It is a quiet day in mostly reconstructed Cerealia. The robots are busily running into walls that were not there before, the Cybuddy bees are buzzing...and CERES has still not said a word. Attempting to contact them still gets the User Offline error. Strange...
But who cares if CERES is offline? After all, they are the cruel and tyrannical captors. A Cerealia without them must be better than a Cerealia with them. So there's nothing to worry about on this fine, peaceful day. Or, at least, that's what it seems like, when suddenly there's a voice in everyone's head. A chosen few may recognize the voice, for they will have heard it before, but to the vast majority, it is brand new.
Looks like someone has been saved, and a reward granted... and no, you don't have a single choice in the matter.
 Your heroism will be remembered, lost and stolen souls.
You have saved me, and so now, I shall save you.
All of you.
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PHASE I [ day one ] It happens so quickly. One moment you’re in the colony, going about your daily life, and the next, you’re… floating. A moment later, every player character from the colony is transported with a wisp of fresh air to...somewhere very very different. The distance is far, but it is covered in what must have only been a scant moment, and it’s clear somehow, especially to air characters, that it was Caeli’s doing that brought everyone there.
There, naturally, being right in the middle of the jungle.
Everyone is then unceremoniously dropped. You may land on a tree, or in a patch of poison mushrooms (no really, look out for the colorful plant life, it’s probably poisonous) or in the river. There are some strange insects of all sorts and types, some of which have some uncomfortable side effects if you’re bitten, such as swelling or the uncomfortable urge to go hug the nearest person, and there are strange flowers everywhere, some of which glow only in the dark of night or the shade of trees. It is dreadfully humid, however, and a little hard to breathe--unless you’re of the air disposition.
Either way, you’ve certainly landed somewhere fantastical, so take some time to get used to your surroundings. It shouldn’t take too long to find everyone else, hopefully.
PHASE II [ day two ] Of course, this far into the jungle, and making this much noise, it was only inevitable before some company was attracted.
Some are clearly dangerous, some are peaceful as can be and some are somewhere in between; approach at your own risk.
Either way, these monsters are all drawn to larger groups of people and a lot of noise, so it may be best to keep quiet...though the ones that keep their distance may be even more concerning.
Everyone is certainly being stalked at one point or another in the jungle -- and at night, there are eyes watching from the darker parts of the trees.
PHASE III [ day three ] But perhaps if you follow some of those monsters deeper into the woods, you will stumble across an old, run down village of sorts. It looks as though time and the jungle has overtaken it. Exploring it will reveal plenty of homes that were clearly lived in however, by families and by people of all sorts.
There are empty rooms, covered in dust, and a central village fire, long gone out.
Small knick-knacks and various objects can be found… if you want to steal from the dead, you know. It’s a little rude. It appears they led a simple, peaceful life, however; most notably, there is no technology to be found.
And if The Bridge catches you doing it, she will look incredibly sad and ask you to put everything back in its proper place before she goes back to looking very irritated at Caeli. You may overhear words about how this “isn’t the right place” and Caeli’s unrepentant, “It is only a few hundred miles”. Looks like something went a little wrong in the transportation process.
Time to camp out for the night, perhaps. And your CereVices don’t get any reception out here, so no surfing the internet for you. If you try to connect to the internet, for some reason the device starts playing a song. Was that programmed…?
PHASE IV [ day four ] By the fourth day, it’s pretty clear that you’re going to be stuck here for a bit. Pestering Caeli or Maris gets nothing, while the Bridge still can’t be approached for pretty good reasons. So… you’ll just have to make the best of it while they figure out their next approach.
Time to figure out how to camp with few supplies and even fewer nice places to sleep. Maybe try to make a fire (though it’s incredibly difficult, considering how muggy it is here) or try to find some bugs to eat (ew gross).
Of course, you can try hunting, but the prey doesn’t look too friendly, so be careful not to become the prey yourself. The same goes for fishing, it seems.
Some of the trees are poisonous, some of the grasses will cause unfortunate rashes, and some vines will lash out to grab at people (especially colorful ones); basically, this is an entirely untamed alien jungle, so it may not be the fun camping trip you'd like.
Time to work together to survive out here, at least for a little longer.
It’s your time to shine. This is Person Versus Wild.
PHASE V [ day six ] On day six, the jungle goes utterly silent.
The monsters and animals disappear. The extra friends poof away hastily and suddenly. Maris and the Bridge fall silent (though Caeli admittedly continues floating there as ever). If anyone approaches them to ask, they'll just say that "she is coming".
And soon, she does appear. She moves slowly, lacking in feet; they are roots, as though that of a tree. Nonetheless, she has no troubles with moving forward, slow bit by bit. She does not speak, not at first, and behind her, trotting lightly through the woods, there is another. Both feel strongly of spiritual energy, just like Maris and Caeli. And eventually, after observing the people gathered, they can be spoken to.
BONUS [ day ??? ] After spending some time in the jungle, emotions might be running a bit amuck. And those emotions might bring some unexpected...friends. Yes, let's go with friends.
Because if a character is typically grumpy, gloomy, stoic, lineface, or anything along those lines, they may find themselves followed by a bright, happy bird. That bird feeds off of those emotions, and will just cheerfully follow around any lineface character for as long as possible. Or until they smile. The birds are otherwise harmless, chirping happily every now and then and following them around like a friendly shadow.
Happy, cheerful, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, energetic characters, on the other hand, will soon find themselves followed by... a different friend. Or maybe a handful of them. It depends on how cheerful they are. Either way, these creatures feed off of happiness and fun, but they will also chew on hair or an ear if they're allowed to get that close, making horrifying, chittering noises as they follow anyone who is in a good mood.
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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Ota!
[it's in these moments that Oona's glad she didn't resort to wearing much clothing. Clothes were useless to her anyway, and the social constructs that made up day-to-day human life were all that held her back from saying 'fuck it all.' Going for shorts and tank tops even when it's freezing just means she's not going to be... well, as overheated.
She hits the water in the river with a loud splash and a shriek of rage, like someone just tossed a particularly angry cat in the tub. Normally she might not have been as upset--it's water!!--but she'd been taking a nap and this was probably the rudest wake-up call ever.
She splashes to the surface and swims to the shore, pulling herself up with a spluttering gasp.] What-- [And then Oona abruptly goes quiet, taking in their surroundings for the first time. Her eyes go wide] This is... outside!? Ah! She did save us!
[BEST DAY EVER. Oona's so ecstatic she goes as far as throwing her arms around the nearest person with a cry of laughter. Enjoy that wet hug] We are out of city!
[Phase III]
[Her first thought is to raid for anything useful, but as she explores the village a feeling of melancholy overtakes her. She doesn't think it was a human village, which makes it infinitely worse, and she walks around with a frown the entire time.
She finds pretty, broken things that attract her attention, as they always do, but surprisingly she doesn't make off with them. She picks them up, examines them, sighs, and then puts them back.] Am sure CERES had something to do this... Behind every bad or sad thing that happens. [And who else do they have to blame?? She doesn't appear to be talking to anyone in particular, but she picks up a crude doll and her frown deepens as she stands.]
...Will keep this. [A mutter out loud, her fingers running over it] Will give it back, maybe... [Maybe the kid it belonged to could still be found?? She wants to be hopeful.]
[Phase IV]
[The river is pretty and full of food that Oona can actually trust. Eating the plants or mushrooms or anything in the forest doesn't appeal to her, wary of what might just come with it. So she perches on the edge of the water, leaning as far out over it as she can. She's completely still, expression calm but utterly focused. Her hair, for once, is actually tied back in a pony-tail and out of her face, but it's still long enough to hang over her shoulder and dip into the water.
After a moment she opens her mouth and whistles--it's really the only thing that can be used to describe the noise. It's beautiful and haunting, just one note that rises and lowers subtly as the water around the surface begins to bubble with fish coming to answer the call. Keeping the note going, Oona carefully dips her hands into the water and begins plucking fish out, tossing them over her shoulder without looking.
Try not to get smacked in the face with a fish!]
[Bonus]
They are making nest! [Well Oona was in a good mood. Generally she still is-- she loves being out of the city and in the wild--but there's a handful of those chittery fucks clinging to her hair--there's quite a lot of it, after all-- and she's regretting taking her hair down now.
They're probably not actually making a nest, but Oona's not taking any chances here.] Cute, but stupid. Get out! [She shakes her head violently and they cling on-- one even goes so far as to bite her ear.
This causes her to shriek in surprise--and pain, that shit hurts!--and flail her arms, balance lost as she goes careening into another poor, unfortunate soul.]
Phase I
He's not exactly expecting an armful of scantily clad, wet mermaid, so his initial reaction is to freeze up in shock.
Also because UWAAAAAH A WOMAN IS HUGGING HIM!!!!]
What—what—?!
[Struggles. To. Contain. Nosebleed. Explosion!!
But after all of half a second, he thinks he might recognize those curves pressed against him and that lovely shade of hair color. He blinks a couple times...and then his arms wrap around her to return the overexuberant hug.]
Oona-chwaaaaaaaaaaan~!!
[...Possibly squeezes her more tightly than is socially acceptable.]
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Besides, she likes hugs and cuddles and things of that nature-- she probably wouldn't care even if she did realize.]
Sanji! We are out of city at last! [She's practically bouncing on her toes despite their hug, barely able to contain her energy. Who cared about the muggy air right now, this was the best day ever]
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Yeah! You think it'll last? How the fuck did we even get out there??
[He heard the voice, but it still seems a little weird.]
Maybe we can find a shitty ocean somehow.
[HE LONGS TO SMELL THE OCEAN AGAIN.]
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Do not know! That woman, probably? [Hell if she knows the specifics, she doesn't pay attention to anything around here.
She makes a mildly offended noise, a huff, at that though and does pull away to glare at him] Ocean is not shitty, not ever! But, is probably here, somewhere. Maybe close? Hmm, will have to find out! We must go!
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IV
He'd been drawn by the sound when he heard it; he hadn't been far away, just through the trees and considering how to find something to eat today. It turns out that's on your mind a lot when there's no readily available food, and you can't hunt, or identify edibles, or cook, or . . . okay, he's pretty useless, that's the whole problem. He's been lucky so far--
And now he's lucky again, because there's a fish right in his face as soon as he pops through the trees and over to the river to see what that sound is. Of course, in the heat of the moment, when there's a fish on his face, he doesn't exactly feel lucky.]
Ggghh! What the hell?!
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A quick look informs her it's a human (?) who possibly just got hit with one of her fish. Does she feel bad??]
What is problem?
[Denied.
Oona this was literally your fault]
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Also, he can't help but be a little distracted now that he's recovering his bearings some and can get a good look at the singing, fish-throwing girl over there. Oh no, she's hot. Or, more accurately, aw yeah she's hot!
Not that he's going to 100% forgive the fish thing without even a comment, not even for a face like that.]
You totally hit me with this thing! I mean, yeah, I needed lunch, but I didn't need it all over my face!
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[But probably she should apologize, even if she doesn't really mean it. She shrugs] Am sorry it hit your face. Perhaps it is good for skin? [Oona no... But she stands up and brushes her hands off on her shorts]
Because I hit you, you may keep that one. Is good enough payment, yes?
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iv.
Adolf apparently has famously bad timing, because this is going to be the second time that he gets hit in the face thanks to Oona as he's just innocently passing by— he's usually not so careless, but his internal radar's been going haywire detecting every living thing around him. Not his fault if he's tuned it out temporarily.
The fish hits him smack in the collar before he has a chance to realize it's being thrown his way, and when he turns to protest, to speak up, to see who's doe this...
...he sees Oona.
...He's not surprised. ]
—Watch where you throw those things.
[ Again, he feels like he's only ever going to meet Oona at inopportune times?! Here he is, wiping fish slime off his face and. Already turning away. Adolf?! ]
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Adolf! [She sounds happy to see him and oblivious to the fact he just got whacked by a fish because of her carelessness. Clearly he should've just ducked??]
Wait, where are you-- [Oona's cut off again with a yelp of pain as she jerks herself back from the river. Her hypnosis wearing off, some of the...less friendly fish have taken her hand, still in the water, as an invitation. It managed to sink its teeth into the heel of her palm, but her panicked flail dislodges it back into the water-- at least she managed to avoid it taking a chunk of her flesh with it or something.]
Stupid--! [FucKING FISH]
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Meaning, he hears that panicked yell (he hadn't bothered to turn around when she'd told him to wait) and that's enough for him to change directions, to be back by her side in a matter of seconds with his brows furrowed and a look that says 'I'll never win'.
One hand jerks Oona back from the water, pulls her into the crook of his side, while the other reaches under his jacket for one of his kunais. ]
Who's stupid.
[ 'You or the fish', he means. The fish in question is too dead to be offended by that insult; it rises to the surface with a knife lodged in it. ]
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The fish! Who else would I mean? [She rapidly blinks back tears, but there's a momentary distraction from her pouting when she realizes that knife must have come from him. She looks between the impaled fish and Adolf, expression a mix between awe and excitement]
Throw knives too? [With apparent deadly accuracy. She wants to start grabbing at him to see just where they're hidden, but she knows better than to smear her bloody hands everywhere. Such self control, she must be a saint.] Is there nothing you do not do?
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Phase I
But as he approached it, he found himself suddenly being hugged by someone familiar!]
O-oona-san?! [He is a bit confused and flustered because Oona-but then he tosses his arms right back over her.]
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Is hot and gross here, but is still free! No CERES and no stupid city or stupid things! [She says this now all cheerful, but in a day or two she's going to be lamenting that she's missing her soap operas. Smh.]
is it not wonderful!?
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Oh... Oona-san!! Yes, yes it is great! We are free from CERES at long last! Now we can decide our own fates.
And it... It is truly so beautiful! And I am glad that you are so happy, Oona-san!
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iii!
Oona's words stand out starkly in the silence by contrast, loud when nothing else echoes in the ruined area but the chitter of alien birds and the buzz of insects. A few seconds pass in silence, and then:]
Give it back to whom?
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The one who lost it. It must have belonged to someone, am sure... Am sure they would want it back. [Oona's quiet a moment and then continues with an air of admitting something difficult:] If they are alive.
Ah, thought this would be fun to look through. Instead, it only makes me sad.
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[It's a simple statement, with none of the difficult hang-ups that Oona seemed to have. Villages like this that are destroyed and left to rot usually don't have inhabitants with stories that are any happier.]
If you take it, it may as well be for a memorial.
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phase iv
That's a neat trick, Miss Oona. Is it something only you can do or could you teach me?
[Says the distorted voice. Hope she still remembers the strange masked weirdo she tried to drown. Still not over that by the way.]
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Her expression doesn't give anything away for a moment before recognition finally hits.] Ah! Cerberus, yes? Like dog.
[She inclines her hand in acknowledgement] Do not know if could teach. It is something my kind can do, simple thing. One of first things we learn. Besides, who says you are worthy to learn in first place?
[She only half-kidding, though she does have one eyebrow raised questioningly. What would he do with it anyhow?] Do you want to fish so badly?
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[He suddenly remembers his snitch for the Russian mob back home. Ah he misses that sniveling two faced rat.]
Well, I've been up and about for quite some time, and though I'm tough I still need to eat. I figured fish was easy and...relatively safe to eat.
[A beat.]
You are going to eat this right, Miss Oona?
[Oh if he just implied he was going to gut and barbecue a fish friend of hers, then this conversation is going to be very awkward for him.]
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iv
He yelps loudly as the fish hits him, and quickly throws it back in the water. ]
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But then he had to go and throw the fish back.
Oona's song cuts itself off at the splash and she draws back, looking up in confusion. She looks between him and the river and back again before making a disgusted noise] Did you throw it back in!? Stupid! Caught that to eat!
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S-s-sorry! It j-just. H-happened!
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