❪ event ❫ THE DESCENT: PART TWO.

[natha]

JULY 16th: THE MORNING AFTER     In the early morning, your characters' phones will buzz with a text from an Unknown ID. It contains an audio file as well as its transcription: DARMA'S MESSAGE It worked. By the miracles of all universes, you survived. It was not ideal by any means, but it was all we can muster with limited time. We hope you can forgive us for your injuries and headaches, and we thank you for working together and helping one another. But now, your journey is just beginning. You must head east to find the Outpost. That shall serve as a fine rest stop. However, there will be danger ahead yet. The beasts you encountered in the simulations are now very real. They will attack, as you are seen as meat. Please exercise caution, Refugee. This shall be my last message for some time. The Moons are protected, but I must rest... I leave the rest to you. INTO THE WOODS     Head east, Darma said— and so you do. That seems to be all you can do. Traversing through woods is not a simple task. Hopefully you have taken advantage of the camouflage outfits offered prior to the start of this great migration. Naturally, for those of you who have done the training modules, some things will be a bit familiar. Some wildlife will mimic what you've seen there. Nevertheless, it'll be crucial for one to keep on guard. While Sael selected the Outlook as the ideal place for landing due to its direct removal from Olympian or Wyver soil, it doesn't come without its own dangers as you venture east. Perhaps it's time to face your fears. PROMPT A. There are many creatures roaming around these parts. Some will blend straight in with the woods, others will be bold and loud. While traveling as a party of about 180, it's quite easy to become targets. Fortunately, that also means strength in numbers. Maybe you've got someone's back on this, perhaps they have yours. Either way, what's quicker way to bond than to face a couple of questionable beasts? Maybe you've ran into a Arache (CW link: arachnophobia), a creature known for mimicking voices, even ones they haven't heard. They weasel their way into your subconscious and pick out voices from your memories, luring their victims deeper into the strange woods with the voices of their loved ones. Sometimes, it's a cry for help; other times, it's a replay of a striking memory. Once its victim steps into its large, barely-visible web, the Arache will store them or start its feast. Or, perhaps, you may encounter a Ditz Moth, as large as a rabbit who are relatively easy to kill, but they leave an awful scent on you the moment they flee or die. Be sure to mask this scent immediately, whether by covering yourself in fresh flowers or soaking in river water for an hour, because it's been known to cause extreme confusion. You'll end up dizzy, you'll confuse your friends for enemies, or enemies as loved ones. Or, you run into something else entirely! The forest is the home for many creatures from many worlds; who knows what you may encounter? PROMPT B. You've been traveling for a fair distance. While this is by no means a desert, the sun begins to settle, leaving an unprecedented heat. Perhaps it's the contrast against the night, but you find it almost unbearable. Lucky for you, the goddess of fortune is smiling upon you. At a distance is a clean lake. One full of lush scenery, and large trees canopying the immediate area. There is lots of shade, and maybe this is just the break you need. Or alternatively, the rations were sparse last night. It barely covered a meal each. Fortunately, this area seems full of wildlife one can hunt. Perhaps, that three-headed rabbit in the distance? Maybe that frog that smells a bit like lavender and vanilla? Additionally, for those who find themselves more inclined to leaving it up to fate— ENTER: OLYMPIA'S WEST OUTPOST     After a full day of travelling, you finally make it to the West Outpost as Darma instructed. You can tell by the way the trail gets neater, flatter. There are some small shops all along the sides of the road, offering trinkets, precious stones, and food. Unfortunately, you don't seem to have the money to purchase anything. The only thing you can do is watch wearily as you approach the West Outpost Gate. Near the gate, you're expected to form a line. The guardsmen seem to be inspecting every person entering. When it's finally your turn, the guardsman seem to know exactly what group you are. He immediately calls you Refugees, then proceeds to open a folder specifically labeled Refugee Group D. You might assume the "D" stands for Darma. He seems to be happy to see your arrival — Anyway, we've been expecting you. You're in luck! You refugees arrived the day after Thesa's blessing, y'know? That meteor shower was a sight to behold! What's your name? Oh, there you are— here, take take this. It's your passport. Gonna need that to get to Olympia. Your sponsors paid for your inns for tonight, so get yourself a room. You're at the last leg before the Capital. Keep your head up, all right? It seems now you are an official Olympian citizen with this passport. As you walk around, there will be an old man about. He sees you holding your bags and passports and approaches you. He has seen the fiasco in the skies from the day before. Naturally, he believes it to be a divine sign, and you the product of that. Which translates to free food. It must be relieving to eat (relatively) normal food after so long. There's also a very special visitor at the Outpost today: a woman by the name of Lysa, who happens to be a renowned healer in Olympia. Following the strange meteor shower, she’s come out of the city and into the outskirts to see it all for herself, this divine phenomenon brought upon by Thesa. While she has no explanation for the sudden occurrence, she stays, because she can sense that her services are needed. Healthy characters will taken by the hand and brought to a wounded fellow refugee. Lysa will then urge them to stay by that refugee’s side, to care for them. Please, do not go. I need a little of your compassion and patience. PROMPT A. If the wounded party has lethal injuries, Lysa will give the healthy character a vial of Screaming Draught to feed to them. It's a strong healing potion known for its ability to regenerate cells. It can close up almost any sort of wound, no matter how large, and can even regenerate limbs. However, its ability comes at a costly price. Seconds after taken, the wounded character will experience an excruciating, constant pain as the healing takes place. Some who have taken the potion may even start to become delirious, seeing hallucinations. If asked about this effect, Lysa looks solemn, remarking that her clinic is too far away and she does not have anything gentler on the body on hand. She urges your character to help the suffering one through this, giving them their comfort and any kind of support. PROMPT B. If the wounded party has smaller injuries, Lysa will give your character a vial of some basic Proliferation Elixir, a weaker healing potion with less devastating side effects. It can heal cuts, bruises and minor fractures. Characters who take it will experience side effects such as dizziness, nausea and a persistent chill. They are still in need of attention, and Lysa will urge the healthy characters to tend to them. Warm them up. Feed them something nice. Keep them from wandering around when they should be resting. Show any kind of care and you'll make Lysa a happy woman. Characters who answer Lysa's pleas will be given a small vial of Proliferation Elixir as a token of gratitude. It's good for one-time use. NIGHTFALL AT THE WEST OUTPOST     As dusk approaches, bustling Outpost quiets down as the flea shops pack up their things to go home. But it seems this outpost is not one that simply sleeps at night. Thesa is high on the skies when the Outpost square lights up. There's music, dancing, and laughter. They seem to encourage you to join them as well. "This celebration is for you! Come, join us!" Perhaps their enthusiasm is infectious enough for you to succumb to it; perhaps you don't understand at all why they're this happy after the hell you went through to get here. It's not like you can tell them what the "meteor shower" actually had been. At least they offer free alcoholic drinks and a great feast similar to those you remember from home. You may find that the drinks are far stronger than any alcohol you've ever had, but it taste like a typical cocktail, or whiskey/scotch/vodka/your flavor drink. Nothing particularly special until you make your way back to the inn. Let's hope you won't walk into the wrong room. FINAL OOC NOTE     This is PART TWO of our three-part intro event. PART THREE will be up on JULY 22ND, at 6 PM EST. In the event of CAPTCHA, we will be providing an overflow. In the event of a second CAPTCHA, players are advised to move threads to an overflow post on their character journals. These threads remain eligible for AC, AC Rewards, and REP. The NETWORK is still down. Characters may still message each other's personal IC inboxes. REMEMBER TO USE COMMUNITY TAGS. RECOMMENDED LISTENING: Nocturn OOC PLOTTING may be continued here. PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE (coming soon) QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● world ● map ● reputation ● npcs taken ● reserves ● application calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

[ripvanwinkled]

[Jerk of the week... month... however long Snake can hold grudges? Turns out he's a jerk of probably five whole minutes, because Snake takes care not to sound as irritated this time.] I'm not... dead, at least. That's something. [He sighs, pulling Junpei ahead of him because he can't see the room numbers.]

I don't trust anyone but you. I can't trust anyone but you, giant creatures looking to eat us around or not. Especially when apparently I wouldn't know how to tell the difference. [He has his Doubts now that something successfully tricked him. Just keep holding his hand.]

[coolerjunpei]

[Dimly, Junpei is aware and a little bothered that Snake waited until he'd been drinking all night to open this particular conversational door. He can't focus and he's bound to say something stupid, but fine, they'll do this now. He shuffles ahead, tugging Snake's needy hand until they reach their room. For irony's sake it's room 52.]

Nobody knew what the hell was going on. [Well, looking back, Taako kind of knew? But forget that. Junpei's next destination is leading Snake over to one of the beds and nudging him to sit down.]

For what it's worth, I'm not a spider in disguise. [yeah that's good keep that up]

[ripvanwinkled]

[Honestly, Snake's only talking because he's certain that 1) Junpei won't be able to think too deeply about it to tell him he's wrong, and 2) he might not remember it in the morning. It's a little messed up, he's a little messed up. He doesn't care right now and he probably won't apologize later because he's a jerk about his feelings.]

I should hope not. [At least he doesn't resist sitting down. He runs his hand through his hair, then again, then a third to be 100% sure he didn't miss any webbing again.] It just-- It sounded just like her, Junpei. I wouldn't know if it weren't you either.

[coolerjunpei]

[He might remember, and then what, huh?? Then he'll probably not mention it because he needs time to process Snake being open and vulnerable in a way that isn't, like, because something is trying to kill him.

But he's going to wobble over to the other bed and flop down face first on it, so enjoy listening to that. There's like 3 feet between these beds, so it's not like he's gone far.]

I didn't hear anything. [He says this half-muffled, since he's almost completely face down in a pillow right now. Ideal.] You should've waited for me. A whole two seconds wouldn't have been that bad.

[ripvanwinkled]

[Yeah, don't talk about his feelings when he doesn't feel like talking about his feelings. Ideal. He might be frowning more when Junpei walks away, but it's not like he's going to ask that hot mess of a boy to come back.]

A whole two seconds could have cost her life, in that moment. I thought I had missed her coming down, that I left her behind, and... Most of her life has been wondering if I'm going to come back. I cannot do that to her again. [He pauses, considers how dramatic that sounds, and just proceeds to collapse against his own pillow. Ugh.] You would've understood, if you'd heard it.

[coolerjunpei]

[He's way too drunk for this. Give him a moment to consider his pillow, very thoughtfully, so he doesn't say something totally out there.]

Yeah. I would have. [But he didn't, which is probably for the best. Their little party did poorly enough without Junpei losing his marbles, too. He shifts to lie on his side and look at Snake, so he's not muffled anymore.] You scared the shit out of me.

[Several times, actually, despite how many things were happening at once. First he runs off, then he's nearly eaten by spiders... This stuff is bad for Junpei's heart.]

[ripvanwinkled]

[There's no real reason for Snake to be moving to see Junpei, for obvious reasons. But Junpei is talking to him, as much as he really doesn't want any of his expressions to be read, he ends up turning over to not be rude. For once. He owes him that.]

I'm sorry, Junpei. I didn't mean to scare you. My logic was not sound, I was not thinking. I was just tired of being so... useless.

[All that big talk about himself was probably sincere once upon a time, but now? Now he's not happy about where he's at in this new world. They're back at the bottom here, it sucks.] I don't mean to make you do everything, you know.

[coolerjunpei]

[Continued status: too drunk for this. Junpei frowns, somewhat taken aback by this... what? Admission of low self esteem? He's noticed Snake being unhappy about his arm breaking nearly in half, but that's—not at all the same thing. As someone who's believed since they met that Snake could probably do anything except look at stuff and read print books, Junpei needs, again, a moment.

He feels like retreating to the other bed was a poor choice in hindsight, but hmm.]

Come on, be serious. You're not useless. [Trying to sound light-hearted here......] I'm not... I'd do all that stuff anyway.

[Not specifically, okay, he wouldn't need to hold Snake's hand everywhere if he could see, but this is the type of person he is even when he tries to give in to his inner edginess.]

[ripvanwinkled]

Perhaps I wasn't before I came here, but what can I really do now? Break the only thing I can use to defend myself, drop our food, be so easily tricked? I do not know anything, and I cannot do anything for myself here.

[All that effort to make it more light-hearted and Snake just keeps dropping all this on Junpei. He's not particularly upset as he could be, but there's just something about the way he looks that seems so... defeated already.]

It's not a matter of if you would, it's that you have to. I don't... like being this again. I don't want to become more of a hindrance to you than I already have been.

[coolerjunpei]

Somebody can fix your arm, [this he manages to interject before the rest of Snake's, uh... this completely steamrolls him. It didn't occur to him at all; he'd been so wrapped up in his own problems and Snake is apparently really good at hiding this kind of thing—he feels terrible.

And he's soooo... intoxicated. He moves to sit up and makes it halfway, leaning on his elbow, before the room spins a little. God.]

So what if you had a bad couple days? What happened to that faith and hope crap, huh? [Does Snake know Junpei has heard all these dirty details about what a hippie he is? Because.]

[ripvanwinkled]

[Junpei's got him there. Snake didn't figure Junpei would listen to anything about that, so here he is, just kind of stunned into silence. Don't call him out on being a huge hippie? He's not supposed to know that??]

All that faith and hope "crap" is... not something I think anyone would remember beyond the moment it's said. The circumstances are different than this. It's meant to inspire to get those who are capable of doing something, not someone who is capable of nothing.

[coolerjunpei]

[He knows!! Snake has been called the fuck out, sorry. Junpei doesn't want to sit here listening to Snake give himself a hard time, but he doesn't know the magic words to change his mind about being a useless lump, apparently. He holds his hand out, but even in this tiny inn room he can only reach about halfway to the other bed.]

What about your super ears and running backwards? What about inspiring other people? You might be a pain in the ass, but you were there when I needed you. [You know, when he freaked out? Accept being the heart in this action duo.

It takes Junpei another thirty seconds or so to remember a crucial detail he has to point out:] Uh, I'm holding my hand out, here. Just so you know.

[ripvanwinkled]

[Please, don't remember his super ears and running backwards down stairs... Snake sits up a little more at that, not yet smiling but also not looking completely miserable. Sure, Junpei gets a weird look for just holding his hand out, but it's not like Snake's not going to lean to put his fingers between his.]

You're the only person I think would call someone a pain in the ass in effort to cheer them up, I think. [But like, it's sweet.]

[coolerjunpei]

[The last time Snake brought up running down stairs backwards on his own, unprompted, was like a week ago? Barely. He's going to bring it up as much as he wants.

Anyway, now they're holding hands in a slightly different context... and it's just fine? Junpei has no complaints. For emphasis, he squeezes Snake's fingers.]

Just being honest. You called me a menace to society like two hours ago and I still took you home.

[ripvanwinkled]

You'd probably take me home no matter what I say. What would you do without my company?

[Or really, Junpei's just a Good Guy... That finger squeeze finally gets a smile out of him, good job.]

I don't really know what I would do without yours.

[coolerjunpei]

[Snake smiles, that's a point for Junpei. That huge amount of sap gets him to laugh, a little sheepishly, and shocking no one: he doesn't know... what to say! What would he do without Snake, now, at this point in their space adventure?

Well, he'd be pretty unhappy, for starters.]

Is this the part where I say wow, you really do care? [He already knew... it's fine. Jokes.] You're right, though. You're... probably stuck with me, by now?

[Isn't that sweet!! Yeah.]

[ripvanwinkled]

[Maybe he'll just fake believe Junpei is following him around because he's a big needy baby to make himself feel better. Yeah, sounds like a plan, even if it's a) true and b) true on both ends. Hm.]

That isn't so bad, knowing you'd follow me no matter what. I'll try not to give you so many frights, then? Or does that mean I'm free to go barreling into things since you'll save me?

[They're still holding hands across the bed... He doesn't know if that's awkward or not, so he's going to go ahead and withdraw his. He's still smiling, though, that's something?]

[coolerjunpei]

[He's not following, he's clearly leading. Duh. No, it's true that they're both needy babies. Nobody has to admit it.

But ah, there goes his hand... Okay, that's fair. Eventually that was going to get weird or somebody's arm would fall asleep, but that doesn't stop Junpei from drawing his hand back to himself and curling his fingers like he wants to think about it for a little while. Things he's lucky Snake can't see.

Anyway:] Try not to scare the shit out of me that often. But I'll, y'know, be there as best I can.

[Junpei can admit that he's maybe 60% effective most of the time, see.]

[ripvanwinkled]

My hero. I'll tell people Star rescued me, but he'd never reveal his true identity. It's just too clever.

[It's fine, because Snake is pretty much doing the same thing. He curls his fingers against his chest for a moment of what's likely Serious Thought, then moves to pull the blanket over himself. It's fine, Junpei is drunk, he's still sure he's not going to remember this in the morning.]

I'm sorry I've kept you awake this long. After all that investigating, I'm sure you've exhausted yourself.

[coolerjunpei]

[Junpei is pretty drunk, correct. There's no telling what he'll remember in a daze and what he'll assume he probably imagined, come morning. Since it looks like Snake is ready to sleep, Junpei needs the next full minute to get his shoes off using only his feet, because he's comfy and doesn't want to sit up. It's hard.]

I'm too clever to get tired. [yes,] But I could investigate this pillow a little more, if you're turning in now.

[ripvanwinkled]

[Ugh... if Junpei was going to be this big of a drunk baby, Snake could have helped him with his shoes. He's tempted to get up and do that, but thankfully, Junpei is still capable of some things in the end.]

Perhaps in the morning you'll have the case of "how did my pillow move to another bed, and where did Snake get his second one?" A difficult puzzle, I'm sure.

[coolerjunpei]

[No, he's got this. He's okay. His shoes fall gracelessly to the floor, so don't trip on those later.]

I already hate that puzzle. I only have one pillow... [he whine] Good night, Snake.

[ripvanwinkled]

Good night, Junpei.

[He says that, like he's actually intending to get a good night's rest. And he does, in the beginning. He lays there in complete silence for a long while, occasionally shifting around in some attempt to get more comfortable. But shifting turns to tossing and turning, because if he isn't lying next to Junpei, he's stuck thinking about things other than Junpei, and that isn't really something he likes to do lately.

So he inevitably drags himself out of bed, pillow under arm and blanket around his shoulder, stopping besides Junpei's bed. He would just be quiet about it, but he has to feel around for where he's laying, and that just winds up with him touching his hair again. Well. Hm.] ...Junpei, please move over.

[coolerjunpei]

[Junpei, for his part, actually gets to sleep more quickly than usual. Being drunk certainly helps, but since he didn't drink himself into blacking out, for once that isn't the entire reason he can actually get to sleep at a somewhat reasonable speed.

The rest is Snake. No points for guessing. Either way he's actually, honest to god snoozing when Snake comes over and touches him, and with the alcohol still in his system it's going to take him a little bit longer to stir and crack an eye open in the dark.]

Snake...? What's, uh... huh? [Yes... good. Forgive him his sleepy ways; he's scooting closer to the wall anyway, seems like a good idea. Hey??]

[ripvanwinkled]

I'm just cold. [He mumbles, but it's not even remotely true. Snake's still warm from what was probably a nightmare, and just being under a blanket, when he gets in. If anything, throwing his blanket over Junpei's is going to make them hot overnight. Sorry.

But he doesn't really feel like talking while he's settling in, so just allow him to lay his head back on Junpei first. Hey.] That's... not true, but it's not something you should concern yourself with. Go back to sleep.