Raging Tempest

[Soul]

(ooc: The date is May 23, same time as Blackout. It's during the nasty storm that's coming in, and meant for characters who haven't established themselves with a group yet to ride out the storm.)

Soul's brow creased as he gazed up at the sky peeking through the trees. Its unusual color made him more than a bit concerned for what was going on. Soul had no idea what was about to happen. All he knew was that he had left the safety of Flynn and Rapunzel's dwelling to strike out on his own. He was going to survive this damned world, or die trying. He just hoped the later wouldn't happen.

The scythe-boy had briefly considered revealing his scythe blade at last and trying to cut down a few trees with it just to clear a path, but had inevitably decided against it. Now wasn't the time to be trying to get out of the forest. Soul needed to find some place to stay before whatever happened tried to bring about his end. So, Soul found himself walking through the forest in an attempt to get some kind of idea of what he would be dealing with.

Soon enough, though, Soul came to realize that he might have been a bit late on trying to find shelter. A soft drop of water landed squarely on his nose, splashing him with a soft 'plunk' against his face. He grimaced and looked to the sky once more. "This isn't good. I need to get out of here before this gets really bad." Soul grumbled. But where could he go? He couldn't just go back to Rapunzel and Flynn, not after he had been so determined to strike out on his own. ...There was nothing for it but to try and ride out the storm. It was either that, or trying to find shelter. Soul didn't like his odds of finding any kind of shelter amongst the trees. If anything, the white-haired boy was in the worst possible situation he could imagine.

A clap of thunder broke the silence, and it made Soul realize just how much danger he might have found himself in at that moment in time. Shelter. Get to shelter. he told himself. ...No, he needed to know if anyone else was present in the area. And so Soul turned around and put his back against a sturdy looking oak tree. It was all he could do while he waited to see if he was the only one in the present area. I just hope that if anyone else is here they don't take their sweet time. We need to get out of here. he thought.

[Penelope]

Penelope was, understandably, getting worried.
The sky became a thick, yellowish black in a very short span of time, and now it was raining. The rain was gradually becoming heavier, and a huge clap of thunder confirmed her suspicions that a storm was on.
She began to hurry through the forest, backpack loaded with electronics slapping against her back as she did. This was bad. She was lost in this godforsaken forest, her RC work in potential danger from the rain, alone, in the middle of storm.
This was really bad.
As she ran, however, she darted right past the oak tree that Soul had propped himself up against, and seeing the sycthe-boy out of the corner of her eye, she stopped in mid-run and wheeled around to face him.
"What the heck are you doing out here?"

[Soul]

Oh, so there was someone else out and about. That made Soul feel a lot better about the situation, even if the situation wasn't ideal. "I decided to leave the safety of Flynn and Rapunzel's place and was about to start looking for some place else to stay. I guess I picked a bad time." Soul replied casually. How could he be so casual at that moment? Even he didn't know. More droplets of rain had begun to fall, leading Soul to believe that they really ought to try and find a place to stay. "I could ask you the same thing, though. What are you doing out here?" he asked. "This doesn't exactly seem like the ideal place to be in a storm, especially when it looks like it's going to be a pretty harsh one. Not to mention the odds of finding shelter out here aren't exactly great either." Soul continued. Inwardly, he flinched a little at that statement. It was partly his own fault for picking such a bad location to be in. Now he would have to suffer the consequences of not thinking about a better place to be.

[Penelope]

"Touche. I was already trying to find a place to stay before this storm was even close, so that's why I'm out here. You're right, there's probably not much chance of finding shelter outhere, but who knows? There's only one way to find out."
She offered her hand to Soul to help him up. "Well, now that we've established that, I may as well ask who you are."

[Soul]

Gratefully taking Penelope's hand, Soul smiled just a little. Maybe the situation wasn't as bad as he had made it out to be. ...Or maybe he was just being optimistic. Who really knew at that point? "The name's Soul. This really isn't the best place for introductions, but I guess it's better to get them out of the way now rather than waiting. So, what about you?" Soul asked. He had really never come across anything like Penelope before then. Needless to say, he was more than a bit intrigued by his new companion's appearance. Still, like he had said right then wasn't the best time for explanations.

[Penelope]

"Penelope, RC specialist," Penelope explained with a grin of pride. "Pleased to meet ya, Soul. Now, then, about this storm."
Before she could say anything more a huge bolt of lightning ripped the sky in two, flashing a blinding white.
She yelped in shock at this and backed up against the tree. "Wow, this is bad. Lightning that powerful can't be good. There had to be something in this godforsaken forest to hide in..."

[Soul]

"Of course. We just had to pick a forest to be in while lightning was a potential danger." Soul groaned. "That's it. I'm cursed, I know it." he stated. With that out of the way, he began to seriously look around him for any sort of shelter. There had to be something. Anything. Soul didn't even care what sort of place they ended up in so long as they were safe from potential lightning strikes.

"Hey, how about over there?" Soul asked after a moment, pointing in the direction he had indicated. It was a bit further away from them than he would have liked, but he had spotted what looked like the opening in a rock formation. If they could just get inside, they would have some place relatively safe to stay in... so long as no one else had beaten them to it. He had thought he had gotten a glimpse of movement from the corner of his eye earlier, but he couldn't be certain of what it was.

[Penelope]

"That will definitely work."
Penelope didn't waste any time in the matter. She sprinted toward the outcropping, sliding down to a crouch underneath it. She pressed her back against the stone wall behind her, glad to be out of the rain. She shook her purple fur out a bit as she slid her backpack off her shoulders and placed it beside her.
"Geez... this sucks."

[Soul]

Soul wasted no time in following. Any place was definitely better than being stuck out in the storm. Soon enough the white-haired boy was inside, shaking his head to try and at least rid his hair of the rain that had begun to accumulate before finally resting against the stony wall. Rain had already soaked into his clothing, making the situation worse than it needed to be. "This is definitely not cool. Why would there ever be a need for a storm like this?" Soul asked. He had determined that freezing in a soaking wet jacket would not be the best option, and so unzipped his jacket and carefully removed it from his person before setting it near him.

"I... I don't know." a third voice replied. A rather timid-sounding voice at that. Soul's eyes widened, realizing that he and Penelope weren't alone, and his body tensed slightly. Who was the third individual?

[Rebecca]

She shivered. The heart-spotted pup had by no means been blessed with the best of luck since arriving in the strange world six days ago, and the rain now soaking her to the bone was just one further example.

The fact that she was lost in a forest right now as well only emphasised the point.

Thinking she'd seen movement up ahead - although whatever she had seen had since vanished - Rebecca pressed forward through the driving rain, hoping at least that whoever she'd seen would be able to help her to shelter. "H-hello?" she called out, her scottish-accented voice barely audible over the sound of the rain. "Is someone th're?"

[Soul]

Deciding to not find out who the third voice belonged to just yet, Soul turned his attention to the entrance of their little shelter. He thought he could hear a Scottish accented voice against the rain. Someone else lost in the storm? "Hey! Come on in here where it's safer! There should be plenty of room." Soul called. He wasn't sure just how close Rebecca was to their little shelter, but he hoped she could hear him.

The third voice's owner, Crona, was a bit further back in the little cave. He had found the shelter before Soul had pointed it out. While he was glad to have the company of Soul and Penelope, he wasn't happy about the circumstances of the would-be reunion between him and the white-haired boy. "S-Some storm, huh?" Crona asked. This time he wasn't certain of whether his stuttering was brought about more from how cold he was from being soaked by rain or slight nervousness.

[Rebecca]

Her call had been heard. Rebecca's ears picked up the sound of someone - nearby, it seemed - shouting out a reply.

"Where are ye?" she called back, turning in a circle to try and see through the rain, which was only getting heavier. Mid-turn, the dal's already sore foot caught on a small rock, causing her to trip and, purely by coincidence, she tumbled straight into the sheltered cave.

It only took a moment for Rebecca to take in what she was looking at. A boy with hair the colour of her own fur stood over the pup as she lay on one side, the water dripping from her sodden fur and ruffled collar forming a small pool beneath her. "Who're ye?" she asked, the storm momentarily forgotten. Aside from the De Vils, she'd never seen any human with white hair, so she was a little curious to his origin.

[Soul]

A puppy? Well, that was certainly unexpected. Soul hadn't anticipated a little dog such as Rebecca being caught in a nasty storm. She looked nice enough, and he made no objection to her presence. After all, they all needed shelter even if it was just temporary. Her question of who he was didn't surprise him. None of the group seemed to know one another. "I'm Soul. Now, if you don't mind my asking I'd like to know what a little puppy like yourself was doing out in that storm. And you..." Soul found himself trailing off, finally looking in Crona's direction as he did. He could hardly believe his eyes. The pink-haired kid that was friends with him and Maka was right there before him. "...Crona?" Soul asked, though it was really just him trying to confirm his own thoughts.

[Judge Claude Frollo]

Storms. Usually, Frollo enjoyed them. They were surprisingly calming for the distempered judge, as they tended to take his mind off the stressful, swirling thoughts that often clouded his mind. And, as an added bonus, they usually tended to send everyone indoors, out of his sight, and out of his hair. At least for a little while.

But that was when Claude was indoors. Out of doors, however, the judge was quickly beginning to realize that he strongly disliked the clapping thunder and heavy raindrops, which quickly soaked through his heavy robes and made it hard to pull himself from the mud and wet all around him. He tripped and fell quite a few times during his tramping through the woods, soaking and dirtying himself and his clothes to the point where he no longer cared. He was close to cursing aloud, as blasphemy was of little concern to him at this point, but thankfully enough he could just barely make out what looked like a decent shelter up ahead.

A cave. Well, it was a large step down from the Palace of Justice, but it would do for now. At least until this nasty storm went away. Stumbling a few more feet to the entrance, Frollo at last all but collapsed into the cave, landing on the ground with a wet smack from his long robes. Pushing his tired arms up from the ground, he glanced around, slightly out of breath from the walk as he tried to see in the dark. He was far too old for this tomfoolery.

Unfortunately, the cave was not empty. A boy with hair are white as his own was there, along with some sort of animal wearing...clothes?! And, to top it off, there was a little mutt not too far from where he'd landed. Not sure how many more creatures lurked inside, he contemplated turning right back around, but a particularly loud clap of thunder immediately changed his mind about going anywhere.

Pulling himself to his feet, Frollo scowled at the others, raising an eyebrow critically as he looked them over. After a moment of contemplation, the judge at last spoke, "Well...this truly must be Hell after all."

[Crona]

(ooc: Just thought I would clear this up in case anyone was confused. Crona was the person Soul saw, at least from the corner of his eye, before finding the cave. So that's how he got there first.)

The clap of thunder, along with Frollo's entrance, was enough to keep Crona from answering Soul. The older man was frightening to say the least, and reminded the pink-haired boy of Stein. Not completely, of course, but that didn't stop him from being a bit afraid of him. "I... wouldn't say it's Hell exactly, but things d-definitely could be better." Crona said at last.

Soul nodded in agreement. This wasn't the best time for his reunion with Crona, and so he would wait for when the storm died down before addressing his pink-haired friend directly. Unlike Crona, Soul was intrigued by Frollo. What had brought the older man out in such weather? For that matter, where did he intend on going once the storm died down? "So, how did you end up in a storm like this?" Soul asked casually.