The thing about Cerealia is, there really isn't any nature to be found here. Sure, you can go outside the walls of the city and explore the land beyond but who wants to risk a terrible, horrible death just to sniff the flowers? Not you, that's who! CERES understands that, CERES sympathizes, and sometimes CERES decides to take action when such problems arise. As part of the company's current "Healthier and Happier YOU" initiative, they've decided to let everyone get back in touch with nature a little.
Via ViViD.
Of course, this being CERES, the nature they've sent everyone to is more of a swamp. The place is disgusting, a real marvel of ViViD ingenuity and it smells like the dead. There's strange rustling among the leaves from creatures that may or may not want to eat you, and random pits that open up right under your feet with the goal of sending you straight into the marsh. It's not really that fun. There's no welcome sign either, no nothing except for swamplands as far as the eye can see.
Welcome to ViViD!  This is Mosley. One of our programmers forgot to include a welcome greeting for the level this time. How incompetent can you get? He's been fired now, it's fine. Instead, I will greet you today. Lucky you! You've been invited today to participate in CERES's "Healthier and Happier YOU" level where we've combined both physical exercise and relaxing meditation into the ultimate ViViD experience. Isn't that fun? You can... go camping and stuff. Or whatever. I don't... know...
Honestly, I don't even care. Have fun.
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PHASE I [ 6 00 ] Welcome to your new healthy living training ground! What does a swamp have to do with healthy living, you may ask? Absolutely nothing! To make up for it, CERES has outfitted all players with the proper equipment for their new healthy living lifestyle. They also may or may not have let you keep your shoes based on how benevolent the ViViD gods were being at the time. (Not very.)
Oh, and all newcomers will have something additional on their fancy new yoga shirt. It will be displayed loudly and proudly all over the front and back of it. And if you're one of the few not wearing a shirt, it will be on the back of your pants. As in, your butt. It will be on your butt.
What’s ViViD trying to say, anyway?
Regardless, it probably doesn’t matter as much as finding your way through the swamp. Some sort of dry land would be really nice right now, wouldn't it? You'll have to watch out for the mud that will suck you right down under the marsh, and the creatures with lots of teeth that will never surface from the mud but won't hesitate to snap up an unwary foot or two.
CERES is sure you'll be fine. Totally and completely fine.
PHASE II [ 800 ] Eventually, if you try really, really hard, you’ll make it to a house. Actually, it’s more of a shack, really. If you clamber your way out of the mud and the gunk and the marsh into said shack, you will find it to be empty aside from a table. A table hosting a huge pile of... well, health drinks. See, there's totally a health theme in this level. CERES would never make a ViViD level that wasn't thematically appropriate. Never! Health drinks of all sorts and types and sizes can be found here and there’s even a sign too; it simply says:
Take one.
Well, that seems safe.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to leave said shack until you do take one. And drink it. The door will lock shut and cover itself in more swamp until you do. Yay. Depending on your luck, the drink may do the following to you: ➟ Cause your ViViD experience to glitch. This may involve phasing through walls, seeing everything in 8-bit, or hearing really annoying old video game music everywhere you go.
➟ Cause status effects. This can include suddenly moving incredibly slowly, being turned to stone for a period of time, suddenly being on fire, suddenly being poisoned, etc etc.
➟ Be healthier. Mmm, kale and hummus smoothie. Taste those veggies. If you try to take more than one, that’s fine too, nobody will stop you, but you probably won’t get lucky more than once.
PHASE III [ 900 ] And back you go, out into the swampy wilderness. Don’t give up! Keep going! Eventually, you’ll find the end of this level. Probably.
Eventually, though, you may stumble across something in the mud and the muck. It’s... a little doll?
In fact, it’s a little doll of one of your most important people (or, alternatively, of someone you absolutely hate). It might be someone in Cerealia currently, or someone who isn’t, but either way, the doll is there and it’s clearly them (covered in mud and all). Be careful, though. If you toss it aside, you’ll suddenly see that important person being tossed aside. If you cut the doll, you'll suddenly see that person bleeding. Even if they aren’t present in Cerealia, whatever happens to that doll, you'll see it happening to them. Is it a hallucination or are they actually there? That's a little more up in the air.
And if they are present in Cerealia, well... doing things to that doll might very well hurt them too -- for real, this time, though.
Be careful! Or don't. You do you, as CERES would say.
PHASE IV [ 1200 ] And then, eventually you reach a quiet, swampy area. Not that the rest of the swamp isn't swampy, this area is just extra swampy.
There’s very little happening here in this swampy place; even the birds are no longer squawking. And for a long moment, everything will remain quiet and peaceful, a place of reprieve... until the swamp begins to bubble. Then suddenly, a new friend will burst out of the swamp, showering mud and gunk everywhere.
Without warning, that creature is going to try to grab for the nearest person (it might be you!) and let out a mighty roar when they have them. Then, they'll hold them up to... read the nutrition facts on their shirt? What?
Of course, it will try to gobble you or whoever else it grabs if it finds, say, the salt content to be acceptable (the monster is watching their carbs). If it's not, then they'll just fling you away and move onto the next snack. For those without a handy nutrition facts label on your shirt, well, it might just take a gamble and try to eat you anyway.
Great. A health-conscious monster. That's just what this level needed.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Finally, you’re free of the game. Without warning, you’re dumped into Cerealia properly and you’re able to scrub the mud and gunk from your clothing (wait why did that come back with you and where are your normal clothes?). You're able to then make your way to your new place of residence (or old) and...
There is a tiny tree there waiting for you. Isn’t it cute? And if you take care of this tiny tree, it will eventually bear fruit! Tiny fruit. Itty bitty fruit.
Depending on which tiny tree you get, it will be one of the following: a tiny dildo tree, a tiny bacon tree, a tiny kazoo tree, a tiny carolina reaper tree, or a (dumb) tiny hats tree.
Everything will, naturally, be tiny. Enjoy your new healthy CERES gift!
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nothing like comfy yoga pants while you're knee deep in mud.
Yes?
ceres just really cares about their comfort in this hostile environment. how noble of them
That bird-- was it yours'? [Yuri shakes her head a little, because really that's not the important question here even if she's hella curious] I mean, more importantly: Are you alright? Are you one of the new arrivals?
[She assumes, but Yuri hasn't met everyone in the colony so she can't tell just by looking.]
makes me want to cry.
[Or however one termed that. She understood it wasn't strictly waking up. The presentation they had given her had more than impressed the fact that she wasn't honestly or truly asleep. The woman though could hardly grasp another word for it beyond perhaps 'came to'. That didn't quite seem right either.
That said she looks skyward again even as she nods to the other woman.]
Gin-o is my companion, yes. He's scouting for drier land for me.
[It strikes her then that the other woman must be human. It lights a gentle fire of concern within her. As a demon, trudging through the swamp was tedious and perhaps unpleasant but unlikely to be dangerous - if she had been armed at least. For a human it was certain to be a rougher experience.]
Would you like to follow him with me?
no subject
[Maybe she should pick up a bird-type CYbuddy. That seems useful. Yuri glances to the sky, half-hoping to catch a glimpse of the pretty hawk-- she nearly missed the offer. And then quickly does a double take]
What? Oh! Is... Is that alright? I don't want to impose. [...Impose in the death swamp on an offer to not get eaten by the mud or something?? Yuri no. She reaches up to run her hand through her hair, then grimaces as she realizes too late her hand is gross with swamp water.
Well. She's been soaked with worse.] if it's really alright, I'd appreciate it. I'll pay you back, somehow. [As an afterthought she bows politely] Kozukata Yuri. Pleased to meet you.
L
no subject
Introductions first. Despite the filth and the muck and the way these more modern clothes want to stick right to her, Yukina gives a polite bow in return. The smile she wears is slight, faint but not impolite. It's like the two women are meeting at a coffee shop and not with their toes buried in swamp mud.]
I'm Yukina.
[A cry rises up again, likely more familiar now, and the white hawk reappears. Yukina offers a fist up into the air and barely winces as the bird lands on it with a flap or two of his wings. She's more used to doing this with arm coverings at least, not a short-sleeve shirt.]
Have you found dry land yet?
[Another cry. Yukina actually seems to be thinking on the bird's reply, a light frown tugging on her lips. She turns a glance back to Yuri.]
It may be something of a walk.
[Not that the pair have a lot of choice, do they.]
no subject
Her head whips up at the hawk's cry, Yuri watching with barely concealed awe as it lands on Yukina's hand. Doesn't that hurt...??]
Can you understand him? [Her thoughts are along the same line of 'we don't really have a choice,' but she smiles thinly anyhow] That's alright; I used to go hiking quite a bit.
[Granted she had more-or-less proper boots on and wasn't barefoot, but she's sure she'll be relatively alright.] I'm hardy enough, I think. And even if I wasn't... [Yuri shrugs] I'd have to do it anyhow. Which direction? I can answer questions as we walk. [Or whatever. Talk?? How does one small talk. She doesn't know.]
no subject
In a way. I don't really understand how myself. He's been with me some time though.
[And she had always chalked her understanding of the bird to that. They grew up together more or less. At the question of directions the demon looks back to the bird on her fist and addresses him a moment.]
Do you mind showing us the way?
[Another screech rises from Gin-o and Yukina lifts her fist up, the bird launching off at the same time. He beats against the air a moment or so before lifting up on the wind and beginning to drift to the northwest. He stays low enough in the sky where he may be spotted by the pair for now.
Yukina looks back over to Yuri then.]
Northwest for now. We'll mostly be following him unless we come across something we can't pass on foot.
[That said, the woman seems to soften some. She typically keeps such a serious look on her face that she seems a little cold really but at least for the moment she seems gentler if still somehow rigid.]
If you're ever too tired, please tell me. I'm used to walking a great deal as well.
[She sets her mind here and now. While she may not be used to humans, a human is accompanying her. And she owes it to Yuri to protect her as well as she can.]
no subject
So she nods and steels herself for the long trek, beginning to move.] It's not having shoes that will be the worst part. If I had my boots, it'd be easier.
[ViViD sucks.]
Where were you from, Yukina-san? [Since she mentioned being used to walking... Well, yuri figures it's as good an opening as anything to attempt some 'getting to know you' talk]
no subject
[To say the least. No shoes, no weapons and some very skimpy clothing in Yukina's opinion.]
Japan. I'm from a village in the mountains.
[That much information didn't hurt. The name of the village is skipped over after all. It's yet to occur to Yukina that there isn't much anyone can do with such information anyhow though.]
no subject
[Though she does wish she was still wearing something more.]
Mm. I'm much the same. That is-- Japan, at the base of a mountain. Do you know Hida-Takayama? In Gifu.
a link to the overflow - and now i'll use an icon i'll never use otherwise.