[Day: Wednsday, March 12th. Time: 10:30 p.m.] [Weather: Chilly and cloudy. It's supposed to snow sometime around midnight.] [Earlier you went to Ayako Kunoichi's house to stop Remi from doing something rash, and it worked. Except everyone got into a really big argument afterwards that didn't really go anywhere until you all gave up and went home.] [The camera is currently following Katie, who's probably just about to get ready to go to bed.] [Session Start] * Katie is doing just that, as she's pulling on flannel pajama pants and an oversized, unflattering t-shirt. She looks at herself in the mirror for a moment, then closes the open textbook lying on her desk nearby and picks up a novel instead. * Katie also grabs a pair of earplugs from inside a desk drawer. She shoves her satchel off her bed and settles on it herself, putting in the plugs and opening her book. [Unprovoked and without warning, the phone suddenly rings! Katie's father, who went to bed even earlier, can be heard cursing in the other room before her mother chastises him.] * Katie winces and gets out of bed. She opens the door, calling, "" as she walks barefooted to the phone. [The phone rings!] * Katie picks up the phone, primarily to stop the annoying ringing. "Hello?" [Katie gets an eerie feeling of nostalgia as white noise reaches her ear. It's a good thing she has those earplugs in, right?] [Then again, with those in, she can't make out the voice behind the white noise very well.] * Katie blinks. Then blinks again. "Oh, no. What do you want?" she asks, in a low voice. She removes the plug and puts the reciever back to her ear. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6) and gets 10. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6) and gets 5. [The white noise is painful and almost unbareable, but Katie manages to catch a few words. *Skshhhh* "...s save..." *skshhhhhh* "ii..." *skshhhhh* "n Aoba par..." *skshhhh* "...ust hurry! Vi..." *skshh* "Judgem..." *skshhhhh* "... Hurry!" *SKKHHHH* It gets so loud that Katie is forced to pull the phone away.] * Katie grimaces, keeping the phone away for a moment, before putting it back to her ear. "Who? Who do we have to save?" *sksshh* "...ome now.." *skshhhhh* "Re..." *skshhhh* "Future depends on..." *skshhhh* -- Suddenly, the line gets that rapid beeping noise that happens when the other line goes dead.] * Katie blinks. She looks at the headset for just a moment before hanging up and picking the reciever up again. She dials Kaede. [Kaede's phone rings. But he's a computer nerd who's probably up until 4:00 a.m. anyhow, so no fear of waking him up.] (Hmmph :P) * Kaede picks up after a few rings. He doesn't sound all that groggy. In fact, he sounds rather distant and professional when he answers. "Takeuchi here." * Katie speaks with quiet urgency. "This is Katie. I need you to look up Aoba. Park or parking lot." * Kaede blinks slightly and his voice falters a bit. "...Katie? What are you...? Oh never mind. Right." There's some clicking away on the other end almost immediately, like on a keyboard. [The camera shows Kaede typing for a split second before switching back to Katie, because she ranks higher in the popularity polls.] I got another call, like the one about the black cards. Something's happening there. Maybe to Remi. *Don't* run off without contacting the rest, Kaede. * Kaede stops at that, letting an awkward silence fill the phone for a second (not even a typing sound) before. "...what makes you think I was going to do that...?" * Katie doesn't raise her voice. She glances up at her parents' room instead. "Because you have a habit." Well, I...oh nevermind. Aoba Park you said? Yes. Do you know where it is? Southwest part of Tokyo..looks quite a bit from the school. But I can print out the map. [There is a subway stop there. If you leave soon you could all catch the last train there and meet at the station.] Okay, good. Where's the closest subway stop? It's within walking distance. You call Satoshi. I'll try and get a hold of Taki and Haruko. Tell him to get off at this stop. I'll meet you there. All right. I'll see you there. * Kaede hangs up the phone and gets to dialing. * Katie clicks off and dials Satoshi. [Satoshi's phone rings! Luckily, he's not asleep either, 'cause Jin's keeping him awake.] * Satoshi quickly walks over to the phone and picks it up. "H'lo?" He sounds slightly irritated. * Katie breathes out a sigh and continues in that same quick, quiet tone. "Satoshi, this is Katie. I need you to take the subway to the closest stop by Aoba park." She rattles off the station. "And hurry. I think something's happening, and we don't have a lot of time." What? Okay, I'll be there as soon as possible. Should I bring Jin? If you want. Just hurry. Got it. Be right there. * Satoshi hangs up. "C'mon, Jin. We've got trouble." * Katie hangs up and sneaks over to her parents' room, pulling her earplugs from her ears and listening at the door. [Time: 11:15 p.m.] [You each arrive seprately and meet in the subway station. Better hope this is a good gamble; that was the last train.] * Katie is there, dressed, carrying her satchel. She looks troubled, but otherwise fine. * Satoshi dashes into the station, looking for the rest. He's wearing a jacket over a long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants, and his hockey stick bag is slung over his back. * Kaede adjusts his glasses and walks over to Katie. He's in a white T- shirt with a dark blue open jacket and jeans. * Katie waves at them. She's dressed casually: sneakers, jeans, jacket, what's probably a sweatshirt underneath. "Haruko and Taki?" * Kaede shakes his head. "No answer for either of them. They must have already fallen asleep." * Katie nods. "Nothing to be done about it." She starts the short, brisk walk to the park. And Jin *was* with me, but somewhere along the way he said something about wanting chicken, and then he disappeared when I wasn't looking. Wait. What's this about, Katie? You said a call..what did they sound like? I don't know. It was like the call that warned me about black cards and judgement before... again, Judgement, this park, and the future. * Kaede walks and talks. * Katie runs a hand through her hair. "A man's voice. A lot of static." * Satoshi frowns. "Well, that's great." Wait......the future? I just hope this call's right...I don't know how we're going to get home... I don't know, and I know getting home will be a problem. I don't want to make them worry. I don't want... but we have to do what we can. We'll worry about that when the time comes. Right now, I just want to know what's going on. * Kaede heads for the park quickly. [You get to the park entrence. It's very dark and quiet, though there are crickets, at least.] * Katie takes a deep breath, listening. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6) and gets 7. * Satoshi goes quiet, trying to stay alert. * Katie reaches into her pockets and pulls out her ear helpers, putting them in. She closes her eyes for a brief moment before opening them and walking as quietly as she can in. [To clarify a bit: The park has a stone walk between tall cherry-blossom trees, and an occasional bench here and there.] * Kaede walks in, trying to breath and walk as quietly as he can so as not to disturb Katie. * Satoshi follows along, quietly. [There are lights along the walk, but they don't seem to illuminate the area all that much.] * Satoshi wishes he'd thought to bring a flashlight. ( Sight checks, +4 ) 2d6+4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Satoshi (2d6+4) and gets 12. 2d6+4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kaede (2d6+4) and gets 12. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6) and gets 5. * Katie peers forward and narrows her eyes a bit, then edges off the beaten path some, out of the light. She waves for them to follow her and continues in. * Kaede nods and follows quietly. * Satoshi follows! He's so good at it. ;p [In you head! Boy, this is kinda creepy, isn't it? You go about a good thirty feet in from the gate.] ( Sight checks again! No penalty this time ) 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6-4) and gets 5. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kaede (2d6) and gets 6. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Satoshi (2d6-2) and gets 5. [You all notice the shadowy outline of a man slouching in one of the benches. He's holding something up towards the moon, about the size of a CD; the light glints slightly off of whatever it is. There's a slight chuckle from the man.] * Katie blinks. She glances back at the others, then sneaks in for a closer look. * Satoshi stops as soon as he notices the man. 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6-4) and gets 5. (DR1) 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6-4) and gets 4. [Katie sneaks forwards. The man doesn't appear to notice her... yet.] * Kaede stops and moves behind the trees. * Katie tries to get a better look at this CD-thing. Seems like bad mojo. [Katie cannot determine what it is in this darkness.] * Katie frowns slightly. She straightens and glances back to see if the other two hid. [Kaede did. Satoshi's standing in the open.] * Satoshi is hiding. * Satoshi is hiding now. ^^; [Satoshi begins hiding :P] * Katie removes her ear helpers and tucks them in her pockets, then walks quietly the rest of the way up behind the man. "Good evening," she says, casually. * Shade stops moving at that. He hurriedly tucks whatever that thing is away and stands up. "You..." He says in a very raspy voice. "Which one... are you?" ( Gimme a mind roll Katie ) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6) and gets 6. [Katie realizes it's the same voice behind the white noise on the phone.] * Katie raises her hands in a placating gesture. "It's okay, I was just..." She blinks. "You sound like someone I've talked to before." * Shade starts moving towards Katie. "Which one?!" He asks again. Or maybe demands, it's hard to tell. * Katie grimaces and puts a hand to her ear. "You... called me. On the phone. You wanted me to come here." * Kaede twitches at the start but forces himself to stay still. * Shade stops. "I did?" He's silent for a second. "Did I? I... I don't know. I may have." * Katie nods, still not moving forward or backing away. "Your voice is the same." * Satoshi blinks, but stays hidden. Another confused person? * Shade says again, somewhat calmer. "Tell me, who are you? What are you? Which one are you?" * Katie tilts her head. "I will, if you tell me. Deal?" Tell you? * Shade spreads his arms wide. "I may not have anything left to tell anyone." I don't know. It's hard to keep track of everything ... when you're keeping track of everything. * Katie smiles a little, almost sympathetically. "Okay. Can you tell me what you are?" * Kaede gives Satoshi a brief odd glance before turning his attention back on the conversation. * Shade takes a step back. "No! You could be one of them! Won't take chances. You tell first." Okay, okay. Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. * Shade doesn't seem particularly threatening so far. Though looks can be decieving. * Katie watches him for a moment, then says, "My name is Katherine. I'm a high school student. And I'm also the Page of Swords." The Page... The Page... I know a Page, don't I? I think I do... * Katie nods slowly, waiting. I... Was it you? I don't... Which one am I? * Katie reaches into her pocket, pulling out a deck of tarot cards. She holds it out to him, trying to stay as non-threatening as possible. "We could try to find out." That's right... The deck... The deck... That's no longer reliable. I thought it was at one point. At least I think I did. But it's not. Why not? Because it doesn't work anymore. Anymore. What happened? * Shade steps into the light, and Katie can finally make him out. There, in a tattered and ripped Shunyo uniform that smells like it hasn't been washed in a week, is Reiji Ozora. "Because I saved it." [Session End]