wanton destruction. Be brave and scorn cowardice in any form. Prove your might in battle to win glory and renown." A sort of calm settled over me as I heard Zannos recite his faith, the first semblance of serenity I'd felt since fleeing the bazaar. I felt that this was my answer, the missing link that would bring closure to all the loose ends of my life thus far. Here was where I could become strong, to defend myself as my mother wanted. Here I could find the courage I lacked earlier in the day, when I thought I might be the killer's next victim and fled. "How do I join this temple?" I blurted out as Zannos was explaining the other areas of the building. "You want to become an initiate?" he asked, eyebrows raised. "Yes," I said. I shot him a determined look, then my face fell and I looked away. "Today... today a man killed my master in cold blood. It happened so fast. He never even got a chance to defend himself." "That's a coward's way of handling a fight," Zannos frowned. "I'm sorry, friend." "Coward...?" It seemed strange to me, calling someone ballsy enough to commit murder in public a coward. "You said your master didn't have a chance to defend himself. Disputes should be settled fairly, whether or not it has to come to blows. Kord would see that man disgraced by being beaten in a fair fight. In the pit, your strength and conviction are the only weapons you need." I thought on Zannos's words and I realized he was right. That man was a coward, someone deserving of scorn. I would become an initiate here, learn how to be strong, and smite the villain who had spilled an innocent man's blood unprovoked.

I would walk the path of a paladin.

[Running Total: 21,886 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Day 23. [748]

And so, the threat of Hurricane Irma faded from the lands, leaving us overprepared and a little underwhelmed. We got lucky, honestly. I'm glad all we lost in the storm was some money and a few days of work. It's been a year and a half since Captain and I got together! Very exciting stuff. Still happy, still growing together. I'm grateful. I finally sucked it up and admitted that I can't afford all my bills as they were at the time of my last posting. I won't lie; I haven't touched that spending spreadsheet since I made it. The arrangement that Captain and I made instead is that we swapped our cards with each other. If either of us needs to pay for something, we have to ask for our card back first, so the other person acts as a gatekeeper of sorts to prevent frivolous or unjustifiable spending. Additionally I've been putting any cash I get from tips into a "FUNds" jar (because it holds funds for FUN, I know it's brilliant) so I do have some money that I can spend at will. I also did the required paperwork to request a change in the way my monthly student loan payment is calculated, and now I pay less than 15% of the amount that I used to throw at my loans every month. Gives me a little more space to make moves and repay my debts, at least. I started watching Critical Role on Youtube. It's a show where a bunch of voice actors get together and play D&D once a week, and it's pretty engrossing. The episodes are usually about three hours long, and I know that alone would be enough to deter a lot of people from watching it, but I love it. I've never been part of a real D&D campaign before, and my only experience in tabletop gaming was with a shitty DM and more convoluted rules. I started watching the show because I'd heard about it here and there on the internets, but as I watch it I know I'm passively picking up important information that I can use once I start playing D&D myself. V has a campaign they want to start soon with a few people that they know from our local geek/game shop, and I actually made a character so I can join in. I'm still not sold on the name I gave them, but here's the little character intro I wrote for them: From a very young age, Krant had always dreamt of seeing the world. They spent their childhood exploring the caves and tunnels in and around their home town, devoting much of their waking hours to sketching the places they found. Though their father was a smith of some renown among their people, Krant had no interest in the marriage of fire and stone. They dreamed of open skies and sea breezes, things which they could never hope to experience from the comfort of their childhood home. So, when they came of age, they packed their belongings and left home in search of a trade (an honest trade, their father urged) that could accomodate their wanderlust. They set their sights on the nearby city of Irma, a bustling hub for trade. Within hours of their arrival they met a man selling maps of the city and surrounding areas. Comparing his map of their hometown to the one they made themselves before leaving, two things became clear: their rendering could use some work, and the man's map was pitifully lacking in important landmarks. From the day forward, Krant was the man's apprentice. Many months passed, uneventful, until one day Krant's master was slain in the city's merchant district. Despite the volume of traffic in and out of the market that day, not one person came forward with any information on who had committed the crime. Engulfed by the loss and the fury of helplessness, Krant turned to the church for sanctuary. It was there that they took up arms and vowed to avenge the man who had been their only guide in this bright, bewildering new world. Kinda wondering now if I should attempt to narrate the party's adventures as we go, just so I have some writing material. I haven't forgotten about my word count goal, and seeing as how I'm not even halfway there in September, I need something to help boost me. Maybe I'll use November as a "try hard" month.

[Running Total: 20,426 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Day 22. [661]

So. Things went up and then they went down. I got a check in the mail a few weeks back that was my portion of a bigger settlement check that DeVry University paid out as a result of a lawsuit against them. Something about them lying about the employment rate of graduating students. Anyway, this had me really happy because I was planning to have a bit of fun with the extra money and then put whatever extra I had after paying rent at the end of the month towards paying down my credit card, which has been over limit for months now.

Well, it's the end of the month. So the other day the internet stops working. We look into it and a website shows us that there have been reports of outages in our area, so we sleep on it. The next day (yesterday) rent is due. I check online to see what the rent is and there's an extra two charges on our account for something called "Force Place Insurance." Now, I know we did the paperwork to show we have renter's insurance, so I'm thinking there must have been a clerical error somewhere. I can't do anything with the document on my computer because there's no internet. So we call the internet people and apparently our internet was shut off because of a lapse in payment. The internet bill comes out of my (maxed out) credit card. A lot of my automatic recurring payments were coming out of that account, actually, and I guess my bank finally stopped letting it slide. So I switch my info over to my debit card, pay what we owe, problem solved.

On to the next problem, which is the extra fee on our rent. We go to the office to see what's up, they tell us to email them proof of insurance even though, that's weird, we could've sworn we had that, etc. I had emailed myself the proof of insurance right before leaving to go to the office. When I pull up my email to show them, I notice another email just below mine that says something about a policy being terminated. Due to lack of payment. So we leave the office with promises to email them the appropriate documents, and when we get back in the car I proceed to have a goddamn crisis.

This is all my fault.

The internet, the extra charge for renter's insurance. Getting the internet back on was almost $150 and I have to pay to get the renter's insurance going again now too. I'd known that my credit card being over limit was going to cause problems down the line but I thought the extra money from the settlement check would help me start to claw my way up out of the hole I dug for myself, but I just had to use it to throw it at the additional problems that were caused by the main problem.

So now I'm back at square one. I don't know going forward how well I'll be able to make this work, but I know for damn sure I have to tighten up and get my shit together if I want anything to change. I'm just so frustrated and sad about it. I have no one to blame but myself, which makes it hurt more. I set up a spending spreadsheet to help hold myself more accountable for where my money goes, and I've been getting a little better about what I buy for food. The fact that I've been cooking more frequently definitely helps to keep me from eating out, but now I know I literally can't afford to fall off that wagon. I'm trying to convince myself that things will get better from here even though I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I don't know that I really believe it at this point. I just need to be better.

[Running Total: 19,678 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Day 21. [527]

Oh man. So this 101 in 1001 thing. Half the items on here are just "lol i'm so random" bullshit. However. There are a couple things on the list that I have accomplished since my last update of it (as of 9/9/11 apparently). 26. Move out of my mom's house. 48. Find a willing photography model. (Sort of. Captain likes to take pictures anyway.) 53. Get all my Pokemon Sapphire Pokemon to level 40 or higher. (Pretty sure I did, anyway. and then I transferred them all to Pokemon Pearl when I had the chance.) 63. Buy more jeans. 65. Go to another gay pride parade. 74. Woodcutting - 99 (In Runescape, yes. This is where my priorities were then.) Anyway. Man, I kinda wish I still played Runescape. That was an easy 27 items on the list and I achieved all but one of them. Honestly though, looking back at my Livejournal is kinda embarrassing now. I stopped posting on there in August of 2013, right after-- sorry, had to check and see what nickname I use for her on here -- Mittens had come to visit me for a week. It's funny; looking back on the few posts I did have on LJ for the duration of our relationship, I didn't mention her much at all. Granted, I had a lot of other shit going on, but I feel like I talk about Captain all the fucking time on here. So there's that. Kinda wish I still played Flight Rising, too. I could probably have made up a bunch of little goals between getting genes for my dragons and collecting familiars to bond with. I wish it were as easy to make up and achieve goals in real life as it is in video games. I don't have the attention span for attempting to write up a 101-point list right now, I realize. I've gotten distracted by my Livejournal archives, Tumblr, and Neopets multiple times since starting this post. I'm still keeping up with learning Russian. Recently Memrise taught me how to say "I'm angry because I'm hungry," which is very important in my life. It's "Я злой, потому что голоден." I borrowed a book from the library that has been really helpful in learning more of the grammar rules in Russian. Memrise is good for learning vocabulary and phrases, but it doesn't really cover any of the proper stuff that you would get from a traditional foreign language class. I'm thankful that I had an education that taught me these basics in different languages, whether it was English, Spanish, or Latin. That discipline and that pattern recognition really helps me to feel comfortable with copying down lists of noun declensions and verb conjugations. I'm grateful to the language teachers I had for granting me this ability. I feel like the work I was putting in while I had the library book for Russian would have made them proud. I'm looking forward to borrowing that book again after I've taken some time to study/memorize all the notes I've taken from it so far. I still have half the book to flip through for more notes.

[Running Total: 19,017 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Day 20. [634]

Hey guys. I know it's been forever since I was last on here. The RP site kinda died (it's on hiatus but I'm not sure I want to go back to it if/when it's back up and running). So let's see. Wading back past all the RP posts to my last personal update... Ah. Well. My new year's resolutions. 1) I got promoted to assistant manager at my day job. I had to transfer to a different location to get it, but it came with a raise, so I am now indeed at a job that pays more than $9/hour. It's substantial enough that I felt comfortable in quitting my night job, and now I hit overtime hours pretty much every week. It's not a bad deal. Plus now I have a ton more free time to focus on other shit like cooking and exercising. 2) I bought a Fitbit Zip, the smallest of the Fitbit family as far as I know, which is basically like a fancy pedometer that I can sync with an app on my phone. Captain and I sat down a month or two back and decided that if we were to start taking the fitness/health thing seriously again, we'd have to find a way to make it fun. Me having the Fitbit means that we can track our steps against each other's and see who has the higher count. Our daily goal is 10,000 steps, which has done wonders in motivating me to go to the gym and just get the last few thousand steps for the day on the treadmill. The app also helps track water intake and macronutrients. I'm not super involved with "counting macros" or whatever, but it has helped to see roughly how many calories I put into my body versus how much I put out. My snacking habits have been effectively curbed as a result. 3) Fortunately the RP stuff gave me a nice little buffer of sorts as far as the writing goal for the year. I think the running total on my last post was something like 17k? I may or may not have more material to work with after this, lol. It looks like I'd only have to contribute about 66 more 500+ word posts to hit that 50k mark, so that seems doable. (Catch me in December wondering where I went wrong, lol.) 4) Oof, money. Always a problem. I had to throw a bunch of money at my car in the past couple of months, but I think that's all settled now. I rolled my 401(k) account from my old theme park job into an IRA account with my bank, so it's easier for me to access and I have more control over it. I pulled the majority of the funds out to help me pay for car shit and to help pay down my credit cards, but I have things set up where a percentage of my weekly paycheck gets transferred to the account every Friday. Hopefully that will do some good. I also plan on looking into the stock market. I know absolutely nothing about investing, but if I can figure out how to turn a profit with this IRA then maybe there's hope for me yet. Anyway, I had been thinking about posting something on this blog for a while now, so I'm glad to be back. I actually went back on Livejournal to search for this old "101 Things to Do in 1001 Days" list that I made. I logged back on to my HabitRPG account the other day as well, so there's been this recurring theme of looking at my priorities in life at that particular time. Definitely interesting. I may revisit the "101 in 1001" thing though. Easy word count.

[Running Total: 18,490 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Days 18 & 19. [350, 294]

These are the last couple of posts for this story arc on the site. Saga 2 starts in a week or so, I think? Fun fact, I kept a running tally of the amount of times my character spoke in my writing. I also titled most of my updates with lyrics from songs sung by a female lead. Here is a handy link if you wanna read everything in order, see the titles and totals, etc.

The Namekian slumped to the ground, lifeless. The Makyan stared at Naraka's body, his mouth agape. "You... You defeated the great evil that plagued this world over seventy years ago. Singlehandedly." "She's something special alright," Mulberry said, their eyes sparkling as they watched Gatas disinterestedly prodding the body with her foot to see if it moved. A muffled electronic melody pulled them from their reverie, and they pulled their RRA-issued phone out of their pocket. After the first few times they had gone out on missions with Gatas, the general had been adamant that he should have some way of reaching them immediately in case something happened. "That was fast," they remarked, flipping open the device. "Colonel Mulberry." "General Auburn. Your mission is over. We've captured the Guru." "What, really? Who found him?" "A Bio-Android under the command of Major Violet, apparently. Not who I would wish that victory on, if I'm honest, but a win is a win. The Namekian Alliance should fall easily from here. Report back to base." "Yes sir." The next few days were a blur. A wish was made on the Namekian dragonballs, something that was still possible because the Guru had been kept alive. Gatas's contract was up. She accepted her earnings with her usual stoicism and was free to leave at her leisure. A teary-eyed Colonel Mulberry stood at her open door and saluted her as she packed what few belongings she had in the room she had been assigned. "It's been an absolute honor, Gatas," they said, their voice wavering. Gatas slung her pack over her shoulder and looked down at the brave little Tuffle who had been her comrade throughout the war. She wasn't one for attachments, and never had been. Still, some response to the colonel's words seemed appropriate. Gatas exited the room and put her hand on Mulberry's shoulder. She caught their eye and nodded, then let her hand drop. "What will you do now? Are you going back to Earth?" Mulberry hesitated to ask, fearing they would receive no answer. Gatas thought for a moment then shrugged. "Vacation."

=====

Hopping aboard the Cross-Galactic Transit System had somehow landed Gatas in the Alpha Collective, a shoddy collection of leftover planet bits that was only slightly less accommodating as her last semi-permanent place of residence back on Earth. She settled in on Sector 02. It was a fitting vacation spot, as vacation spots go. The militant Shikirian was never one to idle for long, and after being on Namek it was oddly refreshing to have things like darkness and the grime of a proper city around. The mercenary had finished more than a few long jobs only to find the relative peace and quiet grating, but with life as it was on the Alpha Collective, such things were never a concern. Money was plentiful. Gatas had been rewarded handsomely for her participation in the war, and there was no shortage of odd jobs on the asteroid for someone whose specialties were violence and murder. Mercenary work kept her busy, though regular clients were almost unheard of. It seemed like every time she finished working with a new contractor she found herself back at their doorstep the next week to take them out. She wasted no time in carving out a local reputation for herself. On one particular business trip to Sector 04, Gatas felt the ennui start to set in. As she dropped her shrieking victim into the dark waters of the asteroid's ocean, she realized that this amount of casual murder was making her profession lose its entertainment value. Dropping this latest target into the ocean wasn't even her idea, it was what her employer wanted. It was fun and creative, yes, but so hands-off. Shadows in the depths made the water churn. The man never resurfaced. Gatas sighed. She needed a new gig.

[Running Total: 17,856 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Day 17. [1627]

More fights? More fights.

The ominous clouds dissipated with the Saiyan's passing, returning the light from Namek's suns to its terrified populace. Gatas remained above the Namekian town for a time, waiting for some other disturbance to make its presence known. None came, and the locals below seemed unwilling to engage with the being who had apparently saved them. The mercenary decided that it was probably time to head back to the Red Ribbon base. She flew off in what she thought was the right direction. Roughly an hour later, a squad of Red Ribbon soldiers out on patrol waved Gatas down from the air and informed her that Colonel Mulberry had been waiting for her back at base. They gave Gatas some helpful directions and sent her back on her way. The Shikirian did some more aimless flying around before finally spotting the base. She heaved a sigh of relief and touched down at the entrance. Gatas had walked about halfway down the familiar hall leading to General Auburn's office before she heard someone behind her call her name. She spun to face her estranged Tuffle chaperone. "For Kami's sake, Gatas," the Colonel chided, "you could have at least told me what your plan of action was before you left me in the dust back there. Don't get me wrong, I mean, the way you charged in was nothing short of breathtaking to watch, but what in blazes was I supposed to be doing while you jumped into the fray on a suicide mission? I hightailed it out of there before the Namekians outside recovered from that blinding attack. Reports from the soldiers that made it back from that massacre state that you managed to take out the two Namekians believed to be the Guru's personal guard. Assassinating one would be a feat for anybody, but two?" Mulberry whistled. "You really are something else. And look at you? You don't even look like you're returning from battle, you look like someone who maybe took a hike that turned out to be longer than planned." Gatas waited for the Colonel to catch their breath, knowing that there was more to come. "Anyway, the General didn't seem too torn up about us not finding the Guru in that location, which means he'll most likely have another area designated for us to check out when we next report to him." Mulberry rubbed their chin thoughtfully, then snapped their fingers. "Oh! In other news, it seems like that local gang has disbanded. There haven't been any reports of vandalized equipment or buildings recently. Not since I got back to base, actually." Briefly, Gatas wondered how long she had been out without her chaperone. The neverending days on Namek made it hard to tell. Enough time had passed for there to be noticeable repercussions for some of the things she had done while unsupervised, clearly. The Guru was still out there somewhere. She had an open mission to complete. Colonel Mulberry nodded. "Judging by the set of your jaw, you've come to some sort of decision. I'd say it's about time we see the general. I know you don't like to be idle for long when there's work to do." Gatas was welcomed into Auburn's office with the usual level of enthusiasm. "Oh? Colonel, I see you got to her first. Well, don't just stand there, you may as well come in." The general waited until the door closed before continuing. "The final count on your latest excursion puts this mission at roughly 43 casualties already. That's forty-three of /our/ people, I should clarify. It's difficult to get an accurate number for the Namekians, given the carnage and their race's ability to regenerate." "One of the guys that made it back said it was probably for the best that the village wasn't on any maps we had," Mulberry added. "After what happened there, it saves us the trouble of having to remove it." "Colonel Mulberry," the general said, and paused. "I understand you want to remain involved, but... why are you here?" Gatas looked from the general to the colonel, confused. "Sir, I already gave you--" "I do remember telling you when you returned alone that your supervision of this mercenary would no longer be necessary." The man's tone was more weary than angry, as if this was either an expected conversation or a repeat one. "I still feel that I could be an asset in--" "So you said at the time. You were correct, at least, in assuming that Gatas would return to us relatively unharmed. You either have a very clear grasp of the scope of her abilities, or you have entirely too much faith in whatever you do know of them." Mulberry blushed at this, wisely keeping their mouth shut. "I will allow our guest the final say. Gatas," Auburn said, turning his attention to her, "You may well be one of the Red Ribbon Army's most valuable acquisitions in this war. You have proven to me that you can be trusted and that your loyalty, at least for the duration of your contract, lies firmly with our organization. Thus, you are no longer required to have a chaperone. Colonel Mulberry, despite their orders, has expressed a desire to remain partnered with you, at least for the duration of your current mission. If you have any objections to this arrangement, now would be the time to voice them." Gatas glanced between the two officers again. Mulberry had yet to prove personally useful in combat situations, but then again Gatas had spent a good portion of their time apart wondering just where the hell her Tuffle comrade had gone. Now that she had her answer, would she be glad to be rid of the chatterbox? They had been briefed on the mission together, after all. It seemed fair to finish in the same manner. Gatas shrugged and looked to Mulberry as she gave a nod. "Alright. With that settled, here are the details of the next location we'd like you to investigate. Try to be discreet about it this time." "Yes sir," Mulberry responded, too quickly. They stood up and saluted, eyes front. Gatas side-eyed them as they were dismissed. When they were safely out of earshot, Mulberry squealed. "Yes! Back at it again. I was worried you'd say no because I wasn't sure if you thought I abandoned you back at the village, but I knew you'd get overwhelmed if I didn't call for reinforcements." They flipped through the information they had been given. "This next location seems a bit less secluded, so I don't think we should try your opening tactic again. Any big commotion could alert the neighboring communities and draw unwanted attention." Gatas nodded. While she could brute force her way through a lot of things, trying to locate a target who was actively making himself scarce would require a bit more tact. Mulberry would see to the details, she was certain. The only thing left to do was to get there, which they would hopefully accomplish without incident. As luck would have it, they did not. Barely ten minutes out from the base and a beastly Namekian came charging out into the path of their vehicle, immediately followed by an old Makyan with a bottle in his hand. "Get back here! When I catch you you're gonna be in big trouble, mister!" The Makyan was clearly in no position to make threats, as he was struggling to even keep up with the bigger alien. Mulberry sped up and swerved, hitting the Namekian with the side of the jeep and effectively pinning him down. "What's going on here?" "No time to explain," the Makyan huffed. He handed his bottle off to them. "Take this, you'll need it to defeat him." With a roar, the Namekian heaved the car off of himself. Gatas unbuckled her seatbelt and ejected herself as the vehicle flipped in mid air. She landed lightly next to the Namekian and watched as the recently vacated jeep landed on an incline and rolled over onto its top. "A new dawn is breaking over Namek. Mark this day, peasants, for today is the day that Naraka, bringer of death and destruction, has once again been unleashed upon this doomed planet's unsuspecting people. Soon they will know what it truly means to suffer!" "Does... does dawn ever really happen on Namek?" Mulberry asked. "I mean, I've never seen all three of the suns go down at once. I suppose when one comes back up it could count, but with the sky as bright as it always is it's hard to notice." "Silence!" The Namekian turned his attention to the Colonel and spotted the bottle in their hand. "Foolish human, you think that trick will work on me a second time? Anyone who opposes my will shall be utterly devastated by my power." Gatas sighed. For a planet of quiet pacifists, Namek seemed to be a hotbed for violent would-be dictators. "I shall be the one to sentence you to the void this time," the Namekian growled. "This planet, these people... all shall face Naraka's wrath!" "If anyone's claiming this planet, it's Red Ribbon," Mulberry shot back. "Gatas, catch!" Gatas caught the small bottle and gave the colonel a questioning look. Didn't they have more pressing matters to attend to? She jerked her arm back as the Namekian lunged for the bottle. "Hand me that vial immediately, or I, Naraka, shall obliterate you!" Gatas's lip curled. There hadn't been a Namekian on the planet yet who could stand against her, and she was sure this one would be no different. Still, he irritated her. If it would get them back on their way, then she'd make quick work of him.

[Running Total: 17,212 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Day 16. [447]

This one was a challenge post in response to a Legendary Super Saiyan character attempting to blow up a planet. (I kicked his ass.)

Gatas stepped lightly over Prince Piper's body, pausing as she noticed the sudden darkness overtaking the skies. On a planet with three suns, this was quite an unexpected spectacle. Clouds shifted overhead and seemed to swirl around some point beyond the horizon. Something was happening. The Shikirian immediately took flight, heading straight for whatever trouble was brewing ahead.

A booming voice carried a message across the ravaged landscape. It seemed that another attempt at Namek's destruction was at hand. Gatas had still been in Hell when the infamous rogue Saibaman had made his move, but now she had her opportunity. Namek mattered little to her; the planet and its inhabitants had already been ravaged by the Saiyan Alliance's war efforts. It was the idea of a single person possessing enough power to decimate an entire world in one fell swoop. She had to know who this person was.

Lightning crashed overhead, providing appropriate atmosphere to the impending catastrophe. At the center of it all, a lone figure posed immobile above one of Namek's larger communities. The man's hair whipped around his face, though the black coloring that marked full-blooded members of his race was absent from it. Regardless, the tail wrapped around his waist was more than enough to confirm him as a Saiyan.

Gatas watched the chaos unfold in the city below. Namekian families took their young ones and fled, terrified. She did not know where they thought they might be able to hide from the Saiyan's wrath, but such a notion was irrelevant. She flew up to face the man.

He studied her, his eyes hard. "Have you come to try and stop me?" he asked.

Gatas shook her head. Her intent had nothing to do with the fate of the planet. She had personally seen to the slaughter of enough of the locals to safely say she had no interest in preserving their lives or their culture. Regardless of her current mission and how it would affect her standing with her current employers in the Red Ribbon Army, she had to do this. An opponent this strong simply could not be passed up.

A long silence stretched between them. Seeing that the woman would offer no further explanation, the Saiyan asked, "Then why are you here?"

Gatas's lieutenant mark burned darkly on her crimson skin, showing plainly despite the darkened sky. She locked eyes with him as lightning flashed, revealing their faces in stark contrast to the blackness around them. "I want to fight you," she said. Her voice was low but there was no uncertainty in her words. The two stared each other down as she waited for an answer to her challenge.

[Running Total: 15,585 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Days 14 & 15. [736; 406]

More fighting.

Disposing of the goofy but surprisingly agile Namekian had cleared Gatas's mind of all the negativity she had gathered in anticipation of her return to the Red Ribbon base. Colonel Mulberry had still not made a reappearance, but Gatas assumed that if she went back to report to General Auburn, the Tuffle would eventually turn up. All was quiet in the ruins of the secluded village, so the Shikirian woman started walking.

A densely wooded area past the southern outskirts of the town provided ample shade for Gatas as she wandered back in the direction she thought she had originated earlier. The trees surrounding her looked much different from the Ajisa trees that dotted much of the planet's landscape. In fact, many of the trees seemed to be unique specimens unrelated to their neighbors. Gatas examined some of the more outlandish greenery as she passed further into the dark woods. It occurred to her as she walked that she was most definitely utterly lost at this point, but if all else failed she reasoned she could always fly through the canopy and try to orient herself based off an aerial view.

Gatas tilted her head back as she caught a whiff of something light and fragrant in the air. There was sweetness and a hint of spice in the scent, which was a welcome change after her run-in with the winged Namekian creature. She subconsciously began to follow the smell, which brought her ever deeper into the heart of the forest. It was impressive, really, that all three of Namek's sun did not pierce the thick canopy overhead. Part of the reason, as Gatas noticed, was that some of the trees making up this melting pot of a forest clearly originated from Konos. Those trees towered above the others, their massive roots jutting out of the ground in places to trip up the unwary traveler. Even the Shikirian, who was usually careful to avoid such obstacles, stumbled a few times in her search for the source of the enticing aroma that had her attention.

As she went on, the landscape changed a bit. On some level she knew that a wooded area of this size was improbable. They had flown over the area on the way to the village and she had no memory of such a place. Still, she persisted. Now the ground was less riddled with roots; instead tall grass sprung up and brushed against the Shikirian's legs as she journeyed on. The lush ground cover hid the crumbling bones and tattered clothing of adventurers past, which she trod over unknowingly in her quest.

The grass gave way to bare earth, though the backdrop of surrounding trees was omnipresent. The soft soil yielded under Gatas's feet, and she thought she could smell petrichor mingling with the sweet smell that had urged her this far. Movement in the shadowy wood caught her attention and she refocused. A woman stood in the middle of the loamy clearing, her arms outstretched as if beckoning Gatas closer. As Gatas drew closer she could see that her host was apparently some type of wood nymph. Most of her body was covered in bark but her pale green face was smooth, framed by long wisps of darker green hair.

"Welcome to my forest, young one," the green woman murmured, her voice carrying but muted somewhat by the surrounding foliage. "I see that my distress signal has reached someone after all. Have you come to help?"

Gatas saw no danger except for the green stranger who had just admitted to luring her into the middle of the forest. She made no move to leave yet, unsure what the threat level of such an elemental might be.

The nymph seemed undeterred by Gatas's silence. "My forest is so thirsty. We have all the sunlight we need, but this planet is so dry. Won't you help me feed my plants?"

By the Shikirian's assessment, the suspiciously creepy way that statement was worded was her cue to leave. She flew up in a hurry, hoping to breach the canopy with little resistance. She stopped abruptly as the branches above her visibly thickened and wove together to block her exit. She looked to the ground to see the dryad returning her gaze.

"You won't escape me," she said in the same ethereal tone as before. "You will help me, whether you die willingly or not."

===

With the dryad's passing, the lattice of tree branches that had previously blocked Gatas's escape route had shrunk back to a more normal size. Sunlight filtered in through the leaves overhead, a welcome change for the old forest. The Shikirian shot through the treetops unhindered, breathing in some fresh air as she surveyed the landscape below.

There was some movement in the village ruins, though Gatas couldn't make out exactly what or who was the cause. A ki blast from that direction whizzed past her, missing her by several meters. She thought she heard shouting, so she flew down to investigate.

A tiny Namekian, clad in clothing that most of his people would declare unnecessarily gaudy, was pitching an absolute fit near where the flying dinosaur-like creature lay in a pool of its own blood. "You!" it shrieked. "You killed my precious Cello!"

He wasn't wrong, but Gatas wondered why he was so quick to assume it had been her when he hadn't been around for the fight itself. "It had to be you! The other Nameks worship me, as they should. But you, outsider, you will pay for killing a Namekian of Prince Piper's bloodline!"

So the wee green man was a prince? Gatas had heard of no such monarchy on Namek, but if the brat was to be believed, she had no reason not to stay and fight him. Her battle against the creature he called Snare wouldn't be seen as wasted energy after all, if his death had flushed a royal out of hiding for her killing pleasure. The Shikirian watched as the little prince continued to throw his tantrum, firing wildly at already broken structures around them and kicking dead bodies. He muttered things under his breath as he went; Gatas just stood back and waited for him to finish.

After this went on a while, and Prince Piper showed no signs of slowing down, Gatas grew impatient and fired a ki blast near him, as a delayed retaliation for his initial attack on her earlier. He stopped then after giving a yelp, realizing that the red-skinned woman was still in his presence. He stomped his foot, shaking his fist at her. "You dare challenge the great Prince Piper to a battle? I'm invincible! You'll regret this decision soon enough!"

Gatas shrugged and dropped into a fighting stance. Just another Namekian claiming immortality. She'd kick him off his pedestal like the rest.

[Running Total: 15,138 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Days 12 & 13. [384; 424]

I won. And then proceeded to go on a killing spree.

As the giant Namekian warrior toppled and reverted back to his normal size, Gatas took a look at what remained of the interior of the building. The Guru was nowhere to be found, though whether that was always true or something that had changed during the battle was unclear. The green man's sudden detransformation seemed to signal the others that something was awry, however. A battle cry rose up from outside the building. Gatas couldn't afford expending the energy she would need to kill them all. She had to find the Guru. Outside, it appeared that Mulberry had called for backup. There weren't enough men to raise suspicion, but they proved helpful in beating back the dozens of warrior Nameks that were out for Gatas's blood. Gatas searched for any sign of the Namekian leader amidst the chaos. The world around her went quiet as she focused. Red Ribbon soldiers clashed with the local warriors, most of whom had come rushing from the handful of huts that made up their village. Stillness at the corner of her eye made the Shikirian turn. An old man, frail-looking but wiry, stood outside a hut towards the center of the village. He peered out at the violence, clutching his decorated polearm with both hands before slowly retreating back into the building. Gatas leapt out through a hole in the side of the hut she was in, then circled around the back way to sneak past most of the combatants out in the open. She was stopped almost immediately after entering the home that the elderly Namekian has vanished into. "You demon," the old man said. "What sort of fiend are you, who seeks to destroy everything we have? We are a peaceful planet. We have warriors only to defend our people, our children, our homes, from monsters like you." Gatas stared coolly at the Namekian as he spoke. She knew nothing of the comforts of home, or the concept of peace. She was a soldier, a warrior, and had never been someone's daughter in need of protection. "I see my words will not sway you. Fine then. If your only language is violence, then I will convince you in a way you understand!" The elder twirled his weapon expertly in his hand, then struck a fighting pose.

===

The details of her opponent's monstrous form faded as the girl reverted to her diminutive appearance. Gatas observed her closely for any sign of deception, but the limp body remained still. That was good. The Shikirian took her leave of the rubble that once was a building, not sparing a second glance at either of her fallen enemies. The Guru had yet to be located. Taking a look around at what remained of the secluded village, it seemed that most of the fighting had died down. The telltale signs of battle showed everywhere, from the scorch marks on walls to the deep ruts carved out of the earth at odd and abrupt angles. The village lay in ruins. Colonel Mulberry was nowhere to be found. Awareness sparked at the back of Gatas's mind for the briefest moment: she was probably going to be in some trouble for how she had conducted herself here. At least if she found and killed the Guru, it might not look so bad overall. Her adrenaline rush from the fight had worn off and her expression grew serious once more. If her target wasn't here, she would have to go back with bad news. As Gatas searched the remaining buildings for the Namekian leader, she growled. Mulberry was still MIA, and although the Shikirian was loath to admit it, the Tuffle was starting to grow on her. They did have a way of rationalizing Gatas's behavior to the higher ranks, and the mercenary was sure she would need help with that after this fiasco. She methodically picked through the houses that were still standing, realizing at one point that she had returned to the scene of her last two fights. There was only one body, however. Gritting her teeth, Gatas growled. This was not improving her mood. A triumphant cry outside interrupted the Shikirian's train of thought, so she made her way to the source of the noise. A squat green winged creature laughed as it kicked dirt over a partially buried corpse. Upon closer inspection, Gatas realized that the body had been splattered with excrement. The creature took wing once more and dropped another load onto a different dead body. Gatas wrinkled her nose at the smell, but flew up to challenge the disgusting beast. She was fairly sure the Guru was beyond her reach by now, but another unrestricted match without Mulberry's protest sounded like just the cure she needed for her current temper. Maybe after killing this dinosaur she could focus on finding her real target.

[Running Total: 13,996 words]

[untitledcreativeproject]

Days 10 & 11. [281; 901]

For just the barest context: One of the players on the RP site is playing a character who is basically a parody of you know who.

The ride back to Namek headquarters was uneventful. Colonel Mulberry rattled off some of the points of interest as they passed them by, providing fun facts for each which Gatas largely ignored. There wasn't much to Namek; blue grass, green people, three suns. Soldiers were quick to greet the two as they reached the Red Ribbon base. "Welcome back, Colonel, Gatas. General Auburn has been waiting for you. His orders are to report to him immediately." "Understood." Mulberry cast a questioning glance at Gatas as they proceeded into the main building. "That's strange," they said once they were out of earshot. "I've already given the General my weekly status report, and that's really all he's called me in for since the whole Lute fiasco. I wonder what this could be about." Before they could reach the general's office, however, they were interrupted. A young Saiyan soldier burst through the doors after them. "Peanut," he wheezed out as he tried to catch his breath. "Peanut's alive again." A more proper report suggested that the Saibaman in question had been seemingly zombified, and was currently attempting to eat Earth's ambassador. Mulberry cast a worried look at the hall leading to Auburn's office, unsure whether they should follow their orders or investigate. The decision had been made for them by the time they looked back the other way; Gatas was walking through the doors behind the soldier who had passed on the news. By the time they reached the area of the alleged sighting, Peanut was nowhere to be found. An rumpled orange-skinned humanoid stood fixing his necktie with tiny hands. Gatas assumed this was the Earth ambassador, and flew out to face him.

=== (A Battle Ensues) ===

Mulberry jumped for joy as the orange Android fell to one of Gatas's attacks. The celebration was short-lived, however. In a manner entirely inconsistent with her demeanor up until that moment, the Shikirian woman ran ungracefully away from the battlefield. Mulberry looked at the retreating figure and then back at the body on the ground in disbelief. Even more incredible to them, the Android's body seemed to ripple and shimmer before morphing into the familiar form of a red Shikirian female. "Wait, what?" Blinking fast, the colonel came to grips with the situation and rushed over to Gatas's side. "Oh Kami, are you alright?! Please don't be dead again!" Gatas replied with a weary grin, then winced and coughed up some more blood. Back at the base, Mulberry was quick to help Gatas into a healing tank. Leaving the unconscious woman under the watchful eye of Red Ribbon's finest medics on Namek, the Tuffle left for General Auburn's office at last. Colonel Mulberry felt an undercurrent of tension in the air as they walked toward General Auburn's office. It meant something big had happened, obviously, but they had no idea what it could mean in terms of the war effort. Upon reaching their destination, the Tuffle gave the closed door a hesitant knock. They entered after hearing a muffled "Come in" from the other side. "I'm glad you're finally here," General Auburn said as the door clicked shut. "I've just received word from the top brass that the Namekian Alliance has taken out one of our top scientists, Dr. Einstein. Not only that, but Rampion, one of the Saiyan Army's finest, has been defeated. The bottom line is, we have to do something big to get them back. To show them we're still very much in this war." "What's the plan, sir?" Mulberry asked. "Security in the Royal Palace on New Vegeta has been compromised. At this point, all bets are off. We're going straight for the jugular here, soldiers." Auburn tossed a new file onto his desk. "Our new objective is to assassinate the Guru." "O-oh," the colonel said. "Well, I suppose after today that's par for the course." They chuckled nervously. "What do you mean?" "Gatas is in the healing tank at the moment. We were going to report to you earlier, but... we received word that the Saibaman Peanut had been seen alive, and went to investigate." "And he attacked you?" "Well, no, sir." Mulberry tugged at their collar. "We never did see Peanut, but we encountered an Android from the Namekian Alliance. Trump. Gatas attacked him practically on sight." "Gatas attacked an Earth president," Auburn repeated slowly. A beat, then: "BAHAHAHAH. Of course she did! See, this is why we need to brief her on the new plan." "Yes, of course!" Mulberry exclaimed, laughing with relief. They wiped the sweat from their face with a pocket handkerchief. "She'll be filled in as soon as she's back to fighting fit! Just point us in the right direction and off we go." Auburn smiled and nodded, his good humor carrying over even as his expression sobered. "We don't have an exact location for the Guru, but we know there are several warrior Namekians gathered in a relatively secluded region south of here. Given that there are only ever a handful of warriors in any given village, the higher concentration in such a sparsely populated area suggests something or someone of importance is hiding there. The approximate coordinates are in the file." "Understood." --- Gatas never gave an explanation for the events that occurred towards the end of her fight with Trump, but some research on the part of her Tuffle chaperone revealed that the maneuver was one that members of the Shikirian race specialized in. Mulberry had additional questions, but knew by then that answers to such questions would most likely not be forthcoming. Instead, they focused on the mission. "So, heh. Are you ready for another assassination attempt?" Gatas kept her eyes front, but Mulberry saw the corner of her mouth curl up into a sinister smirk. The loss hadn't dampened her spirits any, it seemed. Gatas maintained her trademark silence on the way to the compound where the Guru might be, while Mulberry checked out the Guru's file and came up with some plausible battle strategies. "You've got a big fish to fry, is what I'm saying. Not that I don't have faith in you, because I've seen what you can do, but you also have to take into account that there are dozens of warrior Namekians who are probably also ready to fight any intruders who want to harm their leader." Mulberry looked over at Gatas, who smiled. "Again, not that I think you'll have any trouble with them. You look ready to take on the whole planet now that you're fully healed up again. The dying thing must really trigger a violent streak in you, huh?" Gatas nodded as they approached the village. Never one for subtlety, Gatas blasted the first two warriors she saw at full force, then hit all the others running towards her with a well-timed Solar Flare. She sped into the biggest hut in sight while her assailants were still blind to her actions. An older Namekian in full battle garb appeared in her view. He held his shield in front of him warily. "What business do you have here, red one?"

[Running Total: 13,188 words]