[Video]

[whitedarklord]

Is this the only public forum we can introduce ourselves?

[He paused, not looking very certain about this. After a moment, he gave a shrug, deciding to go with it.]

My name is Soma Cruz, and I'm originally from Hakuba City, Japan. I... guess you could say I'm a monster hunter of sorts...

[Nevermind he's... er... the reincarnation of the source of a lot of those monsters? Oops.]

Anyway, it'd really be great if my friends ended up here. Guys, if you're here, call me back? If anyone knows Mina Hakuba, Genya Arikado, Julius Belmont, Yoko Belnades, and Hammer, please let them know I'm looking for them.

[He looks a bit uncertain still... like he already knows they're not here, but he doesn't want to believe it.]

Comments

[epicbraille]

I haven't met any of your friends, but I'll keep an eye out for them.

[ Or, y'know, an ear. Being blind and what not. ]

Hammer is quite an unusual name to crop up among those rather exotic ones. Is it a codename?

[ Asks the man whose real name is almost as strange as his codename. ]

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[ihaveanannouncement]

I don't recognize any of those names, but I'll keep them in mind.

[And offscreen, she copy/pastes the name to a notepad.]

So far, this has been the only social medium we've found. Every other site I try doesn't work.

[dodgecharms]

Can't say I've heard of them, sorry.

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[whitedarklord]

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Weird to be in a place with limited internet.

[whitedarklord]

Thank you.

[Soma's lip twitched at that.]

Yeah... or a nickname, one he had in the military.

[whitedarklord]

All right... thanks anyway.

[greyerrant]

You hunt Monsters? Tell me more.

[whitedarklord]

There's not much to say. I've had to hunt through a couple castles for something important, fighting monsters along the way.

[He paused.]

...ghouls, skeletons, little devils... [He shrugged; it didn't even bother him so much anymore.]

[greyerrant]

Sounds like a worthwhile undertaking.

[helenchanted]

Sorry that none of the names ring any bells but I'll be on the lookout for them if they show up!

[No really. She's adding them on a list on her COMP.]

[ghost_shield]

Monster hunter, huh? Guess your sort of skills would fit right in here.

Ah, hi. I'm Nicholas Reeve. Spirit medium. Nice to meet you.

[epicbraille]

A self-proclaimed monster hunter with a military friends. Didn't see that coming.

[ Monster hunter has connotations of high fantasy adventures, while the military does not. ]

It's nice to meet you, Soma. Call me Snake for now.

[Video]

[second_destiny]

Nope, I don't know any of those names. Sorry.

I'm kind of curious, though -- "monster hunter?"

[whitedarklord]

Thanks, I appreciate it.

[whitedarklord]

So it would seem; I could say the same about yours.

[Spirit medium, hunh? He was curious... but at the same time, worried. What if this guy could pick up on his past life? Best to stay cautious; he didn't want to scare anyone here.]

Nice to meet you as well.

[Video]

[whitedarklord]

Thanks anyway.

[Soma shrugged slightly; there wasn't much to say about monster hunting.]

It sounds better than 'occasional monster slayer and castle buster'.

[...which was much closer to the truth.]

[whitedarklord]

We're a bit of an unusual group.

[Understatement of the year...]

Nice to meet you as well, Snake.

[epicbraille]

[ He's no stranger to unusual groups of friends, although his is ever so slightly less unusual. ]

If you don't mind my asking, what year was it before you were brought here?

[whitedarklord]

Twenty-thirty-six. Why?

[epicbraille]

"Monster hunter" seems a bit more old fashioned than 9 years in the future, that's all.

[whitedarklord]

[Soma let out an amused noise.]

Dark powers don't exactly keep a calender.

[epicbraille]

No, I suppose they wouldn't.

I didn't run into too many monsters back home, so I have little to go on when it comes to such things.

[whitedarklord]

I've only seen them in two places on my world, and one of those places wasn't even technically on the same plane of existence. So they're not very common on my world either.

[epicbraille]

[ Not very common, made up to scare small children. What's the difference, really. ]

Well, your skills won't get rusty here. I've had quite a number of random encounters since I arrived.

[whitedarklord]

Not sure if that's good to know or not.

[epicbraille]

At least it won't come as a surprise. A nasty surprise with sharp claws and teeth.

[ghost_shield]

So how'd you get into the business anyway? Necessity, or family, or...

[second_destiny]

No, I'm just surprised there's another world out there where monsters are a thing. They aren't in my world; just enemy soldiers.

[dodgecharms]

Any other way I could help?

[whitedarklord]

Kind of... fell into it.

[...semi-literally.]

[whitedarklord]

They're not common, but they exist in the right places. Most places on my world are normal.

[whitedarklord]

I'm not sure... I suppose keep an ear out?

[dodgecharms]

I can do that!

[ghost_shield]

*He sorta gets the picture.*

Yeah, that seems to be common, actually.

[second_destiny]

Yeah, there's nothing like that where I'm from. But around here, that's a step up. You've got experience fighting, uh...creatures like the ones that appear here.

[untiemyhands]

"...And Hammer."

_{[Sorry, she's just got to express a little bit of amusement at that assortment of names. She follows up with a more genuine question, though:]}

What sorts of monsters do you hunt?

[whitedarklord]

[Soma smiled faintly.]

Seems to be pretty common in this line of work.

[whitedarklord]

Shadows, right?

Have you encountered any yet?

[whitedarklord]

Mm... zombies, wolves, skeletons... succubi...

[It's a really long list.]

[second_destiny]

Yeah. I've been in a few fights. But all I have is a gun and my fists, so it hasn't been easy.

[Only because he's not busting out the 19-meter-tall robot for small fry.]

[whitedarklord]

Anything about them that sticks out?

[The least little information will help him defend himself later.]

[second_destiny]

Not really. They're all different.

[ghost_shield]

Yeah, you never really CHOOSE that sort of thing, do you? Kind of weird when you think about it.

[whitedarklord]

Some people do... I didn't understand why they did sometimes, but I'm still grateful for their help.