MASKTOURN

Ellie waved the little photo dry as she lingered off to the side, still swaying to the beat of the music. Upon further inspection...huh, the angle by the stage would have been a bit prettier. Bummer. She wasn't going to use up another photo for the sake of getting a better shot, though. As it continued to wave the photo dry, it was a little startled to see a woman hurrying out of one of the buildings and slumping down by the wall. She seemed. Well, uh, distressed- or maybe just tired? Ellie glanced around a little bit before making her way over, still waving the photo dry. "Um. Hey," it quietly said, not standing too close to her in case it'd startle her. "Are you alright?" @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

Yep, Asha was sitting on the floor against the wall, eating a few slow bites of a piece of bread. Regardless of how gentle Ellie approached, Asha still startled once she heard it. "O-oh I'm- I'm just as fine as I could be here, y'know.." Asha mumbled. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Argh- sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Ellie apologized, shifting to her knees carefully. "Umm. Well, that's pretty fair, actually. I don't really think anyone wants to be here be here." She seemed to be wearing the same colored robe as it and Gale wore. It'd seen a few people wearing black robes when it was walking around earlier. though it didn't exactly know what all that meant yet. The letter said leader, though... "I'm Ellie," she introduced. "I- I think you might be on my side? Team? We're wearing the same robe colors, so." @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

Asha was much less unnerved by Ellie's presence than she had been by Ryu's. "I'm Asha.. Looks like we're both on the snake's side." She nodded and set the piece of bread down on her lap. She glanced around at all of the other guests, before settling on Ellie again. ".. I don't really know the point of having two sides, though. The other tournament I was in didn't.." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

Bread! Ellie hadn't realized it until now, but she was actually kind of starving. "It's nice t'meet you, Asha. I- wait, you were in a tournament before this?" it asked, a little bit surprised by that. There were more tourneys? Well, the Ninja came back from Chen's Island. "Uh- were you on Chen's Island before...?" @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

"Chen's! Yes I was- I thought I had met everyone there but maybe not.. Were you there too?" Asha asked. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Eh- no, no I wasn't on Chen's Island, b-but I saw the news when everyone came back from it!" Ellie exclaimed. She immediately looked a bit guilty at that outburst, dropping her voice to a normal, reasonable level again. "I- I took a bunch of photos of the Ninja and the Elemental Masters when they returned from the island, but I don't think I took any photos of you before? I- um- photos of the legal variety, I- I work with NGTV news." She patted her camera case lightly. "Worked? Um, my employment is a but questionable now that I'm here." @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

"The ninja? Uh, they weren't there, guess they weren't invited in my universe.." Asha shrugged. "And I watch that show sometimes! Ninjago city is a few hours away from my village so I go there a lot. And that's obviously the biggest importer of stuff from my village too, so lots of boring business stuff happens there." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Your...universe?" Ellie repeated, a little bit stunned by that. "Uh- but- y-yeah, I film most of the shots with the Ninja in them; aerial shots, moving shots, uh- the works! And, and if not those, I also do daily events and, and stuff! Boring business stuff is prettty boring, um, what'd'you mean by 'your universe'?" @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

"Yeah it was confusing for me too but- I don't think we're from the same Ninjago. You know the realms and everything? I think it's kinda like that, but there's more.. And they're not connected." Asha tried to explain. "Is that.. a fun job? I'd hope it's pretty good, because I'd hate to live in that city permanently. Too much bad stuff happens there." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"I- huh ! Well, I kinda know about the realms...? It- other universes and stuff kinda make sense though, but I don't think I really get it," Ellie sighed. "Augh. My head hurts just trying to wrap my head around it..." "Working for NGTV is a pretty fun job! There's always some new monster of the week, but since I'm just a civilian, they don't really go after us. Usually the Ninja. But I get pretty good pay for taking photos, though! I think I moved there...around when the Great Devourer was there?" Ellie shifted, settling into a comfier position against the stone as it thought. "Hm, I wouldn't mind living outside the city, boring business stuff aside. It's nice to get away from the bustle of it all. What's it like?" @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

( @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱 no rush!!)

"It's all a lot to take in, I know.. It's easier if I think of it like realms instead of universes, but even then.. There's an alternate universe version of my husband here, and he's weird apparently.." Asha sighed. "But Mlipuko is really nice, it's in a desert so it's pretty hot and dry most of the year, but when the rainy season comes everything becomes green and lush. My friend Keana back home has been helping with the rain festival for the past few years, and she really helps to make everything even more grand. That was coming up in a few weeks.." "There's about nine hundred people now, up from five hundred ten years ago. A lot of people have been moving in from surrounding areas, and to get away from the city. It's been a lot of expansion work, so most of the village is pretty new.. Not much old stuff stands, it was basically all destroyed a decade ago. Everyone is strong there, and caring..." "There's a lot of new-" Asha paused her gleeful reminiscing of home as Naiyta made it's announcement. Of course, hers was second to last.. And her name was immediately followed by Not Roman. And he was fighting Ryu... Huh. Wait, Kal! Kal was here, and she was fighting him?! God, she couldn't blow up Kal! Not that she wanted to blow anyone up but- not her weird parasocial relationship mentor figure! Didn't albanes say no one that she knew would be here? Well, Roman and Kal were! Damn! Asha just sat there after the announcement with a hand on her chin. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Eeh- oh, oh, wait, I kinda get the alternate universes idea! Like, people can be different across different universes and stuff. I...only really read about those in novels, but I didn't actually know those were...real? Huh." Learning that Asha was married seemed to...stop Ellie for a moment, the corner of her mouth turning up in a smile-grimace. Aw- she was married and in this thing? What the Hell. "Mlipuko sounds really nice," she softly said. She was married. She had someone at home. "Everyone working together to help make your home better for the future. Sandy and then all lush and wonderful, I wouldn't mind living there if it means I could see everything bloom. I...hm, what exactly happens during the rain festival? And, uh, why were most of the older things remov...ed?" Ellie stopped, peering up at the figure by the stage as it began to give it's announcements. She didn't know much of the names at the start, though- Ace. Ace. Ace was a- well, Ace was a pretty common name. Nickname? It was common enough!" And, um, Lao? Pfft, Lao was just like Chan, also a super common last name. It- yeah, it was actually a worryingly common last name. Ha. Ha, funny, Ace Lao. That's stupid. That's a stupid name. Who would have that name here. ". . um," Ellie simply said, it's voice beginning to crackle. Ha- ha. And this Ace guy was going up against Gale- the woman she'd met earlier. It didn't catch her name in the announcements from all the buzzing...noise in it's ears. @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

".. I know the guy I'm fighting.. Or at least a different universe version of him.." Asha sighed. She was just happy it wasn't Roman. She didn't think she could fight him even if he was... Different. ".. Kenji was in the other tournament I was in-... he's a bit scary and possessed, but.. He's a good guy." Asha said. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"wh- who? Kenji?" Argh, that must be the person she was fighting. "Oh- uh, thanks. I didn't catch that." Right, right, right. Alternate universes. Maybe it was an alternate universe of Ace who, like. Got thrown in here! Oh, this still sucked. "The...who? Who are you fighting?" Ellie asked, clutching a little at her robe. 'A little' was a bit of an understatement, judging by that white-knuckled grip she had. @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

"Kal Valdez.. I knew him in my last tournament. He's a.. a little dumb, but he's really strong and sweet. I'm going to feel bad if I have to hurt him.." Asha frowned. "But I don't have a choice. I need to get out of here and back to my kids. And my real husband." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"oh- aw." Kids. Focus on that- she has kids, she has a husband, she has kids! [Across the square, there's a man with short, black hair. He seems to be staring straight at her.] Ellie squeaked out a distressed sort of warble, looking back at Asha. "Kal, um. I really hope you don't have t-to hurt him," she sympathetically said. Knowing the state of all of this, it'd be pretty much unavoidable. "Or. Or anyone here, really, but..." "You...you said you have kids?" Her voice was much quieter this time. "If you don't mind me asking, how old?" @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

"... Yeah, three.. There's Lupita, my oldest one.. She's six. She's just getting in to school, and she's real smart.. And then Dekha, she's four.. She's starting to draw, and she always wants to show me new stuff. And then there's Kaisa.. She's only five weeks old, I-I.. I hardly can say anything about her besides that she's fussy and only sleeps for half hour periods at a time.." Asha sighed. Would she ever get to learn more about her? Her favorite color, or what kinds of food she liked best, or a funny way she would say a certain word..? @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Five weeks?" Ellie quietly gasped. "Oh- oh, she must be so tiny." (Eh, Ellie didn't really know what babies looked like, size-wise. Super small, though!) "Aw, all your kids sound really sweet," it softly said, smiling. "Especially Dekha- kids showing parents their stuff is always the sweetest." ". Eh, wait, you did say five weeks, right?" It was frowning now, much more than concerned. "Don't...don't babies still need to, um. Drink milk at that age?" @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

".. they're all really sweet, and my husband is great too. He always wanted to be a dad.." Asha said. Did the Roman here have kids? He was weird, that's all she knew, but even weirdos have kids sometimes. If he did, they weren't with her.. And Roque definitely didn't want kids.. "Y-yeah, she does.. I had just finished packing up two days worth of bottles back home because I was going away for a day but.." Asha sighed and readjusted her shirt again. ".. A-albanes feels bad about bringing me here, so she's sending bottles I pump back home, allegedly.. I-i don't have a way to prove that she's actually doing it." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Aww," she softly cooed. "That's really, really sweet. I'm really sorry that- that you're just here, honestly." That was pretty helpful, all things considered, though Asha definitely had a right to be worried. Ellie sat there, lips pursed in thought as Asha explained her dilemma. "...Um, we could., maybe ask her? I talked with Albanes earlier, and she seemed pretty bad for bringing me here, too," Ellie sighed. How unnerving. That guy kept staring. "And it wouldn't be any harm asking, right?" @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

"There's nothing I wish more than that I'd not be here right now." Asha said. "And what would we even ask..? If she's lying, she'd just keep lying.. I doubt she'd show me a glimpse of them getting the bottles.." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Argh, that's true, but- I don't know, but. Hm. Um- um. Oh-" Ellie fumbled a bit with her camera, holding it up with delight. "I have my camera! There's enough film in here for a bunch'a photos, and I only really took one earlier. We could ask that she takes a photo of them getting it if she doesn't want to show you it directly?" "And it wouldn't hurt to ask, if it puts your mind at ease. But if not, then that's alright." @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

"Do you.. think she'd actually do that..? I asked about seeing the other universes before and she said no.." Asha said. "You can ask, I won't stop you, but I just don't think that'll work.." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Well, I mean. If Albanes was worried about me managing to find some top-secret thing, I don't think she would have given my camera back, anyways," Ellie murmured. (Maybe it was because she asked politely? She didn't really know.) It fidgeted a little with the cap of the camera, 'clack'ing it on and off the lens. "Well- okay, well, tell you what. If I find out something, like, anything definite, I'll tell you. And if not, I won't tell you- just, not to get your hopes up, or anything. E-especially since it's about your kids and all." @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

"That would be great." Asha said and reached in to her nearly overflowing purse. "Are you.. going to go talk to her right now?" @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Um. Now? I- I think I'll save it until after this gala," Ellie said, lifting her gaze back up to the stranger in the distance. "When it's not as...hectic, and confusing, I guess." To be honest, her head was still kind of...reeling from hearing that name. Now, if it said Jason Lao, that would have been real uncanny. But it said Ace, so, like, it couldn't be hers. She blinks, and the stranger's walked on, disappearing elsewhere into the celebration. "I just- I thought I recognized somebody here," it quietly said, tearing it's attention away from them. She smiles faintly at Asha, and her attention shifts down to her purse. "Um?" (Click, snap- it's a blink and you'll miss it moment. On his ear, dangles a small, purple amethyst.) @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

"Oh.. I'm sure there's someone here you recognize.. the hosts seem to like to do that." Asha said, but as Ellie said she wasn't doing it tonight, she put the purse back down. "Oh, well, I need to talk to one of the staff at some point tonight.. and tomorrow morning, and then midday tomorrow, and then forever.. I have bottles ready." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

Fun.. fFun. Fun. "H-hopefully someone from another universe, mhm." Hopefully it was just a lucky coincidence. Hopefully it was just a lucky, stupid coincidence. (She didn't know what was worse- watching a version of her best friend fight, or watching her- her- h-) "I- I'll, um, find you, after I ask Albanes," it said, shifting to stand. "Hopefully you can, uh, get your bottles out? I'll find you if I, I learn anything from Albanes." (Where did he go.) @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

11:44 PM

(AH. IM SORRY, I THOUGHT I HIT SEND.)

"Thank you, Ellie.. Oh- before you go I should give you something." Asha set her bag down and placed her hands together, palms facing each other. "I need to start giving these out faster since the fights got announced now.. I've only given out two so far and there's so many people here." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Oh? Oh, um, sure! You've...been giving out things?" Ellie asked, settling back down a bit to see what exactly Asha was doing. "There- yeah, there's a lot of people here. I didn't actually know there...would be this many, really." @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

(Oh shoot sorry) Asha pinched together her fingers on her top hand, and began to pull upward from her palm. A large silver sparkler formed, and she held it out to Ellie. "This is a flare, basically. When you strike it against something it goes off real loud and bright, and I'll have a vague sense of where it is." Asha said. "I'm lookin to hand it out to everyone who's a bit trustworthy, so send people my way if you trust them. It's just to help keep everyone safe, and maybe find a way out of here." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"I- oh??" Ellie took the flare (flare?) from Asha's hands, weighing it a bit in both hands. "I- thank you! Thank you? Um." Wow. That was...a flare! That Asha made all of a sudden- not that she minded it, or anything. "How- I'm sorry, uh," she asked in a quiet hiss of a whisper, confusion palpable in her voice. "How did you make this, and how...exactly will this come in handy?" @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

"Oh- I have firework powers. Making these sparklers is actually the easiest thing I can do.." Asha said. "Well you know how people carry around whistles to get people's attention if they're attacked? It's kind of like that, only when it's lit I can kind of feel where it is and the end burns bright and hot enough to blind someone." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Huh! I see," Ellie murmured, looking carefully over the sparkle. "Well, that's a very creative power- I, I've never seen anyone with them before." "Is...this a one time use thing? I don't really know when I would use it...wait, wait, you can kinda track people with this?" @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

... Creative? "Oh- I can only feel it's direction once it's been set off. I don't feel anything when it's not lit." Asha said. "Ideally, you'd use it if you lose.. I was in a different tournament like this, and they took the losers to a dungeon below the island. If I can find out where that is here, we can break everyone out sooner. Darcy said he might be able to help too.." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

".Huh." (Well. On. Well on Chen's Island, they were taken to a dungeon below the island...so...) "You...really think there's like. I'unno, a second...'place'? For all of this? I don't really know how to describe it," she quietly said. "And- and what if there isn't? What if there isn't a thing after...dungeon?" @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

".. Well, the only other option is that people die or- stop existing. But why not just kill us now then? The other tournament the hosts wanted to steal our powers. I'm sure that's what they're doing here." ".. But if I do die, my opponent and anyone else in the ring is going down with me too." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"I really do hope they just want our powers," it sighed. "This is my first tournament, so it's pretty helpful learning about all this. Just. I really do hope it's just our powers they want." (O. Oh, ominous. Was that a threat or a promise. Or related to her fireworks powers.) "I...see. W-well. Well, hopefully no one dies," Ellie said after a moment, lightly spinning the flare. "But- but thank you for the flare. I'll- I might have someone to send to you for a flare- their name is Gale, um. Wind powers- I gotta find her first, though." @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

".. They won't be getting my powers either, my village needs it. There's a failsafe that should hopefully hold up even while I'm here.." Asha sighed. "Gale? With wind powers..? Her parents were a bit over ambitious.." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Huh- it seems like your village is pretty well prepared," Ellie mused. "Well, that's a good thing. I'm just holding onto my powers out of sheer spite at this point. They are not getting their hands on it." At that, Ellie couldn't help but laugh a little. "Well- well, her name 'n powers were all sheer luck, really. That's kinda how it goes." @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

"Luck? Wow.." Asha said. What were the odds. "But anyways Ellie, i gotta get headed to bed I think.." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Pretty lucky, yeah," it said, smiling fondly. "Oh! Oh, don't let me hold you back!" Ellie stood up and tucked away the newly made flare into her camera bag, before offering her hand out to Asha. "Again, thank you for the flare. I'll, uh, keep an eye out for Albanes and ask her about the bottles then." @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

Asha grabbed her hand and pulled herself back up to her feet, with some effort. "Thank you for talking to Albanes for me.. I think I've gotten her to do everything she's willing to for me." Asha sighed. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"It's nothing, really," she assured. "I haven't spoken to Albanes...yet? As of recently, that is, so hopefully I could convince her a bit somehow." "You're headed back to your room, right? I think I'm going to look around for someone for a bit." @Mads | Roman 🥁 Asha 🎆 ? 🪱

"Yeah, I'm gonna head to bed.. I know I'll need my rest for tomorrow. Have a good night, Ellie." Asha smiled and walked away. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷