Teamwork, Discovery, ADVENTURE [{Atlantis Part I}]

[milo]

Introduction:

It's finally here! The muse-boosting, epic, friend-making Atlantis plot! Now, lets make a goal: to have this plot go right to the end. We're committing here, people! Also, HAVE FUN! Want the submarine to come under attack? Go for it! This takes participation, and ...



IMPROV!

So, without further adieu ...



LET'S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS!

[milo]

Atlantis: the fabled city that disappeared beneath the ocean's depths. Believed by many a person to be nothing more than a myth, an old wives tale, a metaphor used by Plato to describe the effects of greed and power. But, there was one ordinary man who knew that the City of Atlantis not only existed, but was a living, thriving continent beneath the surface, populated by an ancient race and kept alive by a powerful crystal force.

Milo Thatch of Washington D.C. had dedicated his life's work to proving the existence of the city, much to the disbelief of everyone else. It was in thanks to eccentric millionaire Preston B. Whitmore, who funded Milo's expedition to find Atlantis, using a high-tech submarine and a crack team of experts. What Milo found was beyond his wildest dreams - a real city, populated by an ancient race. And after falling in love with their princess, Milo knew that it would be his new home.

Visiting the surface world for a vacation of sorts, Milo's relaxation was abruptly stopped - his usually blue Atlantean crystal had turned red. A sure sign of danger below the surface. Hastily, he organized a return expedition, hoping he could get a good team together through the power of newspaper advertising.

Now, looking at some of the passengers who had already arrived on the Plato, Milo was already beginning to doubt himself.

"So, let me get this straight," the muscular blond standing beside the lanky cartographer said. "We're not going to Atlantis Prime. You know, the planet in the Coral Galaxy."

Milo groaned. "No. We're going to the Lost Continent of Atlantis. Below the surface."

Cale rolled his eyes and took a crumpled piece of newspaper from his pants pocket. "You could have been more specific in the ad," he said.

"Uh, sorry?" Milo returned meekly.

"Whatever," Cale said, looking around the old-fashioned piece of machinery. "Sure you don't need me to make any improvements? No offense, but this thing's a piece of junk." Cale had signed on as a mechanic, hoping he could test out some new spacecraft jets, but instead found himself on a centuries-old submarine.

"I think it's fascinating," a high-pitched British accent added to the conversation. Jane Porter had come along for an adventure. After hearing her friend Milo's stories about Atlantis, she was excited to see the lost city for herself.

Cale winced at the sound of Jane's voice. She had already nearly broken his eardrums talking about her 'adventures in the jungle'. I'm in for a fun time, Cale thought sarcastically.

Milo sighed. He hoped everyone else here was slightly more qualified than this Cale Tucker guy.

[EILONWY ---*]

When Eilonwy, had heard about a group going on an adventure to a city by the name of Atlantis, the princess was instantly interested. Or perhaps she had seen it. Or maybe it was both. She knew not how she found out about it anymore, but she was interested all the same. While she had never heard of the city before, she had full intentions of going. Nothing exciting had happened recently. To her dismay, there had been little adventure in her life. This trip to Atlantis, she hoped, would turn things around. And if it didn't, well she would get to meet new people, and see a new land.

She arrived with little for the voyage. In fact she carried little more than what was visible on her person. She had the dress she was wearing, as well as a cloak, which was wrapped around her shoulders, as the morning air was rather chilly. As always she had her bauble with her. She never went anywhere without it. On her hip, where her sword generally sat, she had a small bag. In it, she had pieces of cloth, some thread, a needle, an extra headband, and various other trinkets that she thought might prove useful. Having collected what she had needed, the girl made her way to the designated meeting spot early, hoping that she would have more of a chance to meet some of her traveling companions, and get to know them better. To her dismay, there were only three people there. Surely that wasn't everyone who was going. Despite her weariness, she put on a smile and approached the group.

"Hullo Hullo," Eilonwy, greeted cheerfully. "I'm Princess Eilonwy." the girl said, introducing herself. With this introduction was a slight curtsy. When she had returned to her normal position, she started to speak again. "I take it this is where the group going to Atlantis is supposed to be meeting. I would also take it that there are more people coming. Surely it would take more than four people to get to Atlantis."

[* zira ?!]

From under some garbage bags in a side alley, Zira yawned and stretched. Having fully decided she didn't like New York City, full of either trashy tourists and good for nothing humans that crawled about on the streets; plus it was much colder than she had anticipated. Nor did they seem to have much tolerance for lions, it seemed. Zira had already ended up in the state zoo twice, and evaded it several times more. Having glanced at someone's discarded newspaper she found that it was the correct day they were supposed to be meeting up for this Atlantis thing.

Now Zira didn't know that much about Atlantis, nor the fact it was in fact an underwater city, but she had heard that it was famed for its marvellous diversity in fish. As all cats like fish, Zira wasn't going to miss out on what seemed to be a giant fishing trip. As she padded silently towards the spot where they were supposed to be meeting she could almost hear the fish frolicking in their deep waters and she couldn't help but smack her lips. She wondered how long these human contraptions would take to get there. Perhaps she could bring some light reading along to make the journey seem easier.

Her rusty coloured eyes surveyed the group before her, ears flattening ever so slightly against her tan head. "What? Never seen a waist high ship's cat before?" She snapped, her tail twitching against the floor as she measured each of the humans up, deciding that the blond specimen of the breed looked like the alpha male. "So when are we leaving?" She addressed him matter of factly, keeping a good distance away from any of them. Humans stank.

[Quasimodo]

Don`t be such a frightened rabbit, i dare you, Clopin stated, the challenge obvious.
Eying the cowardly hunchback up and down, he let out a sigh of impatience; despite the bellringers one brave act that had saved their backs, Quasi was, if that was even possible, afraid of his own goddamned shadow!
The jester threatened his companion ever so playfully, by waving the rolled up paper over his head, causing him to flinch slightly.

Quasi cursed himself inwardly.
When Clopin had came running with the shabby pile of printed papers, undoubtedly his keen instincts implying there was something of interest to be known, Quasi being the only of the clan actually able to read had naturally felt inclined to briefly scan through said paper to satisfy Clopin`s persistent excitement.
And look where`d got him. Or to be more specific, where it clearly was about to get him.

A few murders here and there, a kidnapping, and a car crash had off course an amusing effect on the morbid king of the gypsies, while Quasi was starting to doubt if America really were the paradise they all said it was.
However, more than anything, the ad concerning Atlantis had stirred Clopin`s curiousity, and before Quasi`d known it one thing had taken the other; now apparently, and for some reason, Clopin refused to let Quasi back out on such a one in a life time chance.

Deep down he as well cherished the idea of a grand journey; his gypsy blood providing him SOME sense of adventure in spite of all his shyness.
Though such an expedition was bound to attract a lot of attention, possibly also a huge crew, and Quasi didn`t care much for crowds..
Not that he`d have a choice once Clopin had his mind set on something; in fact they were already arriving at their supposed place of gathering, where indeed quite a few people was already waiting.
This is the line for the ride to Atlantis, yes? the gypsy assumed, addressing no one in particular.
You must have big rats aboard the ship to bring such a large feline, he stated upon spotting Zira.
Not as bold, nor as comfortable as his king seemed to be right away, Quasi shyly offered a weak smile, attempting to pass as unnoticed as a man his shape possibly could.

[* anastasia]

The former Romanov duchess strolled carefree down a street in New York, using a rather badly drawn map scribbled down on the back of her newspaper cutting. Anya had struggled with the Western alphabet and once she had figured out what the advert meant, a shivering tingle of excitement had run down her spine. Anya hadn't been aboad a ship since her journey on Natasha, but a submarine, how exciting! She had only seen pictures and old photographs, but to actually be on one sounded like an adventure in itself, let alone where they were going.

Then there was the subject matter - Atlantis. Again she had read about the place and believed it to be a myth, so trying to discover the lost continent sounded like another action packed voyage. There was no way she was missing out on this! Despite being quite slender and small, Anya was wiry built and could do the work of a man if need be, and was quite willing to pull her weight. It was better than slouching around a palace or whatever she was supposed to be doing. Turning a sharp corner she suddenly found herself near a group of people...and a lion. Skirting round the creature she approached the other people, pushing away a strand of vibrant red hair; an annoying habit.

"Excuse me, is one of you Mr Thatch? I saw the advert, I'm Anya." She said, peering round at the various faces. It would be highly embarrassing even for her if she had stumbled across the wrong group of people.

[charlotte]

Milo put a nervous hand on the back of his neck. "Uh yeah, we're kinda working on that," he said to the petite blonde Princess. In reality, Milo was wondering the exact same thing - where were the engineers, the geologists, a mechanic who didn't come from outer space.

Cale gritted his teeth when the Eilonwy girl began to speak. Why do all the chicks here have such weird accents? He thought in annoyance. He was about to retreat to his quarters, or possibly make a few 'upgrades' to this ancient submarine when his hazel eyes widened. Was that ... a lion?

Jane's own blue eyes did the same. A lioness. Lions were dangerous, savage creatures in the jungle, and Jane could only assume that this one was no different. Her breaths became short and quick as fear crept up her body. What could she possibly want? She backed away slightly from the jungle cat, keeping her steps slow and silent, praying that she would go unnoticed by the lioness.

Jiminy Christmas, Milo thought as more people arrived on the Plato. I hope they realize this isn't exactly a tourist cruise. "Uh, hi there," he said to the three new passengers - a man (that was a man, right?) dressed in colorful attire, another man who appeared to be hunchbacked, and a young woman who Milo noticed bore a striking resemblance to the Grand Duchess of Russia. "I'm Mr. Thatch, the cartographer and linguist of this uh ... expedition. Quick question: would any of you happen to be an engineer, geologist or maybe um, a mechanic?"

"Hey!" Cale heard the bespectacled linguist's question. "I'm a mechanic, four-eyes!"

Before Milo could begin an argument with him, a big, brash Southern voice entered the submarine.

"I FOUND IT!" Yelled Miss Charlotte La Bouff of New Orleans, heiress to the Big Daddy La Bouff sugar mill fortune. "This is the Atlantis thing, right?"

Dressed in one of her favorite pink ensembles, and a new floppy hat, Charlotte arrived with no less than ten suitcases in tow. "I'm ready for some fun in the sun! How 'bout y'all?" She said, walking around the submarine with ease. "OH! I brought travelin' snacks too! Here, have a beignet!" She said, stuffing one of the pastries into Cale's mouth.

"Mmmph!" Cale exclaimed, his mouth full of the beignet.

Milo put his hand to his face. This was not going according to plan.