« 020 ⇢ EVENT020_FIRE.EXE »

[reparator]

Who: All characters with fire as their element
When: OOC: 10/15 - 10/22 ; IC: 3/22 - 3/26
Where: It's a volcano. No, really.
What: It's time for the legitimate reward -- a safe place to live for the rest of your happy, contented lives
Rating/Warning: PG-13: Some scary images, some violence. Please let the mods know if the rating goes up or the log needs to be locked!

---

//event020.EXE

It’s been a few days in the jungle now and hopefully you haven’t managed to die just yet – after all, the fun’s just begun. On the seventh day of trekking the wilderness, each character who has Fire in their heart will suddenly find themselves pausing in the middle of the day. Something in their chest feels warm and it’s heating up quickly. It spreads from their chest to their fingertips, down their legs to their toes. There’s a bark of laughter against their ear, but it seems that it’s one that only they can hear. Then without warning, there is a bright light that encompasses their sight entirely and the ground beneath their feet seems to suddenly open. At least they don’t have time to be scared as they suddenly lose consciousness after falling for a few seconds. Don’t worry. It’ll get better. When they wake up, they hear the following message – and then they hear it again, and again, and again as it echoes echoes echoes. You’re all spirited, aren’t you?! You wouldn’t be one of mine if you weren’t. So c’mon, look alive, look alive! I’ve got something I want to show you all. Stay close, stay close, I can't wait until you see where you'll be living!

//SCENARIOS.EXE

PHASE I [ day one ] It’ll admittedly be hard for Ardeo to show you anything though. When you wake up, you see darkness. Blink a couple times and it’s – yeah, it’s still darkness. Oh, that’s not good. But after some mumbling around in the dark, perhaps you’ll find another. Better hold on so that you don’t lose each other as the steps on smoothed rock, the resounding quality of the noise you make, and the faint sounds of dripping make it clear that you’re in some kind of cave. Probably. All you have to guide you is the occasional glimmer of light as Ardeo flicks his flaming tail and then pads off in one direction. But try not to run too fast after him since it’s dark and that’s danger--holy shit. Follow Ardeo enough and finally you'll reach the edge of a cliff with no indication of how deep that drop goes. It won't be a fear of tripping in this cave, but rather a fear of running straight off the path Ardeo set you on. Hope you're good at cliff scaling because, good luck. You're now stuck on some very high cliffs, and if you peer over the edge, deep, deep down in the darkness, there's the faint, warm glow of what might be lava. You probably don't want to fall down there. Of course in response to your yelps of fear, there’s only the same bark of laughter. Damnit, where the hell did that fox go? PHASE II [ day one ] Who knows how long Ardeo has been playing this crazy game of hide and go seek, but eventually you hear a faint buzzing. It’s fine, probably. No one ever said that you were alone in this cave but it’s better to be dealing with a fly than a bear, right? So you see a firefly. Or maybe a firefly sees you. That single hope of light and not being doomed to eternal darkness comes over and says hi, floating around you for a moment. It really is quite dazzling, isn't it? Then, apparently deciding that you’re an idiot safe to land on, it settles itself on your clothes and-- ow. That burns. Maybe you even caught fire a little. But before you know it, more of them are coming. Little specks of light all ready to land on you and warm you up a little. You must be cold in this cave. Try not to die from their thoughtfulness, because they're really all over the place. It’s like this happens a lot or something. PHASE III [ day two ] Maybe you threatened him or maybe you asked nicely, but it seems that Ardeo is willing to take pity on your poor souls. Every few steps, there is now a will-o-wisp conjured to guide you away from the sudden, steep cliffs and keep the insects away. However you’re deeper in the cave now and it seems to be getting… hotter? You hear the water more and more now. Eventually you reach a flat surface and see an arrangement of craters in the ground. The surface beneath them glows with heat, apparently reaching high enough temperatures to emit a white glow. The brave may wander close, curious about what lay inside the craters – and they may lose their faces as the water suddenly shoots up without explanation, a geyser erupting suddenly and burning anyone who got stuck in the splash zone. However, there are signs of people here. Small housing constructions made in tucked away corners, built of stacked rock and supplies clearly from this very spot. However, there's...nobody here to greet you. In fact, it seems as though a certain event has been reported to them, and so the natives who clearly are still living here won't be making an appearance. You may feel them watching you, and if you poke around in their homes, Ardeo will make a quick appearance to warn you away, but they're far too wary to step out and say hello. PHASE IV [ day three ] Finally, after however many miles, Ardeo’s done walking. He walks up the steps of a shrine – or the remnants of one. Broken statues of animal-like creatures lay in shatters and he wanders around the area once, circles quietly, and then lays down, curled in on himself. A second later, he disappears in a flash of smoke. However the will-o-wisps remain as you’re free to explore. You’re now able to see that the walls of the cave are decorated with paintings. However unlike those of Earth, the humanoid-type people in these images all have different modifications on them. Some appear to have fins, others are plant-like themselves, but the most prominent ones all appear to be on fire. It’s kinda creepy, especially since they’re still smiling – and upon further inspection, you’ll find that some of these images aren’t made with paint at all, but rather they’re intricate scorch marks left on the wall. Oh. However for the children exploring with us today, Ardeo seems to have pilfered some things from the colony that he liked. There’s paint lining the cave walls, as well as the occasional bundle of sparkly puppy stickers. Seems this is where he lives, and now you can join him here too. It's a great reward! It's really just too bad about the difficulty breathing and the general difficulty finding food in a place like this that won't spit fire back at you. Welcome to your new home. [ 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. ]

//RUN.EXE

Welcome to Cerealia's October event! Please visit the OOC information here, and should you have any questions, feel free to ask them here! You can also check the FAQ for more general inquiries. This event will last for the month of October, or IC 3/15 to 3/30. This log will last from 10/15 to 10/22 or IC 3/22 to 3/26. Should this event log hit Captcha, there is an all-purpose overflow here. There are 71 characters with the element of fire. Thank you!

Comments

[babermetrics]

I: when the lights go down

[Where we'll be living?!

Okay, no, it's a little too soon to judge. Leon has to believe that there's something better waiting for them at the end of this whole shitty trek. He hadn't actually thought the trek could get any more shitty after the jungle, and yet here we are! At least he'd been able to see in the fucking jungle, even if he hadn't liked most of what there was to see. In here . . . he likes what he can't see even less.

He gropes his way along the cliffs, eyes straining to see in the dark, to little effect. Shit. Every step is like flirting with death, a thing he is not interested in doing again. His hands are everywhere, pawing along the rock walls . . .

And possibly along you, if you get in range of them.

Whenever he accidentally gets his hands on someone, he startles, hands curling in their clothing to cling on rather than shove away. He doesn't want anyone to jerk back and go toppling off . . . and there's a part of him, not too deep down, that's grateful for the contact right now, even if he can't see where it's coming from.

It's fuckin' lonely in here. He hates every part of this.]

Shit--soooorry, careful, don't move! Who's that?!


IV: I forgot to title this section and now have to edit it really fast before anyone notices, pretend it says something pretentious

What the fuck did you do to us?! Hey! Heeeey!

[This entire friggin' month--the flood, the jungle, the march down the volcano, literally everything!--has been one endless bleak night of Leon not being able to do a goddamn thing about anything, or able to see the future ahead. He's been going along with all of this in the hope that there would be something at the end of the line. Anything. Please.

And now here they are, and there isn't. There's nothing but stifling heat (he'd stripped down to just his pants and shoes ages ago), choking air (his screaming isn't helping him breathe, and his chest feels tighter with each passing minute, heavy with some panicked dread he can't name), hunger (he can't even think about that anymore, there's so much else), and--

No, that's it. This is all there is. It's not that he can't see the future ahead. It's that there's not one. He can't do anything.

Except for fling himself onto the shrine and beg for mercy. And that's where you'll find him, howling at the spot where Ardeo vanished, shoulders shaking and tears streaming down his face. (Shit. He probably needed that water.)]

Hey! Hey, hey, hey, come back! Don't do this to us! I don't wanna die again. I don't wanna die again! I don't! Come back come back come back!

phase i;

[psycholawgy]

[ her initial reaction to someone suddenly clinging to her would be to shove them or even flip them, but leon's face is illuminated by widget so she calms down quickly enough. ]

It's Athena! Don't touch me so tightly!

[ or not... ]

[babermetrics]

A--Athena!

[She's the first person he's seen whom he actually recognized, and relief crashes into him like a wave. (Maybe a heatwave, considering.) Of course, he can't see much of anyone at all . . .

He forces himself to loosen his grip on her, even though it goes against every instinct he has; he wants so badly to hug her instead. He doesn't quite manage to let her go, but there, Athena, you're kinda-free.]

You got no idea how happy I am to see you!

[psycholawgy]

[ she can definitely hear the tension in his heart, and she ends up being tense, too. ]

W- Well, same here. It's so dark here, I was hoping to make it out of here with someone.

[ and hey! looks like that someone is you, leon. ]

You're not afraid of the dark, are you? [ that's what she thinks is the reason why he's so tense. ]

[babermetrics]

C . . . come on, don't be stupid!

[In a twist of irony, he's not actually afraid of the dark, but he's so emotional over everything else right now that it doesn't come out as convincing as it should. Finally he forces himself to let her go, with a tiny sigh of disappointment.

At least they're going to have to keep close anyway if they're going to make it along this narrow ledge as a team. Thank god he's not entirely by himself in the dark anymore, even if he's not afraid of it.]

It ain't that, but everything else about this is freaky as hell! Like, actual Hell! . . . We're not actually goin' to Hell, right?!

[He knows he's a bit overdue for it.]

[psycholawgy]

[ she slaps him in the back in hopes of cheering him up. ]

Hey, don't worry about it! I doubt we will.

We're not dead yet, anyway!

[ OOPS... ]

[babermetrics]

[He jerks at the smack; that brief moment of being slightly off-balance sets his heart racing. Normally he'd take it like nothing, but geez, up here on the cliff . . .

He steadies himself and plays off the deep breath he just took. Ha ha. It's all good. We're good! We're all alive here!]

H, heh, yeah, good point. Good point! We've got this . . . you're gonna stick with me, right? Your little glowy guy's pretty handy, too.

[Hi, Widget.]

[psycholawgy]

Yeah, don't worry about it! [ she hears your heart, leon. she'll likely ask about that later. . . ]

We'll get out of this place together.

[ oh, oh! ]

And my necklace is named Widget. Say hi!

Hi Widget!

[babermetrics]

Uh . . . hi?

[He feels weird talking to a necklace, even though it's clearly some sort of AI kind of thing. Still weird. But you know what, it's providing light right now, even if only a tiny bit, and so he's going to play along and be grateful. He doesn't want to get judo-thrown off a cliff either . . . ]

Okay, so--we've got this! We just hang onto each other and go real slow, right?

[psycholawgy]

That's our only choice to get out of this cave.

[ she pauses to look around at what may be by their feet. she's trying to look for a stick or something, but there doesn't seem to be anything but pebbles. ]

Hey, Leon? [ and there's another pause, this time, a bit more foreboding. ] What if we encounter some monsters here?

[babermetrics]

. . . Jjjjjjjudo?

[It's the second thought to pop into his head. The first one was definitely "then we're fucked." But that's maybe overly pessimistic; they'd met each other while fighting monsters, hadn't they? They'd totally managed that time! Sure, they hadn't been in a volcano and precariously making their way down a cliff, but . . . look, it's something, at least.]

I've got a knife, too . . . look, let's just hope that's not gonna happen! I don't even wanna think about that! This is bad enough without that!

[But now that she's mentioned it, he's definitely thinking about it. Monsters are kind of a thing here and all. It's thankfully mostly impossible to see how his face blanches at the idea of it in Widget's dim light.

Fffforward . . . edge along the cliffs, don't think about it . . . ]

IV

[digiteyesed]

["I don't wanna die again." What a horrifying thing to hear. No wonder he's raving like that, she's surprised she hasn't seen more people reacting like this with how the trip has been going. Heck, she'd had moments like this herself, but she's one of the lucky ones here. It's not like Ene can die from hunger or exhaustion, after all, and floating along like she does is so much easier than having to walk. How heavily must all these worries she doesn't have be weighing on the group?

Heavy enough to make Kuwata cry like that. Ene moves before she thinks, grabbing Kuwata from behind and hugging him tight, trying to hold him away from the shrine. That stupid fox isn't going to be of any help now.]

It's okay! It's okay, you're not going to die, we'll get out of here.

[babermetrics]

[His voice dies in his throat when Ene's arms go around him. He can't even manage a sound of surprise. For a few long beats, his body is completely rigid with tension, like he might rip himself out of her arms and fling himself at the shrine again . . . but then, all at once, it bleeds out of him. Leon sags in place, absolutely radiating misery. He doesn't feel better; he just feels tired.

Literally everything about this situation and his own behavior is deeply humiliating, and it says a lot about how bad things are that he knows that and doesn't care much. The thought, which usually slices through his ego like a knife through butter, feels this time like a--a fish, or something, hitting his face with a dull thump and then just slapping uselessly to the floor. Like, oh, right, I should be embarrassed right now. This is so uncool.

And he is, a little, but not like he usually is. After a moment just sagged there in her arms, he lifts a hand to his face to wipe streaks of soot and salt out of his eyes. Not to mention his own sweaty bangs. This place . . . ]

. . . How?

[When he finally addresses her, it's just that, thick and dull-sounding in his mouth. Anything else would be another panicked tirade, and he just burned all of that up--for the time being.]

[digiteyesed]

[That's the question, isn't it. And Ene doesn't have any kind of answers, doesn't have any plan other than 'don't give up'. Kuwata is so distraught and it feels awful to not have any better answer for him, to not be able to do anything else for him but this.

But she has to do something.]

We'll find a way out. There's definitely somewhere better than this, we just have to find it.

[babermetrics]

[He's silent for another moment. He doesn't have the faith or energy to agree, but he's too exhausted and despairing to bother arguing; it's not going to make him feel better to insist they're going to die or anything. Even though they totally are.

But hey . . . he's getting a hug.

Leon tries to turn in Ene's arms to face her. He's at least calmed down enough to manage that.]

We can't just go the way we came, can we? I dunno if we can make it all the way back up there . . . we'd probably start dropping if we tried. But we're gonna do that anyway if we just--sit here and wait!

[digiteyesed]

[Hugs are great and make everything better. Maybe not completely, but at least a little. Ene loosens her hold to let Kuwata turn, then wraps her arms tight around him again, floating up high enough so she can cradle him.]

Going back down should really be a last resort... But, this cave is pretty big, there's more to explore you know. We're not waiting around here to die.

[babermetrics]

. . . Yeah.

[It really does make everything better. Just a little bit, but it's an important little bit. Leon wraps his arms around Ene tightly, around her waist and back, keeping her held close. Even in the terrible heat down here, he can make an exception to "I want as few things touching me as possible please" for this. He tries to take a few deep breaths, and when that's not entirely possible, he tries to shove it out of his mind. Don't dwell on it. Dwell on fixing it.]

Y, yeah, there's gotta be somethin', right? They wouldn't just . . . there's gotta be. It can't just be a dead end! Right? There's gotta be some clue?

[He is definitely trying to convince himself.]

[digiteyesed]

Mm, for sure!

[Ene smiles encouragingly, let's lighten up this mood!]

There's a lot of strange things around here, and it's never a bad thing to learn more about this environment we're in. The more we know, the more we'll know about getting out of here, so let's keep looking for a way.

[babermetrics]

Heh . . . how're you so perky?

[She has mystical powers, or something. But it helps; Leon feels like he ought to be annoyed by it, but instead he feels a little better. Maybe not as hopeful as she is, but hey, he's not throwing a fit anymore. He briefly turns his face into her hair before pulling away, raking a hand through his own. Ugh . . . he's a mess.]

You got some secret magic you can share with me?

[digiteyesed]

[It helps when you don't have the ability to feel hungry or tired weighing you down, but that's hardly a magic she can share. Who would want to share a total lack of physical existence! Instead of anything close to the truth, Ene beams and folds her arms behind her back, looking oh so angelic]

It's just a natural talent~ Don't worry, if you need some help I'll be sure to drag you out of such pessimism, any time.

[babermetrics]

Oh yeah? Maybe I'll call you up sometime once we're out o' here.

[Because he's definitely being suggestive, except under these conditions, even his abilities of suggestion are waning. He can't even think about sex right now. He's pretty sure he'd die in the middle of it or something. But he's got enough left in him to flirt, at least, or maybe just promise to flirt in the future.]

IV

[meatthefuture]

[Luffy hears the commotion and goes to the shrine, watching the guy for a long moment-- getting more pissed off. He comes to stand beside the guy and sucks in a deep breath]

OI! GET BACK HERE YOU ASSHOLE! OR AT LEAST SHOW US HOW TO GET OUT! PEOPLE CAN'T LIVE DOWN HERE! GET BACK HERE OR I'LL KICK YOUR ASS! OI! OI!!!

[and so on. He can't help you, but he can at least help you be heard]

[babermetrics]

[You know what, it does help. Maybe it doesn't help him breathe or eat, but it's a huge relief to not be the only one this pissed off about things, or trying to do anything about it . . . as useless as this "anything" might be. It probably is. Who cares? It feels good to let out his anger in some way, and better when he doesn't feel like he's losing his mind because he's the only one doing it.

With a little more energy, he breathes in as much as he can to add to the plea:]

YEAH, GET THE FUCK OUT HERE AND FACE US! ARE YOU STUPID OR SOMETHING?! DON'T YOU KNOW HOW PEOPLE WORK?! WE'RE GONNA DIE DOWN HERE! I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO HELP US! SHOW YOURSELF!

[meatthefuture]

YEAH, SHOW YOURSELF, YOU BASTARD! I'LL SEND YOU FLYING

[which is not a great encouragement for anyone. But in this case he looks like he really means it.]

[babermetrics]

YOU BETTER TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY!

[Because yeah, he looks like he means it. Enough that it gives Leon pause. Sure, he's mad enough he'll say anything; in the depths of anger, he is 100% convinced he could punch a friggin' firedog right in the face and live to tell about it, third degree burns be damned. But it's a little different to see that expression on someone else's face, too. He drops into a stage whisper:]

--Uh, you're bluffing, right?