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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It's 'cause it's Yang...
Well, I mean, I know she can flatten most things, but still.
[IT'S HIS JOB TO WORRY.]
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You just said why you don't have to worry in that sentence.
[You're so silly, Naoki.]
You know what her Semblance is too, right?
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[CAN'T BE HELPED.
And glancing at Ruby, he nods.] We've trained together long enough I've gotten to experience it a couple of times.
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[A grin, and Ruby reaches over to pat him on the arm]
It's okay, though. I guess it's just a weird schmoopy couples thing to worry anyway.
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Just so you know, it's not schmoopy couple-exclusive. I worry about you, too, no matter how fast you can go with that scythe of yours.
[Big brother instincts are awakening... slowly.]
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[Ruby blinks at that, a little taken off-guard, before she grins.]
You don't have to worry about me! I may not have been a very good fighter before, but I'm waaaay less awful at it now!
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[Naoki laughs.] You could be the strongest person this side of the universe and I'd still be like this.
That's what happens with friends, right?
[Well, your worrying might be a little stronger than most people, Naoki, but still.]
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[She's going to go ahead and point that out, really:]
But I think you do it way more than most people.
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[--that bad but he stops to think about it. Hitting on the reason soon enough (he's luckily a self-aware young man) he tips his head back.]
I guess it's probably because of what happened where I come from.
[Ah, the Forbidden Zone. Or, well, something Naoki doesn't often speak about.]
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[She doesn't know anything about this, really--but she can recognize that they're treading into Tragic Backstory Territory, which makes it pretty serious.
But she'll just listen patiently to whatever Naoki is willing to say--she's a pretty good listener, after all.]
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Well... my world ended and became a Vortex World, right? There were only a few humans left. I knew all of them. Some of 'em were friends I went to school with, or my teacher...
But, they kept going off on their own. Bad things kept happening to them, and I wasn't around to help. [His brow wrinkles.] I was never in time.
[Thanks to Yang he doesn't blame himself as much as he used to, but... he'll probably always have a sense of responsibility for how things turned out.]
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[All around...just. Really bad. Only a few humans left sounds terrible, really. And...bad things happening to people all the time.]
Then... [It didn't end up okay for them, did it? She doesn't even have to ask.] ...what did you do?
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[Naoki's gaze is far-off, like he's seeing it again, the Vortex World stretching out in front of him. Daunting in its size, but he'd always naively thought he'd make it.
Somehow, with the strength he'd gained, he'd make it.]
Bad things kept happening. Some that I caused. [It's as close as he can get right now to admitting "I killed them".] Eventually, I was the only one left-- besides one, who traveled with me.
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... Hey, Naoki... you know that Yang and I aren't going to go anywhere, right?
It'd take a lot more than this to bring us down, so...we're not going to leave you behind. Not ever.
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[Something wavers in Naoki's gaze then, jaw tensing against a wobble to his lips, a lump lodging in his throat. It makes it hard to speak. But those words really hurt, in a good way, even if they're words that he's heard before, from Yang.
These sisters. Honestly... He's so grateful for them.
Extending a hand, he moves to bring his arm around Ruby's shoulders and tug lightly. It's a come here? gesture, gentle enough not to be insistent, but he wants to hug her, a shaky hug filled with warmth.]
I know. I trust the both of you.
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They won't leave Naoki behind.
He shouldn't have to lose anyone ever again.]
Good! Because...we trust you not to leave us too, you know? So some of that responsibility is yours too--got it?
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I'll do everything I can.
[He doesn't want to leave them. Even though he knows he'll have to go back to his world eventually, finish what he started...] Even if I do, you can count on me finding my way back to you guys. I'm stubborn.
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[She grins in response, nodding cheerfully, and leans against him more.]
You have to be stubborn to keep up with someone like Yang. In fact, I think you might be a little more stubborn than her.
[A beat.]
... But don't tell her I said that, she'll try to be more stubborn to prove me wrong.
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Yeah, no, don't worry, I won't tell her that. It'll turn into a competition.
[More stubborn than Yang, though, huh?]
But that's such an honour. [Takes it as a compliment, why not.]
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[Ruby really does admire her big sister to pieces, after all.
Just.]
Also it's not always a compliment though, okay. Sometimes it's really annoying when she's like that.
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[Ruby--
Naoki finds it cute... there is no talking to him. The Boyfriend Bias is strong indeed.]
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[DEEP BREATH]
She doesn't listen though.
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[Well, thinking about it, if he were in the same situation he too might find it exasperating. He likes sitting down and reading nice and quietly...]
Oh yeah, thinking about it... a little bit after we first met, we ran into each other when I was going to train by myself. She got me to spar with her, even though I'm pretty sure I didn't want to.
[He spreads his hands apart helplessly.] And then we ended up training together. And we have ever since.
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Pfffhaha, yeah, that sounds like her.
So is that when you guys started to get all sappy together, orrr....
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[Naoki lightly shakes his head as he thinks about it.]
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