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. ] |
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Bonus
These normal people? These were the kinds of people Usagi went out of her way to protect. And the kinds of people Rei wished she could be like, sometimes.
Quietly, ignoring her own avian shadow, Rei moved into Inaba's line of sight.]
Inaba-san. I'm not sure anything short of killing them is going to get rid of them. But they seem flightless, if you want to climb up a tree and take a rest.
no subject
[ Her shoulders tense slightly as she jerks her hand in the air, but it's not with much effort, as exhaustion nearly gets to her. but not quite. She closes her eyes for a flicker of a second -- but soon enough, her eyes snap back open, as if overtaken by something else entirely.
Is it fear? Anger, perhaps? It's inconclusive, seeing as the expression on her face seems to be frozen on the spot, as if someone had taken a picture of her expression and framed it. But that doesn't last for long, as she cracks a bitter smile, shattering that hypothetical photograph into a million pieces.
And that's when she laughs. It's crazed, hollow laughter that doesn't befit her as she brings her hand towards her face to stifle it back down. ]
... Ahaha. Really? You say that like climbing's easy. [ Her tone is harsh, almost snappy. She's not in the mood for this. ] And I don't need to sleep.
no subject
Taking a step forward, focusing her attention on the bird, she speaks up in a clear tone devoid of malice or emotion.] You need rest, away from this thing. There's a tree just over there with some low, wide branches. [She points towards a Bolwarra]
Come on, you can practically walk up that, and I'll be right there with you.
[And then she suddenly seizes that bird by the neck and hurls it bodily into the forest. It squawks indignantly, and lands awkwardly, but it'll be back if the rustling is any indication.]
no subject
There's a bit of a frustrated noise that tempts to escape her throat, and it does-- though it's more of a growl, really. ]
I really don't. [ This is the second time she's been caught in her exhaustion, and she's not pleased but it. She doesn't really like the idea of being on a tree branch either, considering what happened earlier.
Though the bird is gone, and so is one of the annoyances of the day. Inaba just shakes her head though as she wipes the bleariness out of her eyes. Well, it would be nice to have someone be there, for once. ]
But if you insist. [ Stubborn as always, it seems. ] I'm not climbing any trees, though.
no subject
Don't be silly, everyone needs it, here. We don't know what might be lurking nearby.
[But, fine, whatever, no trees. She just walks over to a fallen log and sits. Unslinging her gym bag, she takes out a cloth and a long wooden bow, beginning to clean it.]
I do insist. Sit. While we have a moment, you should recover.
no subject
Sorry... [ Her voice is calmer now, but still slightly out of it. ] This place has been difficult.
no subject
It's not what most of us are used to, myself included. But I'm here, and I've got a weapon. I'll make you as safe as I can.
[There's a quiet certainty in her words and voice, something a little unusual there.]
Just try and relax. If you want to talk about it? Go ahead. Rant away, I'll listen.
no subject
I'm just sick and tired of all of this bullshit that keeps happening day in and day out. All the glitches-- the flooding-- everything. Plus, the uncertainty factor of not knowing when the next thing's going to hit, plus the fact that CERES is always watching? It pisses me off. I'm just a normal person, after all. I can't deal with stuff like this.
no subject
[Rei drags out her thought, leaning back and looking up into the canopy for a long moment before continuing.]
Even for the people here who aren't...normal...as you say? This is really upsetting and unnerving. I mean, speaking from experience, here? I've been dealing with aggressive spirits since I was in middle school. And it scares me. It scares my friends from home...
[She looks at the younger girl now, eyes focusing.]
It's a bad situation that we don't have a way out of, that's very true. But that's just why we have to look out for one another. Especially people who aren't...like me. [Rei pulls a face at that, the words seeming to physically hurt her to say. Not having a chance to grow up normally, or live without some sort of weirdness or danger? Had long been a source of pain for her.]
Not because you guys are any less, or anything. But because it's even more jarring, and you guys can't necessarily defend yourselves as well.
[Sigh.]
Sorry, I guess what I'm trying to say is that we're all in this together, and sticking together is how we'll all make it out. I promise you that. You're tougher than that, too. I mean, you've handled this stuff a lot better than some of the people I've found. Just...hell, just trust me on that, okay? I've seen normal people break down and lock up at the mere mention of a ghost, and I've seen you handling yourself really well when crazy things happen around here.
no subject
[ She smiles, but it's a strained one. It's forced. ]
As for handling everything... it's all just a mask. I can keep it all in. I'm good at that. Keeping all the pain inside of me, not showing it all in the slightest. Besides, being here for months, it slowly makes you used to it.
[ Two years. She's dealt with two and a half years of these crazy things. Two years at home. Half a year here. It's probably not as much as other people, but to her? It's... a lot. ]
no subject
Well, Inaba-san. If it's a mask? Then your mask is better than most people's.
[That's a compliment. And she very, very obviously switches to speaking in Japanese.]
But seriously? If you need to let something out? You can vent to me. I mean, you're also Japanese. [The smile becomes less strained.] I'm a miko. It's a part of my job to help our people to deal with the weirdness, however I can. I'm happy to do that, you know? I mean, used to it or not, everyone needs someone to talk to.
no subject