estoria | ( mini-plot post: open to all )

Entry tags:

( mini-plot post: open to all )

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. ]

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[IV settles next to Leia, allowing the both of them to control the direction they go. The cleaner the air becomes, the more he itches to find a source of water to wash off the grime. He doesn't offer any more in the way of words.

This far from the remains of the accident, it's incredible how quiet their surroundings are, considering. In fact, the jungle's practically been lifeless since they'd arrived at the village.]

[It's jarring. If there were any screams at all, they stopped, and Leia feels like she's come to her senses. What good would running into the fire do for anyone . . . ?

The realization isn't enough to dispel the doubts and what-ifs completely, but as the atmosphere calms, she seems to do the same. Predictably, the silence doesn't sit well with her either, so for the first time since she found him again, she cracks a smile like things are going to be okay.]

It sure is weird without those monsters following us.

[She should probably be thankful, though. Even if they were cute, when they weren't nibbling at her hair. (And then there was that bird . . .)]

[The shift in conversation has IV thinking, and there's a pregnant pause while they continue to walk as he considers what Leia said. It's strange that there are no more monsters at all in sight, but the way she says it indicates something else.]

What monsters? [He pauses, then waves.] Ah, you mean those things from earlier. I wasn't as fortunate to have that kind of company, but it looks like they were persistent.

Mm. [Yeah, she can definitely sense his sarcasm there. She lets out a snort, because "persistent" is a bit of an understatement; though she knows they never bothered IV.]

Maybe they thought I had food. Sorry, little guys. [She doesn't actually sound sorry at all.] Or . . . maybe they thought I was food!

[And . . . speaking of food, she'd rather not think about what the fire will do to their food supply. Fear momentarily grips her again and without realizing it, she clenches her fist, which shakes. Still, she keeps going. Eventually, she can hear running water . . . Thankfully, she'll focus on that instead.

She knew they couldn't be far.]

[Although he doesn't reply in favor of brushing aside a curtain of vines, IV can and does appreciate Leia's attempt at humor. He at least acknowledges her efforts with a neutral glance over his shoulder. Then the sound of running water reaches his ears, and he turns his head in its direction.]

Can you hear it? We're close.

[He assumes Leia can, with her being as sharp as she is. He skips a few steps over uneven ground, picking up his pace with that momentum.]

[She doesn't really know how to react to that. Following him through the vines, she wonders if he'd prefer it if she was quiet; but she just can't. She does seem relieved though when he does speak--and it's good news to boot.

Even if she did already notice, the affirmation is welcome.]

Thank goodness.

[. . .]

Sorry. I don't have any spare clothes with me this time.

They're just dirty. We can wash them at the river.

[Although a change of clothes sounds luxurious right about now, he understands that it isn't realistic. IV takes the lead with his increased pace, and they soon come upon a slow stream. He trudges over to the edge and peers into the surface of the water.]

This will do. What do you think, Leia?

[It'd mostly been a joke, but she takes his answer in stride. A swim in an unknown river sounds a little luxurious, too, after all, even though she hadn't been expecting this. She's nothing if not adventurous . . . so after an initial glance that follows the direction of the stream downwards, she tilts her head.]

Geronimo?

[Okay, okay. She doesn't jump, but she is rather desperate to get clean by now. She gives him a look, sheepish smile lingering.]

We're here, so let's not be shy about it. [No turning back now, beggars can't be choosers, etc.]

[Geronimo. Honestly.

Nodding, IV rolls ups his sleeves before dropping to his knees. He cups some water in his hands to wash his face, the cool liquid chilling his somewhat burnt cheeks and countering the humidity of the jungle as he washes off the grime. The excess water trickles down to drip at his chin, and he looks over to watch Leia.]

[And she was so sure that would get a reaction, ah.

. . . For a moment, she doesn't do anything but kneel beside him, watching him curiously with worried eyes. Then he suddenly turns his head in her direction; and she'll try not to look too surprised about it as she catches his gaze. Suddenly the water is the most interesting in the world.

With a breathy sigh, she mimics him far less elegantly: she starts with a splash of water over her face, and doesn't bother with rolling up her sleeves. After all, they could use the wash, too.]

[They could, the same as everything else. Satisfied with the fact that they've both cleaned their faces, IV takes off his shrug and coat, leaving him with his shirt and pants. He drapes the coat over his lap and then pushes the shrug into the stream, allowing the movement of the water to caress the fabric.

He isn't concerned about getting his clothes too wet. After all, the jungle should dry them off fairly quickly.]

[Leia is slower to react, as she savors the coolness of the water over her face. She sighs contently and actually focuses on her breathing, which comes surprisingly easy to her after dealing with the smoke. She's genuinely surprised at how much of a difference this all makes.

Imagine if she actually got in . . .

She doesn't. Not yet. She does watch IV out of the corner of her eye though as she goes from kneeling to sitting. Slowly but eagerly, she tugs off her boots and the thigh-high socks underneath, setting them aside.

She dips her bare feet in the water and . . . seeing her own reflection, she'll splash her face one more time. With that out of her system, the yellow, puffy-shouldered coat of hers starts to come off as well.]

This was a great idea.

[By the time Leia gets in the water, IV has replaced the shrug with his larger coat while dragging the water over his forearms to wash off the ash. He looks up at the sound of splashing, then back down at the submerged coat.]

Yeah.

[He brings the back of his wet hand to his forehead, cooling it. There's a slight stinging sensation around his cheeks, where the heat of the fire must have done superficial damage. They're probably a little red.]

This jungle is too humid.

[She's actually content to sit by the edge; but it certainly does look like she'll plunge in any minute. A year ago--if she were younger, she might have done that. She might have pulled him in, too, just for fun.

Now she kicks her feet playfully, silently agreeing.

She notices the redness in his cheeks and remembers just then: he promised she could look him over. They've found the river.

. . . Without a word, she leans in closer, brushing aside some of his impressive hair for starters to get a better look at his face.]

[Her touch doesn't surprise him – nor does he feel the need to jerk away – though the action does puzzle him. IV stops washing (he was about to pull the coat, anyway, and he tugs it out of the stream) and turns his head slightly, blinking, to face Leia.]

What?

[She cups her hand over his forehead to feel for his temperature, using her own for reference, though both feel the same. Her hand traces along his cheek and the scar that still holds secrets.]

I'm just checking.

[Though she doesn't tell him to hold still, her words and the way she says them seem to imply it. Eventually, a finger will settle on his pulse.]

Even if the fire didn't touch you, the explosion was intense.

. . . Do you feel anything? [Pain? Heat? Numbness?]

[It has been too long since anybody caressed his face. IV appreciates the thoughtfulness with which Leia conducts the assessment, and his eyelids flutter closed and then open when her hand runs over his scar. He feels his blood pulsating against her finger.]

It stings a little . . . like a sunburn. It doesn't hurt.

[Leia's eyes close as she counts, and she takes in his answer without questioning it much. She gets the feeling that he'd give a similar answer, even if it was more serious, but in this case, she believes him.

Satisfied, she lowers her hand and looks relieved.]

That'll go away.

[She goes back to kicking her feet in the water, smiling slowly.]

You're still a bit shaken up, but so am I. That . . . might a bit longer.

[IV pulls his head away to look back down at the stream, his coat still hanging in his grasp and dripping water on the ground. After that explosive chaos, the calming flow of water soothes the apprehension in his chest.]

I'll be fine.

[He can at least admit that he isn't fine right now. At this point, he's had ample time to recover, but dread has a habit of lingering – as does paranoia.]

You're really not hurt, right?

No.

[She answers easily. When IV goes back to what he was doing, she follows suit and finally starts to wash off her coat as well, caked with dirt and debris. Her movements are fluid and thoughtless, like she's done this before.

Thinking back, she has to admit it, though she's not sure if it's for his sake or her own.]

I probably would have been, though. If you hadn't been there.

[Her emphasizing his part in leading them away reassures IV, who begins wringing the excess water out of his washed articles of clothing. He'll think about where to lay those out to dry later. Leia's penchant for trying to be of help can be so reckless sometimes, not that IV can talk much.

Still:]

Don't go running inside when there's a fire. You'll only hurt yourself.

Thanks . . .

[. . . is what she was really trying to say, she realizes. It feels good to get that out there, though her mind still lingers on the what-ifs. Should she have resisted, tried harder?

She doesn't know, but his tone of voice is so serious. He might have never forgiven her if she did that.]

I'm fine, too. Promise.

. . . I'll think of something. [If there was a way to call out to Undine, then . . .]

[Words of reassurance are easily flung around, but promises are more serious. IV accepts Leia's and doesn't say more on the subject.]

For what, the fire?

[Under ordinary circumstances, he would have discouraged it. In a world with firefighters, that extra step is unnecessary from a well-meaning citizen. Unfortunately, there isn't anything like that in the jungle, so it means the aftereffects of the accident may linger for a while. Knowing this, IV wrings the edge of the coat a little tighter before releasing the tension.]

Whatever you do, take me with you.

[He didn't leave Rio behind. He won't leave Leia, either.]

[Wringing out her own coat after she's done scrubbing is actually pretty satisfying. Getting out the last bit of the water proves a good challenge, though his words do strike a chord and make her stop.

She nods.]

You've got my back, I've got yours.

[Though the next comment isn't nearly as serious. She starts to untie her blue ascot next.]

But what if I got in? [With a tip of her head, she indicates the water as she wets what now just looks like blue cloth. It's mostly a joke, but:] You might not follow me then.

[As he continues to wring his clothes, IV huffs. He sets the coat down momentarily to roll up his slipping sleeves again, and then he returns to his original task. He eyes the stream, which looks rather inviting after everything.]

Who says I wouldn't? It's humid, and the air wasn't pleasant earlier. If you're going to go in, do it now so I can, too.

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