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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no subject
Backwater pirates have a nicer ring to it than shady organization. [just saying.] How did you end up in that place, anyway?
[since draco doesn't seem to be part of the keyblade lot and it doesn't sound like he was just born there, riku's curious.]
You'll have to take the birthday thing up with him. [much of an ass that riku can be, he won't go around telling everyone ever that roxas is a nobody.] But yeah, he's here.
no subject
[Gestures around.]
As we're currently stuck in the middle of a forest.
[But anyway. Draco actually knows Roxas is a Nobody, he just finds the whole concept weird and confusing. Because Kingdoms Hearts things, what even. But his eyes widen at Riku's comment.]
He's— Wait, he's here here? In this place? Or he's here as in yes, he was still alive back in your world?
no subject
Good point. Did the pirate ghost end up coming back to life?
[tell him more about this ghost and those magical adventures. and yes, kingdom hearts things are very special sort of things.]
Here here. [riku pauses as he glances around.] Well, somewhere here.
[somewhere in this jungle, probably. where? who knows. riku definitely doesn't. what he does know, however, is that roxas was back in the city and should be here, too. though he didn't mention anything about pirates, but that could just be due to not wanting to share anything with riku. maybe draco'll have better luck chatting the kid up.]
no subject
[That might’ve been Draco’s fault. Ahem.]
It gave him some sort of power... He ended up being defeated, though, and then we were able to use the magic of the jewel for ourselves. That’s what was supposed to get us home.
[Makes a face.]
Obviously that went a bit wonky, because now I’m here instead.
[Harrumphs.
But wow, Roxas is around... Thing is, Draco has already run into someone else who was with him in that pirate place, but he had no memory of it at all. Which makes Draco wonder if the same thing will happen with Roxas.
On the other hand, he’s run into people who DO remember that world, too. So there’s a chance, at least!
Still, he sighs a little.]
I wonder if he’ll remember me. He was very forgetful when I knew him.
[Oh yeah, there’s that, too. It took him forever to remember Draco’s name for some reason. Rude.]
no subject
Talk about bad luck.
[out of one hell and into another. if anything else, riku can relate. he'd just gotten done being dragged into an evil scheme and ended up here shortly after. ceres really seems to have the worst timing about when they pull people in.]
That doesn't seem to have changed much, but jewel pirate ghost is a hard thing to forget so maybe you'll luck out.
[roxas never mentioned ghost pirates to him, but they weren't exactly in a chatty mood either of the times they met up. chances are, the last person he'd share tales of the high seas with is riku, anyway. after a brief pause, a question follows that up.]
It sounds like you two were close.
no subject
[Tips his hand from side to side.]
Sort of, maybe. I guess. There were others he was closer to, that Lea bloke in particular. I think maybe I only tolerated him a lot of the time, he was so bloody chatty.
[Still, he'd made a Memory Potion for him. And fought beside him. Annnd watched him die and come back again... Draco huffs out a breath, rustling his bangs.]
Ah well. I'll try contacting him, see how it goes. Anyway, I don't believe I ever actually caught your name?
no subject
[at least not successfully. he'd probably try to and fail almost instantly. then again, the guy managed to someone a keyblade so maybe keeping quiet isn't all that impossible, either. ...even if riku isn't holding his breath.]
Good luck with it.
[and he means it. maybe someone actually being friends with him might calm roxas down. it probably won't change those feelings of animosity but ah well. it's not like he expects that'd ever happen, anyway.]
It's Riku. [a beat] Draco, right?
[just making sure he hadn't had a change of heart about being called ferretboy or anything.]
no subject
Yes, Draco Malfoy. Pleasure.
[Or something.
But wait. Riku. Draco blinks as the name clicks, and his eyes widen a bit.]
Hang on -- you're Riku?
[Those feelings of animosity you mentioned? Apparently the same in any world. Draco gives Riku an appraising once-over before an amused expression forms on his face.]
He might've mentioned you. You know, once or twice.
no subject
That so? [while or while not frothing at the mouth?] How bad a light did he paint me in?
[because riku's obviously not expecting roxas to have said anything positive. can't really blame him, either. all their encounters weren't exactly pleasant, that surprisingly zen one in sora's heart aside.]
no subject
[...Draco might've gotten some of the details wrong, but whatever. He waves a hand.]
Or something like that. He wasn't your biggest fan, but it sounded like whatever happened was necessary. Even he admitted that. And anyway, you don't seem that bad.
no subject
He actually admitted that? [a beat] Maybe you are out of luck about him remembering you.
[cause there's really a slim chance that the roxas here ever accept that let alone admit it to anyone.]
I'm not the big bad wolf type he probably painted me to, at least.