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Post by America on May 11, 2011 20:19:43 GMT -5
Date: June 13, 1867 Location: Southeastern coast of FormosaDidn't deserve that? Good people?! Alfred's anger found itself being tempered by pure puzzlement. Who the hell could possibly look at Francis and Arthur and come to the conclusion that they were good people?
"Are you kidding me? You actually like that lecherous ass and that stupid jerk?!" [/color] Alfred retorted, "Creepy girl, there's gotta be something SERIOUSLY wrong with your head if you think those two are anywhere close to being good people!"[/color] Her next accusation made Alfred pause. That...didn't sound good. At all. Granted, killing and otherwise getting primitive natives out of the way wasn't a strange concept to Alfred - he'd been doing that since back when he'd been that jerk England's colony - but getting yelled at by their representative who was also technically a little girl wasn't something Alfred had had to deal with before. ...At the same time, it didn't add up. When had this even happened? Alfred's people didn't bother with the Indians back in his house unless they wanted the land the Indians were squatting in for something. That remained even more true abroad, which had no land that Alfred was interested in anyway (that wasn't already owned by someone else). Plus, there was something else in that story that didn't fit... The silence stretched out for minutes as Alfred puzzled things over. Although it was rare for him to admit it (and nearly impossible for him to act like it), the United States of America wasn't a total dummy. "...There's no way that can be right! My people don't do that!"[/color] Alfred finally said, "If we wanted your land, sure, we'd attack, but we wouldn't kill the adults and leave the kids! And I don't even want your stupid island anyway, my house is big enough already AND it has enough Indians to deal with."[/color] Alfred took a deep breath, then continued on. "Plus, my navy barely does anything in this part of the world: it's those asses England and France and whoever-else-they're-fighting-this-week who spend all their time sailing around here. I hadn't even heard of your stupid island until coming here for this mission, you know! ....And seriously, why the hell are you such a fan of those asses anyway? It doesn't make any sense!"[/color] Taking another deep breath, Alfred pointed at the creepy girl-nation and delivered the final blow in his amazing analysis. "And last of all, the Chinese have an eyewitness that says your people murdered my people in their sleep with no reason to do it at all. I don't care what stupid things other nations do on your stupid island, but I'm not gonna sit around and let you murder my people without any consequences, damn it all!"[/color] Diatribe delivered, Alfred glared triumphantly up at the creepy girl-nation. Clearly that had been a masterful analysis of the situation! Surely she'd realize the error of her ways now?[/center] ----- - America's best defense against being the culprit: "We wouldn't leave any orphans!" i.e. if Americans were killing people, they'd make sure to kill EVERYBODY. Or just drive them out and take over the land, whichever's easier~ XD
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Post by duckie on May 14, 2011 0:20:38 GMT -5
His explanation was shaky, at best, and the girl propped her hands on her hips, leaning forward with a deep frown on her face. "I do not know this 'England' or 'France', or why I should fan them, but I do know this- they looked like your people, pale and light-haired, and they spoke the same language as your people, and they murdered my people first!" Her dark face was reddening with anger, eyes flashing and breaths heavy in between shouts. "So you have come to get revenge for your people, and we were seeking revenge for ours. But this time we are not unprepared, and we will not fall so easily! This will end only in loss for you, and I hope you live to regret not listening to me when I tell you that you had best leave now."Shoving back the mass of hair that had fallen in her face during her tirade, Formosa took a step back, still glaring at the sitting American. "I hope you all die for what you have done," she hissed. "No. Better yet, I hope you get to watch your men murdered and your women violated right in front of you, as I did." And with that last venemous shot, she turned on her heel and ran, disappearing into the woods with a speed that showed just how much she had been toying with America before. ~~~ [[... Clearly reason is not the /first/ response for either of them. ]]
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Post by America on May 15, 2011 19:14:15 GMT -5
Date: June 13, 1867 Location: Southeastern coast of FormosaPersonally, Alfred had thought that he'd delivered a very understandable and reasonable argument in his favor. Clearly this would turn out just as he expected it to, right?
Wrong. First came the declaration from the little creepy girl that she had no idea who England or France were - and that just didn't make any sense! Hadn't they just been arguing about how she (inexplicably) thought they were good people or something like that!?
"Hey wait, I thought you -" [/color] Alfred began. He couldn't get any farther than that because the creepy girl cut him off. Apparently her rant wasn't done yet. And the stuff she was describing...okay, Alfred could understand why she'd gotten so angry, and maybe why her people would be so quick to exact their revenge on the first likely-looking suspects. But that didn't change the fact that it wasn't his people's fault, damn it!The last thing she said, hoping that Alfred would get to experience the same horrible things, was really uncalled for. Before he could get another word in, however, the creepy girl turned tail and ran off with a real burst of speed. 'That little - she was toying with me the whole time I was chasing her!?'[/color] Alfred thought in astonishment - which quickly turned to renewed anger. Granted, Alfred would've been just as fast if not for the burns on his leg, but taunting him like that by pretending he could almost catch her...that was just...just... arrrggh!"I hate this stupid island and its stupid island people so much..."[/color] Alfred grumbled out loud. Now that he was all alone, there was no reason not to pry himself out of the dirt. At least Alfred could figure out the general direction of the ocean and go right back to the beach from here instead of wandering around in the jungle until he died of heatstroke...a method that would've dropped Alfred right back in his boss's house maybe a day later, which would be a serious shortcut back home, but which would probably confuse the hell out of the sailors and marines he'd come here with. Also, dying hurt like hell. Though at the moment dying sounded positively pleasant in comparison to putting weight on his burned leg: Alfred's rise to standing was punctuated with swearing that probably echoed through the trees. Once back on his feet, Alfred clung to his crutch like a lifeline and glared at the jungle. Was that creepy girl-nation still out there? If she was watching him... "COME BACK AND LISTEN TO REASON, YOU IDIOT!"[/color] There was nothing in response to Alfred's shouts aside from a few animals running for cover, or at least nothing that he could positively identify as that girl. Grumbling, Alfred turned in the direction of the beach, leaned on his crutch, and began hobbling back to his ships. 'There's no way in hell I'm ever coming back to this stupid island!'[/color][/center] ---- - I can't believe you missed the chance for her to wonder why Alfred called China a lech~ XP - Let's keep going in this thread to do the second Formosan expedition~! Seems a shame to end it while we're on such a roll, after all~
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Post by duckie on Jun 6, 2011 21:51:38 GMT -5
They hadn't lasted long at all, the pale foreigners. The tribe's tactics had been brilliant, if she did say so herself. Though, admittedly, they'd had the advantage, there was also the fact that the second one of their men had been wounded, the pale foreigners had turned tail and run. They hadn't even gotten close to the village- she was almost disappointed. They'd had a final defense prepared and they hadn't even needed it!
Though there was that encounter with the pale foreigners' nation to consider. He'd been rather... childish, she thought, though she hadn't exactly been at her best either. And now he was coming back! For a peace talk! She hadn't agreed to it at first, but the leader of the tribe was old, and even if she was older, he was far more set in his ways... and scarier. She'd eventually given in.
And now they waited on the beach, far away from the landing point, waiting for the guide to come back with the 'Americans' in tow. For peace talks. Sighing, she shifted, tapping her foot impatiently on the loose sand. They'd made her look nice- combed out her hair until it was neatly waving about her shoulders, tied bits of feathers to the end, changed out her old, faded clothes for new, brightly colored ones... They'd painted her dark skin with red and yellow whorls, the highest outfit of ceremony, and she just wanted to go jump into a river and wash it all off.
What was taking so long? Shouldn't they have been here by now?
===
[[FORGIVE ME FOR TAKING LIBERTIES. By which I mean the whorls of paint/whatever on her skin. And for taking so long Iamsosorry.]]
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Post by America on Jun 7, 2011 21:44:55 GMT -5
Date: September, 1867 Location: Southeastern coast of Formosa'...I can't believe I'm back on this stupid island.' [/color] Standing on the beach and leaning heavily on his crutch, Alfred glared at the lush tropical scenery as if it had personally offended him. And it had, as a matter of fact! The last mission here had been a total failure - Alfred had spent all day chasing the stupid island people's stupid island nation-spirit and given himself a minor case of heatstroke by the time he'd relocated the ships anchored off the beach. But worst of all the marines and sailors hadn't been able to find the stupid island people's village. Their commander, MacKenzie, had gotten shot by a musket and even though the men had hurried the poor officer to the waiting ship's doctors... ...People that killed Alfred's people really pissed him off. And since there was no way to tell if any of the natives had gotten shot by the marine's rifles, firing blind into the vegetation as they were, it basically meant that poor MacKenzie had died for no reason at all.The expedition had packed up and sailed for China and the nearest American consulate in shame and disgust. Personally, Alfred would've been willing to write the whole issue of the stupid island off as a waste of time and manpower by that point, but there was one person he hadn't reckoned with. General Charles Le Gendre. Granted, Charles' still-prominent french accent kept reminding Alfred of certain people he was still angry as hell at, but the man himself was someone that Alfred liked. They'd fought aside one another a few times over the course of the war and after witnessing Alfred getting shot in the shoulder and miraculously not die or need his arm amputated, there was the added familiarity of them both being in on the same very special secret. But when Charles told Alfred point-blank that he was going to head out to Formosa to try and talk to the natives, Alfred found himself worrying that the French-American had lost his mind. ~@~FLASHBACK: LATE JULY, 1867~@~"Have you lost your mind?! You're going to get killed! And - and eaten by the natives!"[/color] Alfred had immediately protested. Charles looked annoyingly smug. Maybe it was because Alfred was stuck in his chair until the Charles relinquished his crutch. Glaring over Texas' rims, Alfred couldn't figure out what his friend was thinking with this plan of his. "I should think not, my friend," Charles had replied, "And please do not worry, I have taken great precautions.""Oh really."[/color] Alfred had failed to sound impressed. Charles had failed to look like he cared about whether or not Alfred was impressed. "Yes. I have already persuaded the governor-general in Fuzhou to send a detachment of soldiers to the area as a show of force. From there, we can begin negotiations in a position on strength."This had caused Alfred to release an undignified snort. "Sure, that worked so well last time. Really impressed the natives and their creepy girl nation too,"[/color] Alfred had grumbled, sarcasm obvious. Charles had raised an eyebrow at this. "Are you saying you met...a person like yourself?""...What are you planning?"[/color] Alfred had warily responded, not liking the calculating look that had just blossomed on his friend's face. "I plan to sail for Formosa myself as soon as possible to oversee the negotiations," Charles had replied evenly, "It would be a great help to have you along to negotiate with the islander's nation-spirit, yes?""Oh, no. No no no! Not a chance!"[/color] Alfred had replied hastily, waving his hands to emphasize his words, "I'm never ever going back there and you're not gonna make me change my mind!"[/color] ~@~@~@~[/i] 'And yet here I am,'[/color] Alfred thought to himself sourly. Punctual as always, Charles took that moment to appear out of the midst of milling Chinese soldiers and sailors that were also lingering on the beach. "It seems we won't be taking the soldiers with us after all," Charles began. "You know you're a terrible friend, right?"[/color] Alfred interrupted, mind still thinking of how Charles had persuaded him to come along on this...wait, what!? "Am I? My apologies," Charles smoothly interjected, "But a few of the interpreters have managed to make contact with the natives. The leader of the tribes in this area, 'Toketok', is willing to meet with us. However, he will not see us if we bring the soldiers.""B-But...jungle! Vicious natives! Dying!"[/color] Alfred's protests fell on deaf ears. Sure enough, the group that eventually stepped off the beach and into the jungle consisted only of Charles, Alfred, and three Chinese that knew the native lingo. A couple of natives popped out of the jungle woodwork to guide them, but otherwise Alfred felt certain that this plan was never going to work. Never never ever! All he'd wanted was to hang around in China for a while, eat weird Chinese food, and pick at the burn on his leg until it healed! It wasn't fair! Four hours later, Alfred's thoughts were less focused on what he wanted to do back in China and more focused on whether he could take another step up this freakishly steep and unnecessarily difficult trail without dying or having his legs pop off at the knee. They'd stopped twice for water breaks, once for a bite to eat, but it still felt like Alfred was going to pass out and probably die. Charles and the Chinese didn't look particularly content or rested at the moment either, but they weren't the ones struggling with both a crutch and what Alfred considered to be a freakishly low level of stamina. At least when the village where the meeting with the natives was going to take place finally appeared, Charles had them all stop so they could regain their breath and not look totally weak and exhausted in front of the native's boss whenever they finally met him. Clinging to his crutch like a lifeline, Alfred wheezed for air and threw a bunch of wary glances at the place. That little creepy girl was going to be there, wasn't she? Great. Just great. Alfred was really not looking forward to dealing with her.[/center] ----- - IT JUST KEPT GETTING LONGER~ ;_;
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Post by duckie on Jul 13, 2011 0:00:21 GMT -5
They were supposed to meet on the beach. The beach, on the soft, warm sand, where it was still her own land but it was near the water, so it was at least more neutral territory. But someone had gotten the translation wrong, and they'd gone to the village. Of course, they didn't know the paths as well as Formosa herself, not even her own people did, so they made it there quicker than the Americans did, but even so, they'd had to rush, and she was sweating horribly, the tribal paint leaking down her cheeks and shoulders, soaking into her clothes.
She was relatively patient when they insisted on redoing her paint, but it was only half-done, literally half of her face and one of her arms painted when the pale foreign nation and his people arrived, and she rushed out to greet them, standing behind the leader of the tribe. Well... perhaps greet was too optimistic a word. What she really did was seek out 'America's' face in the small group and, when she found it, stick out her tongue at him. She retracted it just as a strong, gnarled hand dropped onto the soft, fuzzy waves of her hair, ruffling slightly as the elder introduced her.
She smiled graciously at each of them in turn, though perhaps it was less of a smile and more of a baring of the teeth... but she was sure they would attribute that to her age and strange customs.
They were foreigners. Of course they would.
The leader invited them all into his home, and she scampered in, claiming her little corner and curling her legs up to her chest. She didn't want to be here, but she wouldn't show such reluctance to outsiders. She would be perfectly well behaved, and they would all be very civil, and... boring. So, so boring...
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Post by America on Jul 18, 2011 22:50:13 GMT -5
Date: September, 1867 Location: Southeastern coast of FormosaAlfred's lungs were aching by the time his breathing returned to normal. Damn it all, he hated this...thankfully, the native people gave them just enough time for Alfred to get himself semi-composed before parading out of their village.
Sure enough, there was the creepy girl. She had creepy face paint on now, colorful swirls over half her face and one arm. While her tribal chief-guy (maybe her boss? He was supposed to run almost half the island, according to what Charles had been going on about on the trip here...) and Charles introduced each other's groups, Alfred found himself under her equally-creepy gaze.
And then she stuck her tongue out at him.
'What the hell?' [/color] ...Had that seriously just happened? It had, but...Alfred frowned. That was just uncalled for! Especially coming from a little proto-nation girl like the creepy girl (introduced via the translators as 'Formosa'), that was... While Alfred struggled with thinking about that, Charles introduced him to the chief-guy - Alfred barely remembering to dip his head in an awkward polite gesture after Charles subtly elbowed him - and they all made their way into the biggest hut in the village. Formosa settled down in a corner behind her chief, and after much awkwardness Alfred managed to take a seat behind and off to the side of Charles. As far as diplomacy went, this was going to be all Charles' show. Meanwhile, Alfred studied creepy little Formosa for a few more minutes. Once he was certain everyone else present was giving the lengthy discussion that Charles was starting up with the chief-guy all their attention, Alfred shifted around and tried to catch her eye...and when he had it, he quickly stuck his tongue out right back at her. Retracting it almost instantly, Alfred immediately turned his gaze to the side like the wall of the hut was a million times more fascinating than anything else in here...but he peered at the creepy girl from the corner of his eye to see what her reaction was and felt extremely pleased with himself for returning fire.[/center]
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Post by duckie on Jul 19, 2011 10:15:07 GMT -5
She had been right- they were so boring, and though she sat perfectly still, her muscles twitched with the need to get up and be somewhere else. Her eyes glazed over, drifting away from Chief Tauketok and over the small group of- of foreigners. (They'd said 'American', but the word tasted weird on her tongue, so she stuck with the word she knew.)
Pale, light hair. Pale, light hair. They all looked the same, with the exception of the one with the large nose. But while she visually couldn't really distinguish the Nation from his people, she could... feel that there was something different about him. Brown eyes caught on blue, and suddenly her focus was back when he stuck his tongue out at her.
Really! She wondered if he knew that this meant war. She glanced around, making sure no one else was looking at her- they were all engulfed in the slightly heated discussion between Tauketok and the American- and then turned back to him, pulling the corners of her mouth down with her fingers and squinting her eyes at him.
Ha! So there.
~~~
[]
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Post by America on Jul 27, 2011 16:59:28 GMT -5
Date: September, 1867 Location: Southeastern coast of FormosaHa! That creepy Formosa girl looked all shocked that he'd gone and returned fire! Okay, so maybe this wasn't a real fight since all they'd done was stick their tongues out at each other, but...the surprise on her face certainly felt like victory to Alfred!
He watched more-or-less out of the corner of his eyes as the creepy girl looked to her chief-guy and Charles to see if they had noticed anything. Charles was listening intently to whatever the chief was telling him via the translators, so the answer to that was a resounding nope.
Alfred continued watching her as discreetly as he could manage as creepy little Formosa fixed her attention back on him. And he kept watching as she tugged the corners of her mouth down and squinted in his direction.
'She calls that returning fire?' [/color] Alfred thought, letting his amusement show on his face as he turned his gaze directly on Formosa, 'I'll show you how it's done, you creepy girl!'[/color] Hooking a finger into each corner of his mouth, Alfred tugged them down like the creepy girl had - only moreso, so she'd end up seeing his bottom teeth - and then promptly stuck his tongue out through all that at her. Holding it for a few seconds, Alfred then released his grip on his face, folded his arms across his chest, and smirked directly at her. Ha! Beat that.[/center]
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Post by duckie on Aug 4, 2011 9:25:13 GMT -5
Oh, he was good. Eyes narrowed, she put her fingers at the corners of her eyes and pulled them taut, rolling her eyes up so that only the whites would be visible. Her lips curled into a sneer, tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth, and she held that position before letting go, blinking a few times to return her suddenly blurry vision to normal.
Hmph. She hadn't played this game with the village children in a long time... she probably wasn't very good anymore. But she wasn't going to let him win! She couldn't! He already thought he was better than her, she wasn't going to prove him right?
Her own arms folded across her flat chest, and she glared at him, daring him to come up with something better than that.
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Post by America on Aug 17, 2011 23:06:38 GMT -5
Date: September, 1867 Location: Southeastern coast of FormosaOkay, Alfred had to admit that the eyeball-thing that creepy Formosa had just done was pretty...well, creepy-looking. With her tongue sticking out like that at the same time, it kind of made her look like an undead monster come back from the grave to eat his flesh!
...Th-Though of course things like that didn't really exist! Sheesh, Alfred needed to stop thinking up such creepy imaginary things and keep his mind to the task on hand - defeating creepy Formosa in their little battle of the faces! The very existence of both the other important people in the room, er, the hut with them and the lengthy negotiations taking place less than five feet away had completely fallen out of Alfred's head.
For his next move, he decided to try something more over-the-top than before: reaching over his face from above with one hand, Alfred hooked his fingers into his nostrils and pulled up. Then, with his other hand, he hooked a finger into each corner of his mouth and pulled his lip down, exposing his lower teeth in a crazy not-quite-grin. And to top it all off, Alfred crossed his eyes!
Muwahaha! Creepy Formosa would soon learn not to mess with the likes of him! Alfred was amazing at this kind of thing! ---- - ...I foresee these two getting sent outside and/or put in time-out in the near future. X3
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