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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no subject
Good!
[She moves to the river's edge and just. starts taking her clothes off. Haha whoops. She has no shame with it, not even glancing at Leon until she's gotten her scale from the pocket of her shorts. It's a brilliant blue in color, about the size of her palm, and she takes a seat.]
Ready? Watch close! [A cheeky little wink and she dips the scale in the river before pressing it against her thigh. Her hands move down the length of her legs in a sweeping motion. With each pass of her hand, more scales appear, fusing her legs together until at last the tail is fully formed. It takes less than a minute, though it clearly takes something out of her since she looks a little tired despite her proud grin.]
See? My tail! Is it not beautiful? [She gives her fin a little wave for emphasis]
no subject
He has no idea what to expect, and then it happens, and the whole thing is . . . fascinating. It feels strangely intimate, like something he shouldn't be seeing, but he can't make himself look away either. And it's kind of creepy and kind of beautiful at the same time, and he doesn't know what to make of that either.
It all makes for a really weird boner.
(Thankfully not literally, at least not right now, noticeably. Maybe later, though. He can see that being a thing later.)
But he watches the whole thing in silence, eyes huge and lips slightly parted in shock, and after all of that, when she's finished:]
. . . Oh my god.
[He's not really the articulate type.]
I mean, damn, that--holy shit! You were serious! That was--so cool! So weird, but that was awesome, you just, like--!
no subject
Is it not? [Of course it is! She's the best!! There were few things she liked more than the reactions people had to her, both in her human form (there was a reason she worked as a stripper, after all) and in her mermaid form. For most people, mermaids were fairy tales and even in a place like Cerealia people didn't seem to want to believe.
So being a walking contradiction to that suited her rather well.
She flicked her tail playfully, her expression turning sly] Do you want to touch it? It is real, I assure you.
no subject
Yeah, says the rest of him, in a much louder voice, but that fish wasn't attached to a hot chick.]
I'd touch whatever you wanted me to.
[Not subtle, but sometimes he's not. (Most of the time.)
He laughs, though, as he moves a little closer at the invitation.]
Buuut not unless you wanted me to! I can totally keep it below the belt! . . . That's kinda backwards from normal, but you know what I mean!
no subject
Understand what you mean. But, you are old enough for such things? I can not tell human ages very well. [She raises an eyebrow, a tad skeptical]
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[Finally the complicated issue with his age works out for him instead of making him feel awkward . . . okay, it's still awkward. It feels like a lie in his mouth, even though it's not, and he has to mentally reassure himself that he actually is nineteen, as near as he can figure. He's definitely not under nineteen. That's the important part.
Well, and:]
Besides, it's not like you'd be the first girl who decided I was old enough, and that was a few years ago! What about you? I mean, I can tell you're definitely old enough, though.
[How do mermaid ages work, he wonders? He doesn't exactly care, per se; anyone flirting like that is old enough. He moves closer and kneels down next to her . . .
And then pops another bite of fish in his mouth, which feels like a weird thing to do in this situation, but hey, he's hungry for more than just touch. (Besides, he's got to free his hands somehow.)
It's still kind of surreal to eat sashimi while trying to convince a mermaid you're legal and dtf.]
no subject
[Just throw your money at her, Leon... Literally.
His comment about age has her looking amused all over again] Are you saying I look old? [But her tone is definitely teasing and she laughs again] Mermaids age much, much slower than humans, and we live for very much longer. We are not considered adults until, hmm... around 60.
Am 85, myself. [And she grins, leaning back on her hands as she lounges.]
no subject
85?! You're messing with me!
[Though he doesn't actually think she is. Who would lie about that? It's just a thing to say. He settles, making sure all his food is down and he's not in any danger of coughing anymore, before going on:]
. . . Once we're back in the real world, I'll definitely come see you dance, but I dunno if I'm gonna tell my friends I'm hitting up an 85-year-old stripper.
[He's teasing, though, and snickers kindly. It's not like she seems self-conscious over it. And it's pretty hard to care about the numbers when the reality is right here in front of him, and definitely not looking any human version of 85 years old.
Now that his hands are free, he scoots up next to her and reaches out, hovering his hand over her scales.]
So can I?
no subject
You do not have to reveal my age, of course. I think, in human terms, I am about, hmmm... 20? I think? [60 was about the equivalent of 18 as far as she knew, so she's just kind of ball-parking it, but she shrugs easily. It clearly doesn't bother her, though she can just imagine the looks on his friends' faces if he were to say such a thing...]
Hm? [May he what? ...Oh.] Ah, yes! Feel free. They are not slimey. For some reason, some humans think scales will be slimey when they touch them... [Maybe because of fish?? Who knows. Humans were weird.]
no subject
He doesn't admit to any of that in words, but he flashes her an awkward grin that probably gives some of those thoughts away, and then finally puts his hand on her tail. He's got no idea where to touch, but if she's not directing him anywhere in particular, it's probably safe, right? So he ends up with his hand on her hip, and then he slides his palm down firmly over the scales, kind of like he's petting a cat.
A scaly, topless cat.
It's a lot better than that sounds.]
Wow . . .
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He seems pretty intent and into it, and Oona can't quite resist. She reaches out to suddenly grab his arm with a playful:] Rah! [In the hopes of scaring him a little.
Sorry Leon, sometimes humans just make it too easy..........]
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Ah, shit, what--heeeey!
[He totally thought something serious was happening there for a second! But once he's had a few seconds for it to sink in, he gets it . . . he thinks. He starts laughing, anyway, though it's in that awkward way where he's half expecting he's wrong for doing so and therefore needs to be ready to take it back at a moment's notice.]
no subject
Ah, am sorry! You were so intense, I could not resist! You are fine, you are fine.
[Oona leans back on her hands and grins] You are not mad, are you? Some people do not react so well to jokes. So serious! [Or maybe they just don't appreciate being scared out of their skin, Oona, jesus... But you know. Details!! Clearly those that can't laugh at those sorts of things are just sticks in the mud.]
no subject
[Not that he's always the type to take jokes at his own expense very well, but hey, it was just a little bit. And he'll always forgive a girl a little more. More importantly, she's not teasing him about it after the fact, so he can't stay mad, even if he were.
When he goes back to petting her tail, though, he makes sure not to get too intense about it.]
You totally can't blame me for zoning out. It's my first time! So . . . what's it feel like to you? Is it the same as on your human skin? Or does it feel weird?
no subject
[She's not sure how to really describe it, since she doubts he's had a tail like this before to compare it to.]
But you have nice hands, and a nice touch. So I do not mind. [Casually flirts nbd. She grins at him and tilts her head invitingly] However, I will not be able to stay in this form the whole time, unfortunately. I can not explore the forest without legs.
Ah, there is that other mermaid, Keimi, who has a ball she rides on to get around. Am a little jealous; would like to not have to go to human form if I did not have to!
no subject
[He says, even though he can't imagine how that actually works. Is it like the mermaid version of a wheelchair? It seems like it'd be a lot harder to get around on . . . but maybe that's because he's human. Or maybe it's magical in some way, which makes his question sound pretty stupid, so he kinda hopes that's not it.
He pats her hip one last time before pulling back. It's been a while since he got to pet anyone either, fish or otherwise, and he feels a bit better for it.]
But just so you know, you can give me a call any time you need some nice hands to touch you nicely.