
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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[Oh yes, he was dumped straight into a river--
What springs out of the river is huge and silver-furred and lands with a surprisingly light thump considering his size. And then... watch out if you're nearby, because he's going to shake himself, sending water spraying everywhere.
When this is done, he'll lift his head and look around and snuffle (at you if you were nearby) before focusing on the jungle proper.]
...hoh.
[Well, that low voice coming from the wolf sounds pleased.]
ii.
[Being back somewhere surrounded by nature feels good, even if glimpsing the creatures that prowl this jungle give Arles pause. He's still in his wolf form, and occasionally he disappears within the trees altogether.
Impressive, considering how light his fur is.
However, if you happen to be heading (unawares) toward a creature, he'll emerge from behind, slipping silently from the bushes to say:]
Mind yourself. There is something should you keep going that way.
[Unless you wanna be eat, of course. That said, things seem quiet, so his advice might come as abrupt and unsolicited.]
iii.
[Well, he had to return to his human form at some point.
If you're walking through the village, you might fall into step with him, accidentally or no, but Arles isn't paying attention. He's sniffing at the air slightly, looking around and stepping over the encroaching foliage here. His tail lightly sways as he goes, one hand on his sword hilt.]
Hm.
[You might have gone this far with him, or perhaps you'll find him later. He's chosen to make "camp" by himself (for now, Guillan's undoubtedly somewhere nearby), sitting by the place that smells as though it had once been for a fire for the entire village. He hasn't bothered to light it up.
And as it gets dark, maybe you'll see his blue eyes, faintly glowing in the dark, easily following anyone wandering by...]
iv.
[Given that there are wolf-like creatures stalking about, you might start to see one emerging from the brush. Especially when it's towing this in its mouth, jaws clamped quite snugly about its neck to haul it along... What? Gotta eat.
Arles is much more comfortable hunting than buying food anyway.
And if you, poor person, are looking particularly hungry or sitting about at a loss, enjoy watching that being deposited on the ground nearby. And then, Arles changing back into his human form.]
I suppose it's fine to eat this as is. Or cooking it might be like cooking deer.
[Hmmm.
What to do.]
iv
Woah! Is that for me?!
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[Arles absently wipes some blood from his hands.]
But you can have some. [He sounds like he's hungry, after all. One of Arles's ears is swaying lightly, turned in his direction.]
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Okay. [cuz he does want some] After can you show me where you got it?
[starts making a fire for the roasting of it]
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i.
[Guess who is now soaked? That's right, it's Ruby!!
Her hood droops, and slowly she pulls a soaked sleeve away from her arm, making a face.]
Aww, really?
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My apologies. I thought you would move.
[When a big soggy wolf climbs out of a river, that's just a warning to run away.]
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[How can you act all gentlemanly now!!! That's cheating!]
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i.
Uhmmmm. Sir... Sir Feral! [ Can it even understand him??? ] I have a question!
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[No reaction. In fact, Arles pointedly looks the other way as he lightly shakes himself again, so that his fur is laying smooth. While looking away and taking a few steps further, sniffing around:]
I'm no "Sir Feral". [Ah... It seems as though he's not going to acknowledge that he has a question until that's amended. Ket, "feral" isn't exactly the most positive thing to call someone.]
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Husky! Sir Husky? I mean, you're ferals back home, but other worlds know a lot more about animals and... and the movies mentioned huskies. I think. So, husky?
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IV
I know you're hungry but I can' find anything to eat...
[Then suddenly, he heard something nearby before quickly looking around for a place to hide! The last thing he wanted was something chasing him on an empty stomach! Of course, now that he got a better look at who this mysterious person was...?]
Whoa, did you see that Patamon? He just turned into a human! [Now this would be where he whispered but his stomach just growled so loudly, Arles may or may not hear him]
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No, he seems to be building up a fire, preparing a haunch of this creature to cook.]
It will not take long for this to be ready. [He calls over only when he has the meat prepared and roasting over the fire.]
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Not to mention what he just said seem to imply that he already knew. Still, with both of their stomachs growling so loudly, Takeru had to make a choice. Should he trust Arles or not?
...]
How much longer would it take? It sure seems like a lot of meat to cook!
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i!
Hey, hey, hey! Cut that out!!
[Because telling animals to quit it always works YES.]
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Kashuu. [That deep voice is probably familiar, even coming from a woof... and vaguely apologetic sounding. Arles has stopped with the shaking and walks over to him, peering up with blue eyes.]
I apologise, I didn't notice you.
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Wh— oh. ...Are you like, Arles?
[THIS NEEDS CONFIRMATION FIRST even though he's pretty sure that he is indeed talking to the wolf form of that regal guy he bumped into earlier.]
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iii
So as the light begins to fade, he makes his way back to where he's sure Arles is. It's no Zanan, but it's more familiar out here than the city.]
Arles! [He pads along as a wolf before shifting seamlessly to his other form as he approaches.] Heh. We're way the hell out here. 'f anyone used to actually live here, they're long gone. Wonder what happened to 'em.
[Was it wolves? Oh speaking of that though,] But there are things livin' out here! Ain't got a good look yet, but some of 'em are big. I can tell! Think we can hunt? [A wag of his tail He's excited. HUNTING!]
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He hmms absently. He's thought too that the people here had long since gone, though he wondered. It doesn't seem as though much is destroyed or anything, so what prompted their leaving?
Perhaps the monsters? But if they lived out here... Arles sets aside these thoughts. They aren't particularly important right now.]
Aa, yes, I saw some of them as well. [His tail lightly flicks.] We should go hunting. We've never hunted these things before, so we'll have to be cautious, but it wouldn't do for us to get out of practice.
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[Guillan is quick to agree. He feels like he's been getting soft -- buying food. What is that anyway? Granted some of the food is really tasty. Sweets in particular, he can barely remember ever having those, even if he's sure he must have, when he was very young.
But he still misses hunting. That's what he's used to, what's natural.] Yeah. Careful, but we could take whatever's out there. Sounds big, but I ain't scared.
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i
The truth is, he just came toward the water because he wanted to get his bearings and following rivers is always a good idea (also he's just really terrible at scouting so he's probably lost).
Eventually he just gives a long sigh. ]
... Fuuumu...
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Are you all right?
[He's sorry... probably.]
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i am glad you survived your adventure. and oh... captcha...
ty dear merry... and don't worry i'll save us
ii
A talking... wolf..... hm.]
Is it a particularly large and dangerous something?
[also is he just stalling while the rest of his pack circles around to eat her?? THINGS TO CONSIDER]
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He stays where he is, close to the foliage to slip back into if need be.]
I would hardly be warning you if it wasn't.
[Mildly...]
It is one of the creatures here. I suppose it resembles a giant lizard, if I had to anything. [And he can smell it from here. :/]
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i!
a wolf. a fucking wolf.
so malia just sort of lets out a dog like yelp and takes a jump back, startled. if arles bothers to pick up on the smell, he'll notice that she smells exactly like a wolf (or wolflike... she's a coyote damnit) herself. she's definitely a human though! after a moment of staring at him, she has to ask -- ]
What the hell?
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Well well. It's strange she lacks ears or a tail but nevertheless...]
I'd like to ask something similar. [But that low, rumbly voice is mild.] Who might you be?
[Nothing strange going on here at all. Just a huge silver wolf slowly walking in such a way to look at her while keeping a firm distance between them both.]
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