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.
|
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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ugh why are you showing your amae to me im happy u do this kashuu :9
[ After they figure out what could be inside of it first, even when Kashuu knocks at the box — it seems to be hallow? Yet, why would it be locked so tight? Perhaps not a map and maybe not anything too personal unless these are how humans hide their things. ]
Well money is useless.. and pictures are fine, I would put them up around their housing if they can't. There could be a severed head inside but it also makes me wonder.. is there something bad locked away in here..
ugh dont look THERES NOTHING HERE FOR YAMS but salty tsun
Your idea of fun is seriously off. [...] But we're gonna need food sooner or later anyway. If you reeeally want me to be there, I guess that's fine.
[He guesses he can take time out of his busy, busy schedule!! His busy schedule of picking berries and trying to find safe spots in the river to wash up in...]
Who'd keep a head in a box? [WEIRDOS LIKE YAMATO. But he hefts it up a little just in case, and his brow furrows.] It's too light for that, anyway.
UGH WHY ARE YOUS O SALTY OUT OF ALL THES PEANUTS AND THE ONE YOU CHOOSE TO BE
At the huff from Kashuu and how the dust manages to go Yamato's direction, he closes his eyes and coughs just a bit. ]
W.. Well, if it's not a head, I wonder why they'd lock it so tight. [ As much as teh dust has been blown off, it can see that it's been sealed with white tape and probably forced shut along with the lock that hangs on the front. If they look closely, there's a few scratches at the top of the box... they're worn but something wanted to get inside. ]
Hm.. Then we should get it open to see. What do we use?
WHAT IS HE WITHOUT HIS SALT just a peanut
Like I said, it's fine. I'll go with you. [Because his presence is so important and all.
He also doesn't apologize at all for making Yamato cough and getting him a little dusty. Payback...]
You haven't found any keys around here or anything, yeah? If we can't get the lock open we'd have to try smashing it or something, and that might break whatever's inside.
WHATS WRONG WITH BEING A PEANUT my uncles name is peanut
Little writer things.
Anyway! ]
I haven't, I just found this box but everything is so dusty around here.. so we'd have to either clean of just pick up things that may be a key? [ Everything is covered in dust and there are many cobwebs, even a few insects hiding under the dust itself is what Yamato guesses. ] Maybe we can bring this box back home if we can? If we don't find the keys.
YOUVE SAID it cracks me up... peanuts
He waves the dust away from his face before pushing himself back up and away from the ground. Time to go key-hunting, he supposes...]
Let's have a look, then. If we can't find any keys, we'll just leave it. You should know better than to just take stuff that's been left behind like this, y'know? [What if someone had snatched one of them back before they had physical bodies!! Who knows, maybe someone did snatch Yamato...
But he's setting off already, intent on looking around. Carefully... so as not to get too dusty. Avoiding the bugs is a priority too, considering he has no idea which ones are poisonous and which are docile. The jungle struggle is a hard one!! Anyway, after patting around for a little while:]
Mmm... Nothing over here. I'll just m-- [Oh, nope, HIS DODGING SKILLS WERE NOT ENOUGH because as he's turning to walk away from the shelf, he definitely feels something drop from the window onto his back. Immediately... freezing. It's just a jeweled beetle, but he can't see it and to him it feels like Death™.] Ah— ah... Oh my god. Ohmygod. [HE'S WHISPERING but there is real fear here.] Yasusada...
UGH MY UNCLEPEANUT kashuu my uncle
Well as history states, there's a chance he might have been stolen considering Souji's sister had to leave him on a cart! Who could have taken him? Yamato is basically lost in history but here he is! Perhaps he shouldn't be here right now even though he was given a body from the Saniwa Sage (thank you Haru, bless your soul) or maybe he just doesn't deserve it. Either way, it's not something that Yamato thinks about as he makes sure the box is safe and secure for when they attempt to open it. Kashuu's answer isn't something he wanted to here but in the end, there's a nod as he understands if they can't get it open — it wasn't meant to be.
Walking away from it, he runs his hands against a table with dust building up at the side. Curling into a ball and just falling off the surface once pushed near the edge. What he finds under all that accumulated dust is another set of scratches. Whatever was here must have been angry but here, there is no keys so he has to move elsewhere.
Next he moves towards a chair that has a few items broken atop of it, but nothing resembles a key — he starts to wonder if the keys are in a bedroom of sorts but as he tries to organize his thoughts, he can hear Kashuu's struggles not too far away. At first, he just thinks Kashuu is making a fuss about not wanting to be near dust, but he turns his head at the call of his name. ]
Kiyomitsu?
[ He's confused and he doesn't know why Kashuu is calling for God over and over again, but Yamato is a good distance away from him. ]
Is it the dust, it's not so bad? I'll take you back to a lake if it's that bad. [ There goes Yamato, down a hall and leaving Kashuu to his stress. Maybe he should tell Yamato to get back here.. ugh. ]
ugh im laughing AT THAT ICON
Anyway, wow! Just dash his hopes on the rocks and then WALK AWAY, leaving him to die, probably. This bug has likely been waiting to get Kashuu alone and now Yamato's walking down the hall and it's probably rubbing its little beetle hands together gleefully, preparing to pull a very small knife out of its beetle pocket so it can stab right into Kashuu's unsuspecting back!!
Except Kashuu is very suspecting, okay. He's got this bug's number and he's not going to go down without a fight... probably. First he has to move, and that's proving to be a bit of a challenge. He doesn't want to spook the bug and cause it to skitter under his scarf or something, okay...!]
Yasusada!! If you seriously ditch me, I'm not gonna forgive you!
[WHERE'S HIS PAPER BAG he needs it to breathe through this Intense Panic... He's just sort of flailing his arms in a vague outward motion, making distressed sounds and oh no the beetle is moving again this is hell™.]
GET THIS STUPID THING OFF—
HOLY SHISTS I FORGOT SHUT UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP OH MY GOD i just IM NOT RPING ANYMORE
Why won't you let them breathe, I'm so embarrassed, GOD, I hate this, but they need lungs!
Ugh, Yamato doesn't know anything of Kashuu's struggles or the little beetle rubbing it's little hands because it has Kashuu where it wants him. Who knows, maybe it followed him all the way here? Maybe it's after Kashuu's cute earring too? As Yamato makes it towards the back, he's ready to open a door that calls out to him because there's another beetle resting upon it. Maybe this is their home.. and they're attacking them because they touched their box.
Hand slowly moving in to touch the handle, he's getting close.. closer... closest until he hears a very loud voice and ONLY THAT CAN BELONG TO KASHUU!!! Quickly turning on his heel and removing his blade from his sheathe, he runs down the hall to see Kashuu doesn't look okay? His arms waving around like some dance that Yamato isn't so sure of, like what is going ON. Ugh, WHAT IS GOING ON? ]
Kiyomitsu?? What are you doin —
[ YAMATO HAS HIS SWORD OUT AND WHAT IS HE YELLING ABOUT? LOOKING AROUND, he spots the glint that comes off the beetle as the sun rays hit Kashuu's back from the dusty window. BUT OBVIOUSLY THAT CAN'T BE IT? ]
Come here, what's the fuss about?!
puts my hand on your shoulder rip
Wow, though, this is it! This is what they get for disturbing the sacred resting ground of these beetles!! They're probably going to carry both of them away to their beetle overlord and leave them as a sacrifice now or something, good work team.
That said, Kashuu doesn't move at all even when Yamato tells him to come over, because he's still too worried about beetle death coming for him on swift wings. He stops flailing like a moron, though... Probably because he's realized that isn't helping him at all and is in fact more likely to get the bug to start moving again.]
I can't!! I can't move, so come over here, okay?! Something fell on me—!
[HE'S STRESSING, YAMATO. He's having a bad time!!]
ugh im laughing so hard rip
Hey.. Hey! [ Alarmed by it's escape, he kind of grabs both Kashuu's hair and the beetle but it really does decide to crawl into Kashuu's beautiful hair. If Yamato had an emotion right now, it's *touches ground* because that was not supposed to happen? There's a part of him that's shocked that the beetle is actually hiding in Kashuu's ponytail. Out of all places, the uchigatana knows better to squish the insect in his hair so he has no choice.
Holding up his vessel. ]
... Kiyomitsu............ close your eyes.............
why does yams do these things
[A warning when Yamato starts patting around, just in case he causes whatever had fallen to skitter away.]
Ow!
[The deft response to having his hair RUDELY GRABBED. Seriously, it's just catching a bug! It shouldn't be this difficult!! Come on, famous sword of Okita Souji, get your head in the game...!]
GYAAAAAH—!!
[His battle cry when he realizes what's going on... Kind of. Yamato's got his vessel up and he's telling him to close his eyes like that isn't really concerning (is he trying to cut his hair off?? His head??), and Kashuu can feel something moving in his ponytail. Lord above, he is Not Happy™. It's probably a good thing that there doesn't seem to be any larger predator in the area that might be attracted by all this noise, but that could change considering what a racket they're making!
And needless to say, Kashuu sure isn't closing his eyes. He isn't even standing still anymore... Nope, he's just leaning over and shaking his head wildly with the desperate hope that whatever's in it will be dislodged.]
Get it off, get it off, get it off!!
igh i laughed so hrd
Why did you move?
[ Running around so that e's in front of Kashuu, he helps by running his hands through the male's hair, trying to figure out where that bug had gone. Give or take only a few minutes of the other shaking his hair until Yamato finds where it is, dragging the insect quickly and once in his grasp, he takes a few minutes to crush it within his palm. The death of the bug is swift but the sound is a small shriek which surprises even Yamato. ]
There, there! It's off? [ Opening his hands to show the waste and leftovers of the bug, dropping it and the jewels that have been destroyed on the ground. There's not much emotion left on Yamato's face as he kills it but a few moments later, me smiles widely and is proud of himself. ]
I could get it, it just moved a lot. Sorry for the delay, Kiyomitsu.
[ Sheathing his sword before bending down to get a closer look at it. ]
Huh? What are these..
I DID TOO..... stop him
Don't show it to me! That's disgusting!!
[THE DEADASS SHRIEKING BUG IN HIS HAND. Kashuu smacks at it and then grabs hold of the edge of Yamato's haori sleeve like he's seriously wigged out (he is), trying not to shudder. That's a big bug, okay?? That's a big bug and it was just in his hair skittering around with its little alien buggy legs...
Anyway, tugging at his sleeve when he bends down to get a closer look, too. STOP THAT, FOOL.]
Don't touch it, either! What if it's poisonous, huh? Let's just leave before more of these stupid things show up or something.
UGH HE TRIED TO HELP
I already touched it so if it is poisonous, something may happen but I feel fine. [ He does, it's not like the bugs defense mechanism was to inject Yamato's body with poison and have him demanifest, haha, no way! ] Hm? But the box that I found, should we really leave it behind? We haven't found out what was inside unless you want to check out more of this place. [ He guesses he can give up on the idea of learning what was inside, what if there was insect repellent? It could be used to save them all but..
Kashuu is choosing betray on all of mankind. Looking up to the other since he knows his sleeve is still held onto but with his free hand covered in bug death he pats his own hair. ] Ten more minutes? If we don't find anything, we can go.
TRIED SO HARD AND GOT SO FAR but in the end
Just leave it! Sticking around here isn't worth whatever stupid thing might be in there. If you really wanna look, five minutes, but that's it. I'm serious!
[HE'LL WALK OUT WITH OR WITHOUT YAMATO. Time to ditch his ass yet again... His grip on Yamato's sleeve releases after that, at least, and he starts to fuss over his own hair since it got pretty messy with all that panicked bug-catching. He may catch a muttered:]
This whole thing is stupid... [But Kashuu is mostly quiet outside of that. He's also mostly unhelpful, since he's sure not going to risk another bug landing on him...]
UGH IN THEND IT DOESNT EVENMATTER
With Yamato's hand on the door, perhaps this was a Big Miss Steak as beetles just shoot out from the area — a massive black swarm that begins to fly out and crawl against the wall like darkness taking over the hallway. All in all, Yamato is tired as he watches this event unfold and he takes a step back and decides to run the other way. Of course, on his way out, he does decide to grab that one box that has caught his eye and hopefully before Kashuu can see what's coming, the uchigatana grabs the front of Kashuu's scarf to pull him along.
It's time to run? It's time to go out of this house. ]
We have to go! [ They do and once out of the house, he decides to run them towards a deeper part of the jungle. Goodbye bugs.. bugs that must chase. ]
puts hands on yams shoulders and throws him into the sea
Hurry uuup! It's seriously disgusting in here. [HUFFS AND PUFFS. The last part is mostly mumbled to himself... He's keeping a faithful countdown in his head of the five minutes he's given, though.
That said, there are still a good two minutes left by the time Yamato comes running back in. OF COURSE HE'S NOT EXPECTING THIS and he makes a choking sound when he's pulled along by the scarf. Why?? Why... And then he sees the Bug Army coming for them, and he gets it.
Huh—?! What did you do!! [YAMS WHY IS IT ALWAYS YOU... He lets himself be pulled along though, and manages to keep up even in heels. The swarm is pursuing them with Great Determination even so, and by the time they start tapering off, it's only because there's something rumbling ominously up ahead.]
—Hey, stop! Stop, stop, d'you hear that?
STOP WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT!!!
There's an answer he doesn't know how to give or if the beetles know that someone killed their companion and that someone has to be Yamato himself, with the help of Kashuu. Death isn't something they're bothered by but one of them does hold an ill-will towards Satan's minions who decide to get in the way of their life but when he feels that the air around them is stiff as Kashuu speaks to him, he turns to look at the other with an confused expression though there's something off. ]
Huh?
[ Did they lose the bugs is what's important, if he allowed them to stay back there and Yamato is so sure if one had touched Kashuu, he would have had a problem. Though.. ]
What's wrong? [ Ugh.. what's the climax. ]
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD