( 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

[zerotohiro]

[It's not so much relenting as his mind already moving to the idea that maybe they can figure something out if they get him near water. Korra healed Terra, maybe there was something she could do. If they were away from the scene he could probably think of a better solution, too. So really it's a temporary submission.

With Tadashi sitting up, Hiro's watching closely and giving Korra a mildly uncertain look. He trusts her a lot. Korra has never done anything to make him doubt her intentions, but right now he's a little wary of everything around him.]

Be careful with him, okay? [It's as much of a "yes" as possible, and he's already climbing to his feet.] I'll lead.

[braavado]

I will, Hiro. I promise.

[True to her word, Korra keeps her hands steady and certain as she slips her hands under Tadashi and lifts him up. Carrying him isn't a challenge, it's getting through the thick trees that will be the problem here.

Once she's got Tadashi, Korra nods at Hiro.]

Ready. Let's get out of here.

[zerotohiro]

[He's unaware that Tadashi's told her about his death before. He's unaware of a lot of things but the minute Korra says "go" he springs into action, rushing forward at a decent pace to push tree branches and foliage out of the way toward the river. He's following the sound of the water, not entirely seeing where he's going while occasionally glancing back to make sure Korra and Tadashi are still behind him.

The journey's short, but it feels like it takes forever to get to the water as Hiro blazes the trail for them, occasionally knocking bugs and smaller creatures out of the way. Once they're at the water he looks up at her anxiously before gesturing to a spot on the riverbank.]

Here?

[braavado]

[One glance behind them to gauge their distance from the fire, and Korra decides it should be safe enough.]

Yeah, let's stop here.

[Korra kneels in the dirt, setting Tadashi down near the water. Now that half of her isn't preoccupied with the fire, it really begins to hit her as she stares down at Tadashi's face. Grimly, she checks his wrist for a pulse--just in case. When she finds none, she looks at Hiro, pale.]

[zerotohiro]

[He's watching her with wide eyes, having kneeled in the dirt next to them and crawled forward just a bit to watch her. He knows what she's checking for in the same way that he knows exactly what she'll find. When she looks up at him, he's holding his breath and waiting for her to break the bad news to him.

It's not a verbal response, but her face says enough. He doesn't say anything for a moment, staring at the pair of them and trying to think of a new option.]

...no. No, there has to be something else. Korra, we have to be able to think of something else...if I got Baymax working again he's equip with defibrillators. Maybe that could work. [That couldn't work and he knows it.] We can't just leave him like this. He'll be okay...right?

[Nope. Nope, nope, nope.]

[braavado]

[Korra can't decide what's worse: not even having to say anything to Hiro before he knows or watching him frantically trying to think of ways to save his brother. Losing someone always hurts, but Korra wonders if it's even worse the second time around.

Is there even anything she can say to make this better? Probably not. But she has to try.]

Hiro...he's gone. There's nothing we can do for him now. [She can barely get the words out, dry as her mouth is.] But...the others came back after we saw them die in the Research Tower. It should be the same for Tadashi, right?

[She doesn't want to rely on the revival aspect of the colony, but even Korra has to admit it's at least giving her something to latch onto right now. For Hiro, too, maybe.]

[zerotohiro]

[He shakes his head frantically, already trying to slap Tadashi's face to rouse him.]

How do we know? It should be the same but does that mean he'll revive back out here or back in the colony? We don't know what's going to happen next and this isn't fair, Korra. [A beat.] …I don't know what to do.

[And that's the biggest problem. He's lost. He doesn't know how to proceed from here.]

[braavado]

[Korra winces on Tadashi's behalf, but she doesn't stop Hiro from trying to wake him. They're out of immediate danger for now, and it might be better for Hiro to come to terms with this before they try to move.]

I don't know, either, Hiro. [She bites her lip, feeling a little vulnerable for admitting that, but that's probably what Hiro deserves right now. False promises that she has no way to keep would only make things worse in the long run, wouldn't they?] I don't know if he'll revive either, but... until we know that he isn't coming back, all we can do is hope that he will.

[zerotohiro]

...I can't just leave him here without knowing. If his body disappears, it means he has to revive. They wouldn't just take him away for no reason. [He's a little less hysterical, at least, but he's still vastly unhappy.] They say it takes a couple of hours sometimes but...do we even have that kind of time?

[braavado]

Who said anything about leaving him here?

[Korra frowns down at the ground, pointedly keeping her gaze away from Tadashi's general vicinity.]

As long the fire's not coming this way, it should be alright. I'll head back over and see if anyone needs help once--once Tadashi's disappeared.

[Resolutely keeping her voice steady, Korra opts for sounding like Tadashi's body will be gone soon.]

[zerotohiro]

...maybe it's better to head back now in case they do need your help. [There's the tiniest of grins, trying to be encouraging even if he's 100% not cool with the idea of Tadashi vanishing.] We'll be okay here. He has me to watch him.

[braavado]

[Korra shifts, only so she can pull Hiro into a hug.]

I'm not leaving you, either. Not until we're sure.

[Whatever the result of the waiting is.]

[zerotohiro]

Could be hours. [But he's pretty done...y'know, seeing how he sags into her even if he's close to Tadashi.] Are you sure? That's a long time.

[braavado]

I don't mind. [Though her voice remains soft, there's no mistaking the certainty in it.]

I'd be a pretty awful friend if I let you wait this out alone.

[zerotohiro]

[He doesn't say anything for a brief moment.]

...last time this happened I didn't even get to see him. He was just sort of destroyed in the fire and they separated us. It's dumb, I know, but...I want to stay just until I know.

[braavado]

It's not dumb. [Her sigh sounds loud in the quiet space around them.] Tadashi's your brother. If something had happened to someone I cared about, I'd do the same thing.

[She hesitates now, knowing she's about to tread on sensitive territory.] I...didn't know it was a fire back home, too.

[That makes this whole fiasco even worse, honestly.]

[zerotohiro]

[It's sensitive territory but he doesn't say anything against it. He doesn't say anything at all for a few minutes before deciding which way to steer the conversation.]

...yeah. One of the buildings at our school caught on fire and Tadashi and I were outside. Somebody told him that Tadashi's professor, Professor Callaghan, was still inside the building. So...he ran in after him to try and save him but the building exploded before I could follow him instead.

[He looks up then, a weak grin on his face.] But at least he's consistent, right? [It's a bad joke. It's a very, very bad joke but it's better than completely falling apart.]

[braavado]

[It's a pretty bad joke, though Korra doesn't point that out. She only tightens her hold on him briefly.]

It was pretty brave of him to do that. And...really dangerous.

[Says the hypocrite who would do the same thing. Except she has her bending when Tadashi is a nonbender.]

[zerotohiro]

It was stupid. [And brave and dangerous and he's also hypocritical for jumping into places he might not return from, but...] I told him not to go in there and he went anyway. He didn't listen, and now he's never coming back.

[A beat.] ...and I didn't listen this time and he got killed again. If we hadn't split up, he'd be fine.

...when did he tell you? [Because he's picked up that Korra somehow already knew that fact.]

[braavado]

You can't blame yourself for that, Hiro. [She pulls back, watching him carefully.] But... if it's bothering you that much, make sure you talk to him when he comes back, okay?

[For now, she's going to bank on Tadashi being revived, though she does look sheepish at Hiro's observation.]

Um... it came up when we talked about your world. You didn't mention it, so I figured you didn't want to talk about it.

[zerotohiro]

Yeah...I'll think about it. [Because it's not only that Hiro doesn't want to talk about it, but Tadashi himself doesn't seem to want to talk about it. There are a lot of things tied up in his death at home that Hiro hasn't told him yet and he doesn't get the sense that Tadashi wants to discuss it either.

When she admits that, there's a nod of understanding.] It's...still pretty recent. Almost a couple of months now. I didn't want to bring it up since he's here and he's building a life here. Doesn't seem fair, does it? Bringing up something like that when he's been here longer than me and he's not really announcing it himself. I guess it's just a good thing he trusted you with that information.

[braavado]

I think you made a good choice. I probably wouldn't want people to know what happened either, if I were in his shoes. I'm glad he thought he could trust me, too. [She smiles at Hiro, sad and understanding both.] Don't worry, I won't go around spreading it or treating either of you differently.

[Then her eyes widen, and she touches Hiro's shoulder urgently.] Look!

[Enough time's already passed for Tadashi's body to start deteriorating into code.]

[zerotohiro]

[His head snaps up and he sees what she's seeing, watching the code slowly disappear almost in thin-air. He reaches for Tadashi's arm and it's only when his fingers dissolve right through him that he sits back and just watches him. The fact that he's deteriorating is good...even if it's depressing. He doesn't say anything while it happens and it's only when Tadashi's almost gone that he finally speaks.]

...thank you, Korra. For everything. [For not spreading things around, for not treating them differently, and for being there.] He'll be back in a few days. ["Won't he?"]

[braavado]

[They watch Tadashi's form disappear into code silently. Finally, she lets go of Hiro, but she stays close in case he still needs some comfort.]

Yeah. And we'll make sure he gets an earful when we see him again.

[Korra slowly gets to her feet, offering him a hand up.] C'mon, let's go see if everyone's found a place to make camp.

[zerotohiro]

Yeah...sounds good to me. [He takes the offered hand, not letting go immediately as he waits for her to take the lead. It's only when they start walking that he'll let go and follow after her in silence. What more can they do? Not too much. But at least he knows Tadashi will definitely come back.]