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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[ Mary is older than him, technically - much older - and with power he doesn't really understand. ]
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[ She smiles apologetically, though-- and then brings a sleeve to her mouth to muffle a sneeze. Ugh. ]
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This is no good. [ an annoyed sigh. he presses his mouth into a firm line, then begins to take off his jacket. Rather than foisting it on her, though, he holds it up slightly... as if he's trying to guess how big it might be on her. ]
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Perhaps you can remove your wet clothes and wear my jacket for a little while. It's not ideal, but... it would keep you dry, at least.
[ he means this in the least scandalous way possible ]
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[ NOT IN FRONT OF HIM, RIGHT? She's already nervously looking for a tree to duck behind if she's really going to change into... just his jacket... ]
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Yes. Wearing those will make you sick, especially once night falls. [ assuming it's going to get colder... dear lord, he hopes it will. Honestly, her discomfort about the suggestion sort of flies over his head for a few seconds - then he realizes a teenage(?) girl is probably not as pragmatic and logical about such things as he is. ] There's no need to remove everything. And I'll face away, of course. Don't tell me you thought otherwise?
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N-no, I didn't! You're not like that! [ She's just a teenage girl who's easily embarrassed about these sorts of things. So she'll take that jacket and clutch it close. ] I'll do it...
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Hmm... [ his thin brow wrinkles. ] ... I assure you that I'm only looking out for your wellbeing, but... I suppose it was rather inappropriate of me to suggest this, wasn't it? I'm sorry. I forget that you're...
[ ... not really his family, though she's said she thinks of him that way. But he doesn't continue; instead, he cuts himself off with a brief shake of his head, seeming somewhat awkward. ] Anyway, you need not take my suggestion. That was too forward of me. We'll find proper shelter, as we should.
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Her eyebrows draw together in clear conflict when he trails off, and she's almost afraid to-- no, she is afraid to ask, what he's forgotten about her. The first inclination is 'monster', but... no, he's accepted so much about her already. Then is it really about his offer? Because she's embarrassed?
Whatever the case, she knows he meant well, and the way she reacted... Mary shakes her head quickly and before Zara can say anything more, she's clutching the jacket closer and hurrying behind the closest combo of tree and bush. There's a whole lot of rustling and faint "ouch" noises, but soon enough, she's inching back out from behind her changing spot. The jacket's buttoned up and long enough to cover her decently, and she's holding her folded dress and jacket to her chest.
Of course, since the jacket doesn't fall to her ankles, it just means he'll be able to see the bigger, redder, occasionally bloody scrapes on her legs, since that's where she fell hardest, whoops. Maybe that's why she's been wobbly. ]
... It feels a lot better.
[ So don't feel bad, bunmom? ]
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[ was she even listening? Did he make things weird? He did, didn't he. He reaches a hand out after her half-heartedly, but there's no way in hell he's following after her - chances are, she's actually changing back there, and that would just make things worse. Instead, he sighs, folding his hands in front of himself while his ears fold themselves down in dismay.
At least she'll be dry and less sick.
When she reappears, he looks significantly more apologetic than before, even after she says it feels better. ]
... Are you certain? [ is what he wants to say, but he sort of trails off halfway through when he sees the scrapes on her legs. ] Mary...! I thought you said you weren't hurt!
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[ She stops herself there, with some conscious effort. Whatever he'd been about to say before he'd also stopped himself might still have been sticking with her. And she'd known that Zara had looked after her as a roommate he'd felt the need to watch over, and hadn't truly stopped to mull over what his sentence had truly meant anyway. Still, stupidly, she feels the need to reassure him, draw less attention to herself when he frets over her enough as it is.
Hasn't she worried him enough? ]
It's not that important, [ she amends, a little more quietly. ]
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It is important. I thought you'd seemed unsteady on your feet earlier... It's painful, isn't it? You shouldn't exacerbate the injury.
[ another pause while he thinks. Well, he's not exactly a big beefcake like Nesso - not by a long shot - but Mary is basically a powderpuff. ]
I'll carry you on my back until we find shelter and I can dress your injuries.
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So instead, she speaks up contritely. ]
Sorry...
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What am I going to do with you...? [ shaking his head. ] There's no need to apologize, but when you're hurt, please do tell me. It wouldn't do to have things get worse with you stumbling over rough terrain.
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[ But really, nothing had been broken, and her legs hurt, but it wasn't as though every step was agony. Still, she knows better than to say anything along those lines and just behave herself, if just so Zara doesn't wear himself out scolding her.
And also because she doesn't like being scolded. ]