( mini-plot post: open to all )

[jawdacity]

Who: jawdacity & all of cerealia!
When: towards the end of the event (so this won't conflict with any event threads you may already have going). 2-3pm.
Where: Abandoned village + surrounding jungle
What: THERE ARE EXPLOSIONS. And mushrooms.
Rating/Warning: Possible NSFW for gore?

Details about this mini-plot HERE

"World of Loudening Screams" (Watch on YouTube)

(theme song of this post, courtesy of moribound.)



[ it's another muggy, meandering day in the jungle; nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. ]

IN THE VILLAGE

[ if your character is near the center of the village, they'll bear witness to the curious sight of a herd of shuffling mushroom beasts. in terms of threat level, to the experienced hunter they may have ranked low on the scale: slow, lacking an external fang or claw, they seem to be interested only in their endless march forward.

but, if your character is close enough, they may catch sight of a red-haired young man, a manifesto of anger written across his face. one breathless moment, the calm before the storm, and then he hurls a metallic pair of gloves at the closest beast, the gloves trailing arcs of flame.

what may strike your character first is the searing heat, the thrum of the earth below their feet. the whole village is demolished in a moment, the dying cries of the beasts rising above the din. the explosion lasts much longer than it should, the line of mushrooms going up one after another.

if you're too close, you might be torn in two. you might lose a limb, or two, or three. you might go deaf, you might lose your sight. you might lose all your eyelashes, your clothes. maybe the bag of mushrooms you'd collected for dinner is now little more than ash.

keep running. the smoke trails into the air. someone is screaming. the smell of charred meat follows you even after you disappear into the jungle. ]

IN THE SURROUNDING JUNGLE

[ if your character is close enough to the village, they'll feel the blasts, one after the other. the jungle is on fire, quickly spreading. maybe you'll hear the screaming, too; maybe your lungs will fill with smoke. maybe you'll run into one of the last mushroom beasts, fleeing from the explosion only to trigger a lesser one in the depths of the jungle.

it came from the village, didn't it? maybe someone you love was swept up in the explosion.

if you manage to escape the stampede of terrified jungle beasts (some of which may stop to crunch you up as a quick meal as they dash away from the blast), maybe you can venture closer to see what's happened.

or maybe you should get as far away as possible. ]

Comments

open!

[faradize]

[ lightning's here — as here as she can be. fortunately, she had only heard the blast, following the trail of fleeing fauna back to the village she had been in a few days prior. after a small moment of shock, instinct kicks in and she's charging in to find anyone she can that might be incapacitated. perhaps she approaches you, face steely but burning. ]

Are you hurt?

[ before being prompted by any kind of reassurance to their physical state, a soft, ambient light surrounds her, and a warm feeling emanates from your body. it's enough to heal minor wounds and alleviate some pain, but not enough to cure any sort of third degree burns, and certainly not enough to give you back a missing arm. ]

[spyrites]

[He's too disoriented to answer her question right away but the soft light from her Cure spell seems to bring him to his senses a bit. His own healing artes had only been able to do so much but with her's as well he starts to feel a little better pain wise.

But he is still injured all the same and recognizes that he might need treatment outside of healing spells. For now this will suffice and he staggers uneasily to his feet.]

I'm... okay. Just a little startled. [And shaken up. Talk about caught off guard. He glances at the unfamiliar woman with a small smile.] Thanks a lot for the help.

[faradize]

We can't stay here. Come on.

[ no time for chit-chat! lightning's face is pouring sweat like bullets now, and she's starting to feel lightheaded being in here for so long. with a wave of her hand, she summons some water to douse some flames that had accumulated around them and steps out, taking short strides to not tire out her lungs and also to make sure the boy was sticking close. ]

[spyrites]

[She's right but his head is still spinning. The smoke causes him to start abruptly coughing. Dizzy or not she's right that they can't stick around. Nice to see she has water artes too, though. Those will be pretty useful right now.] Right.

[He forces his legs to work and follows close behind her. Thankfully following a fast moving, quick decision making woman is familiar territory to him. He's still suffering some coughing as he goes but does not complain or slow. The further they get from the smoke and flames and better his chest starts to feel. It's still a little heavier than it should but that's unavoidable.]

We should go further. There might be more explosions. [One big one could be followed by smaller ones as more flammable things get caught in the blaze. He'd rather not be around for that.]

[faradize]

[ lightning eyes the boy through coughs, carefully looking him over. he seemed to be in similar, if not worse shape than she was. ]

Are you sure you can handle it? [ no, she couldn't force him to stay away from danger completely. but she'd at least ask. she wouldn't send him headlong into it without making sure he'd be able to keep up. ]

[spyrites]

[He had unfortunately been a little too close to the explosion. It had thrown him a ways too and he had hit his head on what he assumes was probably a rock. It still throbbed with pain but for now he can set it aside thanks to Lightning's Cure spell quelling most of it.]

Yeah. I'll be okay. [He can manage. He doesn't want to burden her or make her worried. He can handle himself.] I think the blast probably caused most of the jungle life in the surrounding area to flee anyway. [He can't imagine they'd stick around with all this fire and smoke... in which case it'll be a bit safer going further in then it might be otherwise.]

[faradize]

.. Alright. [ she has to allow a moment for thought, to decide if she'd allow this boy to willingly traipse into more possible danger. she ultimately decides that, if she's with him, it might be fine. maybe. ]

I'll take point. Stay behind me.

[souperb]

[ ah. milla'd had her own share of light injuries--both from facing some panicked monsters and getting close to the blaze in some ways, so lightning will find milla, slightly worse for wear, a glyph disappearing from her feet as a torrent of water pours on some portion of the flames in response.

she's on one knee when the healing magic settles in, her soreness and aches melting away. at the end of all of this, she stands, glancing at lightning. ]

... Thanks. I'm fine. [ and then she's right back to casting another spell, blue glyph appearing at her feet once more. ] We can't catch one break around here without someone breaking something--

[ or without something happening. ]

all the xillias in light's midst

[faradize]

You have magic.

[ said slightly incredulously. really, she shouldn't be so surprised — given how many people were here from so many different worlds, it made sense that others would have magic, but she was one of a spare few who had it and it was a curse more than anything else.

either way, it was useful here. ]

We can't stay here.

jrpgs gotta stick together

[souperb]

[ it's rarer not to have it here than to have it, but she doesn't mention that--there's no need to, not when lightning's next words pull her attention. they can't stay here. milla more than sees the sense in that, because whoever was left was probably dead.

but she continues to cast anyway, concentration on at least finishing that as another torrent of water drops. she wouldn't ever say she was as much of a do-gooder as the rest of the people she knows, and her more rational side pulls her--but she also can't deny it's been her duty to at least offer some sort of protection for people, and a blaze like this should be nothing to her. even if she might be overstaying her welcome, with the smoke still filling her lungs. ]

I--

[ but lightning is right, and while milla'd moved to cast another spell... her pose soon relaxes, taking the glyph and its magic with it.

her sleeve goes up to instead block the lower half of her face. ]

--I know. Let's go.

[faradize]

[ lightning says nothing in return — mostly because she's now become prone to small coughing fits. with a hand over her mouth and a slight hunch in her step, she makes her way out the way she came in, having to make some minor detours due to the spreading of the flames.

her vision is blurring and she's feeling more and more lightheaded, and she begins to wonder if she's even moving at all. ]

[souperb]

Light--

[ a start of concern, though she's cut off with her own coughs.

they're doing well. milla feels herself struggling, but the heal from before had done some good in restoring her energy. she doesn't have anything to help lightning--that had gone with undine--but... she can offer at most a slight support. perhaps it's sudden, she moves to stand beside her companion; lightning's arm over her shoulder, three orbs of water circling them to douse any flames that come closer.

there's no way in hell they're dying here, especially when the other woman had come in here and helped her. with sylph she may have been able to blow off any smoke, but... nope. with her hands occupied, all she can do are her weaker water spells. ]

[faradize]

[ lightning finds herself walking without really thinking — her mind is getting cloudy, but milla's support is enough for her body to take over in carrying itself.

they're getting close and closer to emerging from the flames, but lightning's breathing is getting shorter and her coughs are getting deeper. ]

did somebody say xillia

[journaler]

[ having just arrived on scene, leia doesn't have a very good grasp of the situation. she just knows there's fire, a whole lot of flammable things to keep it going, and nnnot a whole lot of easily accessible water. her chest is tight; her eyes sting because of the intense light and heat, and her clothes are covered in debris and ash from wading around the area, but there's not much to be done for that.

she's working up the courage to get closer when the spell comes. it's enough to stop her in her tracks, and although she's an ex-nurse and a decent healer herself, it's not unwelcome. she turns to meet with a very beautiful head of pink hair, stunned for a moment before responding: ]

Not yet, but . . . thank you.

[ haha. hopefully it stays that way. ]

Do you have any idea what happened?

how will i hold all these xillias

[faradize]

Something bad enough to scare the local wildlife.

[ seriously, there's a near stampede going on in the outskirts of the village. whatever happened, it didn't matter while people were still in danger — she sputters a bit, looking out to the flames before casting a water spell to clear a path. ]

You'll be more useful outside of the fire. [ she could tell she was about to run headlong in. ]

BRIDAL STYLE OBVIOUSLY also add me back loser

[journaler]

[ leia is pretty much an open book in that regard. light's deadpan answer makes a lot of sense; she'd wondered where the occasional rumble was still coming from, and wondered if maybe they were in for another explosion. she's glad they're not (really really glad) but she hopes they find somewhere safe to stay, wherever they're all going.

...she stares back at the flames and light's water spell, admiring it. ]

I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anyone left behind. In situations like this, not everyone can cry out for help.

done..

[faradize]

You'll do more good tending to the wounded who made it out. If anyone is still in here.. [ lightning looks headlong into the fire, her face softening to a small, perturbed frown. ] They'll have to rely on their own strength. You'll die if you go any farther.

[ it was hard to admit, but true. she didn't want to see this young girl die because of foolhardiness. ]

[journaler]

[ from all the times she's had to rely on others' strength, it doesn't seem fair. she wants to help and lend her own. save lives. it might not be too late for them; there's always hope. she also doesn't want to die, though . . . and she has to admit, looking at the flames herself, that anyone's chances would be slim against them. ]

So you think I should stay here?

[ maybe it's not such a bad idea . . . ]

It looks like you can heal, too. We could tend to the wounded together.

[faradize]

I can. [ whew, it looks like she'd convinced her — at least for now. she conjures a few small water spells to quell the fires that had accumulated behind them, enough to form a walkway for them to get out. ]

A lot of people were hurt. All we can do is try to alleviate their pain.

i don't even go here

[insolvent]

[ well okay, i do, but still.

as befits ludger's rather terrible luck, he'd been fairly close to the center of the village at the time, and managed to get himself caught in up in one of the explosions. his instincts had kicked in at the last second, allowing him to transform in order to protect himself... somewhat... while he'd managed to maintain his chromatus long enough to get clear of the flames, he finally collapses from exhaustion and pain once clear of immediate danger. ]

Just... a little.

[ while his armor hides the injuries rather well, as soon as it begins to fade it becomes quite apparent he's understated his injuries just a bit. while none of his burns are serious enough to be fatal, they hardly look pleasant. ]

tales of xiiillia

[faradize]

[ she says nothing; when she sees the state his body's in, lightning does her best to hoist the man onto her back and carry him out of the fire, struggling to free a hand to cast a water spell to quell some of the flames in her way.

she wasn't going to let anyone die here, not if it could be avoided. after a few deep sputters, though, she begins to wonder if she'll be the one surviving or not.. ]

tags 4 u

[insolvent]

[ at some point ludger loses his consciousness, even as his body still seems to be moving slightly and shifting its weight to assist lightning. either way, his slip only lasts for a second, as moments later he regains acuity with a bit of a start. ]

What? Who... oh, right. [ he doesn't recognize the woman helping him, but he supposes that's not really that important of an issue right now. ] Sorry about... this.

[faradize]

If you keep moving, I'll drop you.

[ not on purpose, of course; she was having some issues breathing, and having someone of considerable weight on her back made it harder. she could collapse any minute.

thankfully, they were getting close to the edge of the village — the fire had yet to really reach the forest yet. she toughs it out, and when she makes it to a nearby tree, she attempts to fall gently to her knees but ends up toppling a bit. sorry, ludger. ]

[insolvent]

[ at first, it looks like he might protest. he can stand on his own, so she doesn't need to carry him- but once he realizes he can barely feel his legs, he knows that actually isn't the case.

so instead he just sighs as his body slackens a bit, and again mumbles: ] Sorry.

[ by the time they reach the outskirts, he's at least regained enough energy that he can steady himself when lightning finally buckles. though just as quickly he's reaching to try to keep her from falling. ] Hey! Are you okay? [ says the guy almost entirely covered in burns. ]

[faradize]

— I'm fine. [ it comes moments later, as her head is cloudy and trying to recover from being largely deprived of oxygen for several minutes. with some struggling, she's able to hoist herself up and lean against the tree she'd fallen near. ] Sorry for the tumble.