From the Ice Comes Slime!

Rhace Tarrin

From The Ice Comes Slime!

Really, this was a day like any other aboard the Endeavor - across its myriad decks, there were dozens-- nay, hundreds-- of people wandering around the ship or perfoming its perfunctory maintenance tasks so that the massive skyfaring vessel could continue to meander its way across the skies; the vessel bearing the beating heart and soul of Meliora Vitae was at a point where it could in fact go anywhere in the world at this point and do whatever it needed to. This place was an absolute technological marvel and Rhace was absolutely here for it. This place was amazing. It had everything one could ever need, and provided the freedom to go and explore the world aboard any of the ship's personal shuttles. The swordsman wasn't about to turn his nose up at something that was one, free, and two, entirely beneficial to his life goans and allowed him to pursue them no matter where he was.

As his daily routine went, it was early enough that he'd finished his morning training session with Lethe; the master had plenty to teach her student, particularly in the Midian method of swordplay that she'd picked up many moons ago; Rhace, with his rather inferior combative prowess and still-developing skills, was not quite a match for her, and as always he was walking away with more than a couple of bruises from the draconically-powered woman's abilities. This was the way of things. Next up was usually a quick pitstop to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat and replenish his energy, then a quick stop over at the communal showers in order to clean off all the sweat that he'd exuded from training before he went about the rest of the day. Almost everyone knew Rhace's routine simply because it was like clockwork at this point; you could almost time Rhace's arrival to the cafeteria within ten minutes, provided something didn't go horrifically wrong in the process.

The reverie that Rhace found himself trudging down the hallways in was suddenly broken by the announcement that came through the ship's intercom system, something that he wasn't quite expecting to happen this morning - shipwide announcements were sort of rare, considering everything tended to flow together very well. This one, particularly its contents, was enough of a shock that he paid heed to it.


Huh. So one of the critters that Cassiti was responsible for had escaped - and was on the loose somewhere on the ship. From the sounds of it, absolutely nobody had any idea where it was, meaning that it could have turned up anywhere in the halls of the ship, from engineering to the Arboretum, without any real tracking applied to it. Well, Rhace was already up and about as it was, so there wouldn't be too much disruption to his day were here to spend a little bit of time going and looking for the slime. After all, training was done for the day and he could definitely spare the time to go and hunt down a slime. How hard could it be, right? A moment later, he pulled his iLac out; it was the fastest way to get in contact with the others. And, of course, if Cass had heard the announcement from her division, then he'd need to flick her a quick message - just something to let her know that he was on the task and he'd keep her updated directly.

Then, without even thinking, Rhace continued on his trek to the cafeteria. Maybe it was just the exhaustion that he was feeling settling in and muscle memory taking over, but that was where he was going. It took him past the lounges on his way down to the ship's cafeteria, which in its own way was an entirely fortunate decision to have made, for some movement on the edge of his vision was enough to draw his attention-- there it was, a blue little critter leaving a small trail. It certainly looked like a slime. It definitely met that particular criteria and was... bouncing off the tables? That was a little odd, but Rhace wasn't exactly here to judge. Now to get it back to level four, somehow.

"Hey, uh... you lost there, little buddy?" Rhace called from the top level of the balcony over the lounges below, before he started descending the stairs - slowly. No point triggering the little critter early.

Rhace Tarrin

From The Ice Comes Slime! - Part Two

It was such a fascinating thing to watch as the slime moved, all while Rhace's footfalls echoed around the almost-empty room - the only exceptions to such being Rhace and Nuruli themselves, obviously - and then it managed to bounce its way across the room and eat a small mountain of pastries followed by, of all things, a pen. That was something that he hadn't entirely expected to see, but somehow he wasn't too surprised. It did not react favourably to the taste of the pen's ink, which proved that it wasn't just a destructive ball of chaos - it had its own positive and negative triggers that it reacted to. No wonder they had this thing upstairs. It was so interesting for him to see.

The fascination the swordsman took with the little slime creature, adorable thing as it was, beggared belief. Really, Rhace wanted to know three things: one, what it was doing aboard the ship, two, how they'd gotten it here in the first place, and what it could do. That last part was the key, truthfully. This little slime, presumably, could do a lot - most creatures he'd encountered thus far were inherently magical short of the domesticated things, and this definitely did not seem like a domesticated creature to him at all. The Ca-Elian warrior's curiosity was going to get the better of him, especially now that he'd witnessed how it reacted to strange objects entering its body. This thing was clearly hungry, and obviously it was going to need some form of sustenance, but the fact remained that Rehab and Research needed this thing back for whatever reason was coming up.  Presumably it had broken containment somehow, and Rhace would be very curious as to how that had happened. Especially considering as, as far as Rhace could tell, it did not speak an intelligent language for him to be able to decipher. Maybe the eggheads upstairs might have something on it, but realistically he was on his own for this.

"Alright, little one," Rhace said as soothingly as he could manage, "you look a little upset and probably a little tired. I hope you understand a single word I'm even saying, otherwise I'm going to look incredibly crazy."

Finally, he came to kneel next to Nuruli, casting an emerald gaze over the azure goo that had left its mark all over the room in a record way. "Do you want to come with me? Maybe we can find you something, um, better to eat."

Non-threatening. Cassiti would have been incredibly proud of Rhace, considering the fact that it had taken weeks of learning for him to be able to wander through the topiary-filled area that was the Rehabilitation and Research division's floor and be able to interact with all manner of creatures without being bitten. Multiple reminders and lessons had been delivered to flesh for that to embed in his mind, after all.

Still didn't mean he was gonna touch it, though. Who knew where that slime had been.

Rhace Tarrin

From The Ice Comes Slime! - Part Two

It seemed curious enough, bouncing gently off him. It wasn't interrupting him, and wasn't hurting hium, certainly - and he was just laughing. It was kinda cute, honestly. Even if he didn't know where the ectoplasmic being was from, well, it seemed plenty friendly to him.

Then, all of a sudden, he had a pet shoulder slime.

Well, this wasn't exactly the position he expected to be in, but hey, this wasn't a complaint on his behalf. He could get used to something like that, especially considering that while it was most certainly goopy, it wasn't exactly a bad thing. And it wasn't like it was leaving slime marks on his clothes, either. Yeah, no, Rhace could most certainly get used to this. If the slime wanted to roll around and chill out, that was perfectly fine by him at that point. It seemed that it was going to be way more effective for Rhace to get some traction here to understand exactly what this was doing aboard the ship. Besides, his stomach suddenly started rumbling, and he remembered why he came down here in the first place.

"Alright. Food? Food. Let's go."

So, he turned to leave the room, and take them both down the corridors of the ship. He figured that the first best stop was going to get them both some food-- after all, he still hadn't eaten after training yet-- and then see what all the fuss that Research and Rehab was kicking up about this slime. If he was going to do his job, well, he was going to have to do it properly. Especially because...

"Captain."

The Meliorites that passed him in the hallways were nodding, and Rhace was always quick to return a two-finger salute to those he passed. While stepping into Dagda's role was something that he wasn't quite used to yet, he was adjusting - and Cassiti and Cordelia were both smoothing the transition along in ways only they could. The one lesson that they were ensuring that was imparted indelibly on Rhace's soul was to take that old stick out of his backside, and that seemed to be working a treat - he wasn't as formal as he used to be, which was certainly a nice touch, and Rhace was far more personable about it all now that he was bringing it down. People seemed to be okay with the change, and he was making sure he put his best foot forward. Now that people knew him aboard the ship, it was a little weird, though. So many people to get across, so many faces to remember. People were giving him some grace time now to get situated into the new role, fortunately, so he could adjust his schedule to get into the real swing of things.

Soon enough, they made it to the cafeteria on this deck, which was just dying down after the breakfast rush; people were having a quick look over and were mildly concerned at Rhace's appearance with the slime that R&R were looking for, but they were fairly sure that the stickler would bring it back in due time. It seemed like a thing he'd do. In the meantime, the Elumish swordsman glanced over at the food line, saw it was small enough that it wouldn't be an eternal wait for some simple breakfast.

"Alright, here's my one rule, before you go running off," Rhace said, turning to look at the slime. He had to make sure that it didn't go too hard on other peoples' food and get them both in trouble. "No taking food unless I get it. Other people need to eat too, which does include me this time, but I will get you plenty, okay?"

He wasn't moving an inch until he had confirmation the slime was going to behave.

Rhace Tarrin

From The Ice Comes Slime! - Part Two

As Rhace went through the room, he went over to the food counter and stuffed his plate with the basics: mostly eggs for a good source of protein (scrambled, of course, for that was his favourite egg preparation), a little bit of pepper on the side so he could sprinkle it on, some hot sauce, some char-grilled tomato and some breakfast sausage. Something hearty and simple, but it'd definitely get the job done. There would be no doubt in anyone's mind that Rhace was Ca-Elian - the kind of thing he'd get at home was fortunately served aboard the ship and by the Goddess he was grateful for that.

Then, a voice pierced the sky, cutting as sharp as a blade - Rhace turned to see a bespectacled girl in high fashion ask a very simple question. He opened his mouth to speak, but the problem was already solved before he could even get his first word in edgewise. It was almost funny that the slime had escaped through the vents and also somehow presented as entirely unsurprising - it was a great getaway mechanism and explained so much about how she was able to roam the ship without being detected for so long.

And just like that, the little slime found herself surrounded by someone familiar who came with the greatest bribe for her that anyone could have brought: food. Nuruli was already all over it, hopping on over and taking advantage of the offering without any hestiation, and the swordsman couldn't help but chuckle at how that had all went down. The fact that it was also appropriately nutritious for the little critter based on their homeland was rather reassuring. It was yet more evidence that Research and Rehabilitation absolutely lived up to their name and did incredible work, for which they were to be commended. Note to self: definitely write a personal commendation on their behalf for how this was being handled. It was nice to see the work of the guild in direct action, considering it was hard sometimes to see the fruits of their labours.

"Nuruli, huh?" Rhace said, watching as the slime wiggled her way into Vee's arms, who seemed to be sufficiently happy at the fact that she was now receiving more attention-- and probably more importantly, better food-- than when Rhace was around to handle the situation. Well, that worked out. Rhace took a very ginger bite of some egg off his breakfast tray before he continued, seeing the slime rather content with the nourishment she was getting. Well, all was well that ended well. The newly minted Captain reached out and shook Vee's hand which was offered to him, and he flashed her a brilliant smile.

"Look, Vee, I appreciate the hard work. I'm probably going to wolf this down and then head back to the cafeteria to clean up some of the mess. It, uh, got a little crazy down in the lounge and I'm about one hundred percent sure a custodial crew is going to ping me for it. If you do submit any reports on this to Cassiti, copy me into it, because I'm kind of curious myself now. I won't lie, she's grown on me."

Another quick bite of egg, because he was starving, and he swallowed it down as fast as he could manage. "So once those tests are done, what's the plan? You'll have to forgive my lack of knowledge. I'm still kind of reading in to how R and R operates. Cass is catching me up as quickly as she can, but as I'm sure you know, there's a lot of information for me to digest. This is actually a good insight for me to be picking up, now that I think about it."

As Captain, after all, he needed to know how his guild operated. Having a solid foundation of understanding on a ground-level project would give him the ability to adjust and adapt as to how they worked on level four, for while every critter they studied was different in their own special and unique way, understanding one methodology would give him a good insight as to how the rest might operate - learning the language of the study, so to speak, and then being able to be conversant in other studies from there. While the man himself was mostly just a good fighter, this had to become his new priority. After all, he had to take responsibility for everything and everyone board the skyship, which meant that every crewman-- Vee included-- was now someone he had to be able to help and take care of. Nuruli, by extension, was his responsibility too.

Rhace Tarrin

From The Ice Comes Slime! - Part Two

"Oh, not a huge mess," Rhace said with a mischeivous smile. "But now that I've witnessed the appetite of our little adventurer, I'm not surprised she has the ability to get into trouble."

For once, Rhace listened, and listened quietly. There was a lot for him to process, and Rhace wasn't above stepping back and listening so that he could understand everything properly. He didn't consider himself a man blessed with great intellect, so here he was mostly just contemplating how well he could be of assistance here. Especially considering that the slime seemed to have bonded to him rather quickly. Besides, the little critter was cute and he kinda liked it back. Fair was fair. He wasn't going to hold back on the account of the job here, and if the job said that he was going to have to learn about studying creatures from far and wide, he would. If nothing else, Rhace was impressed with Vee's depth of knowledge about a creature from a historical period; that information could not have been easy to come across, and obviously the fourth floor team had picked it up well. That meant they'd done their due diligence in the work they'd put into understanding Nuruli and her kind. Of course there was more to that, but still--

Wait. Magical slime?

The explanation that Vee gave was received rather well. A hand came to Rhace's jaw, obviously considering the situation as a whole. The little slime had magical powers? Well, that was an interesting twist. Rhace couldn't have possibly known, given that he wasn't magical himself, and had no way of checking if that was the case. But this tiny little bouncing hungry creature having the ability-- potentially-- to cause chaos on destruction on a large scale? Well, she was in one of the best possible places to elarn. The swordsman had a particular view on mages and the ability that they had - they were wondrous yet incredibly dangerous. He'd been shown a world apart ever since joining the guild itself; mages had the capacity to do amazing things, like restore the land - but they also had the ability to completely level it. Joya had proved that, and Rhace himself had been at ground zero and fought enemies that he'd never really expected. The power of a mage who was willing to put their body and life on the line was theoretically infinite, and he was just a dude with a sword. Needless to say, he understood that raising something into magical training was a prospect that could either lead to great reward... or absolute ruin, depending on the upbringing.

Vee would probably notice that the green-eyed man's gaze went from the slime directly to her, as if he was interrogating her very soul for the intention behind the decision. He wasn't about to commit to a course of action without considering the possibility, and if Vee was going to be one of the lead researchers on the team, then it wasn't just Nuruli that he needed to know-- Vee was now up for examination, and how she was going to bring the slime up. Would she be able to impart lessons of morality, of choice, free will and goodness? Especially on a creature that, by her own admission, came from a species with low intelligence? Magic did good, of course. This ship was sufficient evidence of that. But if it could not be tempered with good choices, then what was the point? The studious young woman was probably not going to appreciate the stare, but it was, in Rhace's view, entirely necessary. He had to cut away the detritus and get right to the heart of the decision, and that decision lay with the heart of a girl from Motor City.

A slow breath out, and a snap decision.

"Alright. You have my permission to go ahead, on the condition that all your reports are submitted to both myself and Cassiti," he said, thinking about a few of the conditional modifiers here. Bringing a species back from extinction was basically the mantra of R&R, and hopefully, if that magical power was brought out some more, then there'd be plenty of advancement in that field. "Obviously I'm asking you to exercise best judgement here, and I trust absolutely that you will, Vee. I've got a lot of faith in you."

What he saw behind her eyes, he'd never tell - but he was apparently pleased with the results.

Rhace Tarrin

From The Ice Comes Slime! - Part Two

"Oh, no stress. You're fine. You've done good work here, Vee," the newly-minted Captain said with a wave of his hand. Really, there was no need to thank him for the work she'd done - he was big on people being able to take credit for their own efforts, and proving recognition for it. Vee had clearly done well, and would have a project that ade up most of her time just keeping up with the chaotic energy that the slime exuded, which was funny in and of itself. However, her next comment surprised him a little, and likely his response would surprise her, too.

"At no point do you need my permission to eat, Vee," Rhace told her, unable to contain his smile. "Do what you need to do. That'll give me a chance to head back down to the lounge and get some of the stuff off the furniture. We might be here a while, and I can always get some help with it." Especially now that he had super slime soap. And yes, that's the name we're keeping, nobody gets to argue. Rhace contemplated the milky liquid and was apparently satisfied with what he saw, so he pocketed that for later use when he got down to the lounge for cleanup.

Then, one final glance down to the sleepy slime, which quirked a smile to the corner of his lips. She was trouble, that was for sure, but she was tiny and adorable and the results of this experiment were so very curious to the swordsman that he couldn't help but be drawn to the little creature. Despite her just bouncing off him, she was suddenly exhausted, and he got why. She'd been on a big trip across the halls of the Endeavor today, and that was a huge undertaking for a little critter. "And you? You keep out of trouble. I'll come see you soon enough."

At that point, Rhace turned on his heel, and left the room - most of his breakfast had been conveniently eaten by the slime anyway, which was fine since he could always get a yeoman do a quick food run for him once he got into the office. And, sure, he still would feel guilty asking someone else to do something for him, but running a starship took a lot of work and when everything ran smooth one request to pick up food was a small price for his conscience to pay while he got through the work of the day. It was something he was getting accustomed to, and not something he'd ever expected to need to be accustomed to either - running a ship was not originally what he'd signed up for as a guild member, but hey, fame had its downsides. Now that the world knew who he was and what he could do, he'd been given a responsibility that equalled what others perceived as his potential. Rhace called it blind, dumb luck, and being good at holding a sword sometimes. That was, at best, what it was.

First stop: the lounge, so that he could clean up whatever crazy mess was going on down there before the slime train Nuruli left ate through the decor. Second stop: the tower, so he could get to work.