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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iv.
that said, emerging from the underbrush to the sight of rei ryugazaki, hanging upside down, glasses falling into his hair, showing off his nipples for all the world to see, doesn't elicit alarm as rin's first reaction.
he hasn't slept well since he got here. he's possibly eaten one too many poisonous mushrooms. he's sick and tired of roughing it, he wants a shower, and he's dying for some steak. but now, all he can do is laugh, and laugh, and laugh. maybe it's a bit manic.
but it's the best he's felt in days. rei can afford a minor blow to his pride, okay, it comes with the territory.
the vines seem to have taken a liking to rei, anyway. he's being rocked back and forth like a baby. a slender pink tendril plucks rei's glasses off his head and deposits it safely on the ground. the rocking intensifies. ]
How's it hanging, Rei?
[ he manages to cough out, once the laughter has quieted. ]
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[Rei never really had ever learned to laugh at himself. Because as it stands, this is an embarrassing display that absolutely deserves to be laughed at, and he can only thank any and every god possible that it's only Rin here to witness this ridiculous shame, and not Nagisa.
His face is already red enough, though much of this is due to the sudden shift in his equilibrium and blood rush to his head. If he dared to look, however, that flush extends far past his face, and is, in fact, unmistakable for shame.
Why is this horrible series of unfortunate events suddenly his life? What had the universe had against a quiet inclination toward homework and a drive for perfect school attendance? This is karmic paybay, somehow, if only he knew what for.]
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Nice boxers. I'm digging the rainbows.
[ sorry, rei. rin's been stressed and out-of-his mind for days; now it's impossible to turn off the shitty sense of humor.
in a show of helpfulness, he does scoop up a stick off the ground to nudge at the vines, trying to see whether it's just rei for whom they have a penchant or if anything will do. one of the vines springs loose, coiling around the stick.
it has the added effect of loosening rei's left leg. he might've dropped far enough to dislocate one of his other limbs, but rin steps in to steady him, still laughing under his breath. easy-peasy, just gotta distract the other ones. all the while continuing to give rei a hard time. ]
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Rin-san, please. Now is not the time!
[The statement would have been accompanied with a sigh, were he in better condition to give it. Instead, he's slightly dizzy from the bloodrush to his head from being hung upside-down, horribly embarrassed, and in desperate need of help.
He's not in much of a place to argue with how the latter is given.
He does, on the other hand, hate feeling this helpless. (Ryugazaki Rei: human in distress). But even despite the laughter, Rin's helping to steady him when he feels some of the vines pull loose, and he's thankful someone is here, even in spite of how often these things seem to happen.
Rei doesn't test his "restraints" until he feels the other leg go loose. It's not exactly the most graceful descent, but it's a far cry from this "falling from the sky" talent he's seemed to have unfortunately mastered overnight. There's a final vine still wrapped around his wrist, but a forcible enough pull only loses him a sleeve as his arm springs free.
And there's the sigh.
Before he realizes his shirt is still bunched up and askew, and pulls it down suddenly. The redness in his face then isn't just from the bloodrush.
Why this.]
This wasn't what-- [Bite back that denial, he's seen everything. He's still laughing. There's no arguing it.] Thank you.
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You been holding out alright?
[ he gives rei a moment to revel in the change of subject, before -- ]
Other than getting a little too friendly with the vines, I mean.
[ regardless of rin's teasing, he has to admit to no small amount of trepidation when it comes to the sentient plant life. this isn't the first instance he's encountered; in fact, the more he wanders, the worse it seems to get.
he nudges at a trailing vine with the last of the branches he'd collected, this time trying to hold onto his end as the vine coiled around the other. despite the application of his full strength, the vine snaps it from his grasp in a moment flat.
well, that answered that. better to step away than to avoid following in rei's footsteps. rei's very embarrassing footsteps.
at least rin isn't wearing rainbow underwear. ]
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