job_fair | ❈ TEST DRIVE MEME

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!tdm

❈ TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to Gildenhirst, friends!
It's a TEST DRIVE MEME!!
Premise, Location and more information on the Main Menu.

Our test drive meme is open to everyone, so please stop by for a little fun and see if you’d enjoy playing with us. The TDM primarily takes place in Gildenhirst, the main hub city for Bravely Borrows. The surrounding area of Caldisla is free game though! Please explore the setting as you desire.

LET'S PLAY DRESS UP

A big part of Bravely Borrows is getting your very own job class! While all characters start the game as a Freelancer and receive a random job asterisk later on, for the sake of testing you may choose from the following job classes to mess around with:

Red Mage ★ Monk ★ Knight ★ Performer ★ Ranger ★ and Freelancer of course
If you desire these threads to be canon, an asterisk was simply loaned to them.
Please return it at your earliest convenience.

NEED A QUEST?

If you need some direction on how to begin, why not gaze upon some sample quests? Go on a journey. Fuck around and find out. They are completely optional– write whatever prompts you want!

Eggs Aplenty
Oh no. Oh dear. There has been a horrible series of mistakes surrounding ChantiLilly’s egg delivery. For one thing, it was delivered to the Central Market on the Ground Floor! For another thing, there are far too many eggs here. Dozens upon dozens upon dozens of eggs. The bakery’s Patissiere would be grateful if you could help bring these eggs up to his bakery in Rooftop Gardens. You’ll get some gold and some fresh eggs for your troubles.

This Bunny’s Buggin Me
A farmer from Norende is going batty over the swarm of bunnies that have been getting into his fields. Help a fella out, won’t ya? They are swarming en masse and ruining the spring start ups! Don’t expect to be able to herd them out without a fight though– these rabbies really pack a punch! They’re also carnivorous so…. Watch out?
A Rock and a Hard Place
An avid collector is searching for some new specimens. They’ve heard there are some expansive cave systems in the Norende Heights that just might be the perfect spot to collect some geodes. The only problem is that they’re an eensy teensy bit full of kobolds. You’ll be compensated for your troubles if you’d go collect some rocks, and every actual geode will get an extra reward. Please don’t fall off the cliffs…! The paths are narrow and harrowing at times. Good luck!

Have an excellent time, friends!
Thanks for stopping by ♥

QUICK SELECT// MAIN MENU ☆ OOC ☆ JOURNALS ☆ LOGS

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Out into a more open space, regardless of how tightly he's holding on to his disbelief, proves to be a much better spot to hear that round of shouts from. A brief murmur ripples out from passers-by, quiet wonders of what the commotion is all about, but more than any of those soft words do the echoes of the shouted ones ring through Shinji's head. Someone is calling his name. That's... that's not just someone.

His mouth is too dry, his throat is too tight, he can't find it in himself to shout back right away. Even this impossible glimmer of hope isn't enough to turn off his survival mode yet, but he sucks in a deep breath and starts running toward where he's certain that shout came from. Is it truly time for Up? Is that figure up there holding some kind of dim beacon overhead? Sort of like... the one in Shinji's own hand, the one he lifts to mirror that one.

Up it is, then. Up those steps with hurried feet. Up with enough frantic speed and counterweighed by his luggage for up... to become down. Down he goes, right on those steps. Though, to be fair, a startled, "Ack-!" is easier to hear than the return calls he didn't make.

Oh. Even though Kai had been so, so sure that they were all there together, that assurance didn't stop his heart from leaping up his throat at that glimmer of a response. It only took a moment for him to realize they were coming for the stairs, but his feet were already moving anyway. Quick, quickly...!

Ah, but. Maybe too quickly? Not quick enough to do anything about the spill happening ahead of him, but plenty fast enough for Kai to stumble his way down to join him. "Whoa--!"

Time to rock and roll and accumulate a few bumps. Time to immediately ignore all that and roll over to scramble over to this extremely important boy.

Did he fall hard enough to injure himself? Shinji is too thoroughly gripped by tension and adrenaline to really tell, but he doesn't immediately seem to be bleeding, and picking himself back up is a simple matter. He shakes off the shock from falling, and is greeted by the sight of an achingly familiar face tumbling toward him.

"You-" he exhales, his breath harsh in his throat as he scurries up to where Kai's landed. "You're here..."

Surely they'd all have time to patch themselves up at some point if they needed it. No one's in any real pinch it seems, so its easy enough to go straight to the real important parts. Kai was already reaching for him, his very real fingertips brushing across Shinji's cheek to pull him in.

"I'm here," Kai assured him with a quiet rasp as he bumped his forehead against the other's. "Not goin' anywhere you can't follow, remember?"

How fortunate that he could have stayed true to that promise this time. Even if it seemed something had gone off course, at least fate had been kind enough in this way. A warm, red thread was reaching out for the companion it knew was near, seeking that sign that they were connected.

The warmth of that hand, of that face, that sentiment, the ethereal little threads reaching out from their rings and making it clear that they've gotten the right people, it's almost enough to crack through that shell around Shinji. He had been preparing to face the idea that he might not even be able to sink into this comfort ever again, and he needs a moment to grasp Kai's shoulder, to really anchor himself in this moment. Ah... thank goodness.

It's not enough to get him to relax, not yet. There's something very important still missing here. His own name wasn't the only one being shouted out so desperately just now.

"Where is Kyoko?"

It was true. They were both still missing a very important piece of their hearts so they didn't have that much time to sit here. They needed to go find her as soon as possible so she didn't get swept up in the fears of losing them. At the very least though, Kai could share the small comfort that had been keeping him on the move.

"She's here," Kai promised him. "I'm... not sure where, but she's here. She left a note at the inn."

Let him just... wrap his arms around the other boy for a moment so he didn't go fluttering away into that night sky. "We'll find her."

Kai can get that comfort, at least. Shinji isn't going anywhere without him, even if there are still very pressing matters to attend to. At the inn, he'd said... that was smart on Kyoko's part - Shinji hadn't even considered checking there after he'd figured it was off-limits for him for the time being.

They can't stick around here while Kyoko's stil missing, though. Even as he tightens his hold on Kai, nobody is going to slip out of reach now, he urgently rasps out, "We have to go find her." Before she gives up hope on them, before she thinks she's truly alone here.

Kai gave him a warm squeeze, the relief of having Shinji back in his arms rejuvenating him all over again. "Absolutely," he said firmly. Of course they were going to go find her. Right now in fact. Kai let him go, but only so that he could grab Shinji's hand to pull them both back up to their feet.

"I haven't checked up top yet. Let's go."

They could tackle all these steps again hand-in-hand.

Hope might be a fragile thing, but Kyoko was already constructing a hard cage around it in her heart as she looked up at those unfamiliar stars. It might not be able to grow in there--and maybe that was for the best, lest it flare up too high too quickly and then burn itself out--but nothing would be allowed to distinguish it. She would protect it for as long as she had to.

This was her resolve as she quietly made her way back down the steps, more slowly than she climbed them even though gravity was on her side now. Her legs ached so much, and she was trying so hard not to let her heart weigh her down. The searing heat of the charm clutched against her palm almost went unnoticed--was that actually even coming from it, or was it just the warmth collected from her own hands?

Hand-in-hand might not be the most efficient way to tackle these steps, but Shinji wasn't about to deny Kai that bit of comfort as they ran their way up. Up was a good place to check, Shinji hasn't seen hide nor hair off either of them on the ground floor, after all, and having a goal to focus on made ignoring any stings of pain or fatigue coming from his limbs or lungs that much easier.

Just running up may not be enough, since Kai had been calling out for both of them. Cupping his free hand around his mouth, he adds his own voice to the search.

"Kyoko!"

They'd have time to rest and tend to all that fatigue they were accruing once they'd found Kyoko, probably. Let adrenaline fuel their limbs now, with hope pushing at their backs. It was all a matter of when they'd find her, but Kai hoped against hope that it would be soon. She had to know that at least one thing had gone right as soon as possible.

Up and up they went. Kai had started to mimic Shinji's motions, lifting his hand to shout out her name again when his breath caught in his throat. Someone else was coming down the stairs, the moonlight falling softly on her bright hair. Kai's grip on Shinji's hand went even tighter, and suddenly things were happening much quicker. Hurry, Shinji, look! Up went his free hand, waving his own charm again feverishly above them.

"Kyoko!!"

There it was again.

Kyoko had stopped, breathless, trying to hear over the pulse thrumming so loudly in her ears. That had been her name, that had been a voice she knew, it had sounded so close--

And then, just as she'd been wondering if she'd imagined it again, everything fell together all at once. There was that flash of illuminated bleached hair, there were those achingly familiar silhouettes against the dark, there was her name again, and here was the pounding of her feet carrying her blindly down the steps.

So much for cages around her heart.

Kyoko opened her mouth to call out to them, but could only produce a wheezing sob. Never mind, she would be there in moments, her arms already outstretched, light streaming through the fingers of her tightly-clenched fist.

There she is

and here she comes

Thank goodness, Kai had been right about her being here, going up to search had been the right call. It's not enough to get him to relax yet, but relief burns through his nerves the second he sees that glow held by a familiar figure coming toward them. Shinji's breath catches in his throat at that cry, his feet hesitating long enough to let Kai get a step ahead of him - catch your girlfriend, Kai.

He was on it. Perhaps they could avoid a second tumble down the stairs if Kai caught her soon enough. Probably not, but he'd sure try. You'd better be right there behind them, Shinji, the group hug was rapidly approaching.

Here were his arms, wide and open to catch her.

Once that first sob had made its way out, there was no stopping the deluge. Kyoko was full-on bawling well before she crashed into Kaito's chest, stumbling down a step and almost turning it into a headbutt. Hopefully they were not falling now, because the arm that wasn't wrapped around Kaito was immediately going to reach for Shinji too.

Good job keeping it together, guys, but it was time to be a mess now.

There had been the briefest flash of an idea that, if he were to hang back just a bit, Shinji might be able to prevent another topple down the stairs. He is not, however, too far back to be left out of this messy, sobbing hug, and also not really enough to stop any of that already wobbly momentum of three whole bodies on such a precarious surface.

"Wh-whoa...!" Careful! Careful!! Do not let this reunion end in disaster...!!!

Easy does it!! No more disasters!

After that first tumble, Kai was a little more prepared. It was a little easier to brace himself for headbutts than it had been to not trip over his feet running at Shinji, so. Hooray? They were still in a very precarious position though, so everyone please be careful. Let's try to navigate this hug down into a sit so they could cry to their heart's content.

Because now, finally, Kai could acknowledge the screaming that had been trembling in his heart and the weight their absence had put on his shoulders. It was safe to let them out now that the pieces of his heart were here in his arms. Both of them.

All these heroic efforts to prevent them from tumbling down miles of stairs were lost on Kyoko. For all that she'd been a wreck all day today, it did nothing to lessen the crash of emotion over her now. Clutching both boys as close as she could get them, Kyoko felt sure she could cry into Kaito's shirt just like this for the rest of her life.

When she finally started to run dry, Kyoko pulled back just enough to lift a hand to cup each of their faces, too distraught to even worry about how Shinji might take it. She needed to look at them.

"I--" Her voice cracked. "I'm so--" Oh never mind, the crying was not over yet actually.

What kind of face is Shinji even making right now? He's not sure, even in his relief he's not letting himself break down into tears yet, but the sobs from the two of them have shaken him deeply regardless. It feels like, until they're somewhere more private and secure, he has to hold himself together, to hold on to them as tightly as he can, but having Kyoko hold on to his face like that is nearly enough to unravel him entirely.

"It's okay," he whispers back, his voice small and shaky. She can take as much time as she needs, neither of them are going anywhere. "It's okay."

Right. No one was going anywhere. Kai kept his arms firmly around both of them as Kyoko held their faces. Ah... He made a particularly snotty sounding sniff (romantic), and mustered up a wobbly half-grin for them.

"We're here," he murmured to echo Shinji. "We're all right here." Back together, tied to one another with all these red threads and shining charms. "Sorry it took so long."

All these sweet words and tender looks could have killed her--she was so warm. It was the apology that dealt the final blow, though.

Buckling a bit, Kyoko's head dipped, her hands falling to curl at their shoulders. "I'm the one--" she choked, more fresh tears running hot down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I don't know how but I--I led you somewhere like this--and--and now--"

"What..." he wheezes, the breath pulled right out of his lungs at that absurd claim. Why is she blaming herself for this? It's not like this is what she wanted for them... Unable to help himself, he carefully lifts his hand and places it gently on top of her head. Don't say that, please.

"This isn't your fault."

His mouth pulled into a worried line. Giving Shinji a quick look, he gave him a small nod. That was the right move now, Kai was pretty sure. His own hand stayed steady at Kyoko's back, rubbing warm circles of comfort there. Ah... what could they do about this particular kind of heartache?

"Shinji's right. And we're together now," Kai told her, trying to steer away from wherever that thought had been going. "Which means... we can figure this out, whatever this is."

They had only left Havenwell because it was what Kyoko wanted, which meant this was definitely her fault. If she hadn't taken their hands, Shinji and Kaito could still be comfortable and happy in the home they'd made together. From the very start, she'd brought them trouble, and now...

Now Shinji's hand rested so warmly on her head that Kyoko had to close her eyes against her shame even as the tears slowed. Now Kaito's touch coaxed her ragged breaths into something calmer. None of this was deserved, but she had to try to do right by them, somehow.

"I'm sorry," she had to say at least one more time, her lip still quivering. They must be scared too, but she was making them comfort her again. "I really, really wanted to be able to protect you."

There's no way she could have known that they wouldn't end up in the right place, but Shinji can still see where her worries are coming from to some degree. He can sympathize, his own fears that he was stewing in earlier aren't dissimilar, after all.

But that little apology, that sad plea, it's really testing the limit of how capable he is of keeping himself together right now. He clenches his jaw briefly, like it will keep any sorrow or fear or dread from escaping his mouth, before answering her with a strained, "We'll be okay." They're here, together, like Kaito's said. She can trust him, right? "All three of us, we... we can still protect each other."

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sneaks back in

Ok here we go :v

\o/

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