Board Thread:Roleplay/@comment-34818102-20191127203306/@comment-29564364-20200722041607

Emmeline's ears twitch in response to the distant yet distinct sound that pulls her from her sweet dreams and, eyes still shut, she reaches for the imaginary alarm clock. Unable to find it, her hand ventures farther and farther away in her quest to get five more minutes of sleep until the hammock rolls on itself, ejecting the occupant and a half, but fortunately, her sleeping partner replacement spares her much of the pain. Finally awake, the Gremlin slowly lifts herself from her lying position, thanking Alex for breaking her fall, only to go silent mid-sentence.

She shrieks in a mix of shock and embarrassment, springing on her feet as she realises not who, but what she landed on. "How did that get here? Did Alex see it? Where is he?[...] " the questions race through her mind as her eyes frantically scan the camp for Alex's presence. Seeing that he isn't there to see his fluffy doppelganger, she sighs in relief, then begins her struggle to pick up the pillow that is twice as long as she is tall and which she could barely wrap her arms around. Many awkward attempts later, she settles for dragging it, alternating between cursing her petite form and apologizing profusely to the object as she drags it over three meters of dirt, leaves and twigs to the safe that Alex left behind. While hiding it in there is risky, it is her only option other than hiding it in the surroundings with little to no chance of retrieving it undetected before the party packs up and leaves.

"What the?" The metal container refuses to open, releasing a muffled giggle instead.

"So it was you! You brought you-know-what here so that you could snatch Alex in my sleep!" she accuses, banging on the main aperture.

"No, it wasn't! Well, yes, Mimi brought Emmy's pillow because she thought it would be funny— and she was right — but Ally was already gone when she did it."

"You're not fooling anyone with that flimsy lie, Mimi. Now open up, you little brat-in-the-box!"

"Emmy should look at herself in the mirror before calling anyone little!"

"Oh, you–"

"It… tually… true…"

The Gremlin's ears catch a faint voice coming from behind that she recognizes as an image of the lifeless golem that she glanced over a moment ago flashes in her mind. "Nameless!" she hastily takes an electric crystal from one of the side hatches, which seem available, then hurries to the elemental's side. "Did that idiot give you a half-charged battery crystal again?"

"Th-those bandits! They stole my battery and took Alexander away!"

"WHAT?!" the two mamonos exclaim in unison as the mimic pops out of hiding.

"I am merely jesting you." Nameless chuckles, "I must admit that people's reactions to the untruthful announcement of plausible undesirable events are indeed amusing. I shall make use of them more often."

"Don't." the unamused Gremlin shuts him down drily, "We already have enough of Alex doing it."

"Noted."

She finishes changing the power source and the hunk of metal rises to its feet. "There you go!" she says, slapping it on the shoulder… or so she would were she tall enough.

"Thank you, Emmeline."

"Soooo…" the Minic approaches, her legs effortlessly carrying the iron box at her waist, "If Ally wasn't kidnapped by bandits, then where is he?"

"Of course. He woke up early and was restless for cause of having naught to do, and so he ventured into the forest in search of breakfast. He told me that he should not be long and to only begin worrying if he has not returned before sunrise."

"Before sunrise? But it's already past sunrise! Why didn't you wake us up earlier?"

"Your guess was indeed correct, Emmeline: the battery crystal Alexander gave me was not fully charged and ran out shortly before sunrise, and with no alternative source in the vicinity, I fell into the weakened state you found me in."

"There isn't a minute to lose, then! Mimi, gather everyone and tell them that Alex is missing. And leave the safe; Nameless and I still need to pack the hammock."

"Hmmm…" she hesitates an instant, visibly displeased by the ordering, but agrees reluctantly, "Mkay, Mimi will do it, but not because Emmy told her!" she responds, arms crossed, before hopping out of her safe haven. "Everyone!" Mimi calls out, running towards the ground surrounding the captive. "We have a problem! Alex disappeared into the forest early this morning and hasn't returned yet!"

All according to her keikaku*. Emmeline jumps on the occasion to stow away her body pillow in the chest at last free of Mimic occupation while the Elemental takes care of the hammock.

(*keikaku means plan.)

(Little retcon:

The piece of glass in Nameless' body's face acts as a lense enchanted to let him perceive the light that passes through it, giving him normal, color vision. I can't possibly see him able to navigate the world around him without running into every non-living obstacle in his path otherwise.)