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!
[ 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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[In his experience, the ones who'll take the time to examine you are the most dangerous. Naoki's fingers have curled, though the faint flicker of fire dances around his fingers. He watches the marlboro with unblinking yellow eyes.]
...But, hey, it could be our chance.
[His voice lowers, quieter as he says it.]
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All she has at present is her quick reactions and her speed. And she can make use of those in combination with what this man may bring to the table. So her voice lowers in mimic of his own.]
If it has it's eyes on one of us, it can't keep watch of us both. Tell me where to go and I will keep it's attention.
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[His expression immediately goes serious, and there's a watchfulness as he scans the marlboro; a look that belies experience, at the very least. Her giving him the opportunity to instruct her flips a switch too, returning him to the mindset he had to have back where he's from.
Eventually.]
Over there. [He nods to a few sparse trees, sticking up out of the mud.] It should slow it down more if it has things in between you and it.
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[Her expression isn't happiness, sadness or any such over the idea. It's all serious business for now but that was how she always seemed to be in fights.
Once he's directed though it's a firm nod to show she's heard and then it's off she goes. She pushes off from the ground in her crouch without hesitation. She's fast at least and veers just a little to attract the marlboro's attention more before curving toward said sparse trees.
The trees grow somewhat denser the further one travels within and for the moment she'll keep to the ground, pausing just within the tree line to assure herself the creature is following. And it is for now, chiefly because it's damn determined to check up on Yukina's nutritional facts. Who eats unlabeled food in this day and age?]
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Fire is good and all but he knows that using his brute strength will be preferable, he just has to get close enough and not get stuck along the way.
Avoiding the deeper places where his feet will get caught, he crooks his fingers and looks toward the trees where Yukina is. A little more. A little closer.]
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While the moments of dodging tendrils and hopping over tree roots are harrowing somewhere in the back of her mind, she can't dwell on them. Too much had happened today already and she almost welcomes the rush of adrenaline pumping through her now.
The moss on one tree is slick and she slips briefly but recovers with a brief stumble. The creature itself is breaking right on through the trees, now and then howling it's displeasure. It's reducing carbs, not looking for cardio!]
no subject
Naoki feels a twinge of admiration and he pushes his heels harder against the ground, pursuing in earnest now. He's charging at the marlboro's back, his hand reaching until it grasps ever-so-lightly at one of its writhing appendages. And then his fingers dig in, puncturing through with a minimum of force and he kicks off.
He's jumping right on top of it, oh yes, away from that gaping mouth. Luckily it has a lot of footholds for him to clamber up with. Wriggly ones, mind, but if he stabs his hand into its body it's not so hard. And it's here that he does just this, going to stab his hand right inside, spreading his fingers to release a gush of fire, far more than earlier.
kinda gruesome, Naoki, this guy's just trying to be health-conscious jeez]
no subject
It's been flailing, howling and raising up a fuss since Naoki started up him with his variety of handholds. And that sure doesn't stop with the fiery blast. It seems to wither the fight out of the creature and it wilts to the ground with a plume of steam flowing out of it's mouth.
Yukina has bounded a good few paces forward in the meantime, turning once she realizes the creature is no longer chasing her. Smoke drifts from it's mouth and she blinks in surprise toward the man standing atop it now. Had he used his fire on it then? She almost wishes she had turned around in enough time to see but instead mildly chides herself. The important point is the creature is obviously done with these shenanigans and just wants to lay there mourning it's poor choice of fast food if not completely die altogether.
It's around this time too that Gin-o makes his reappearance. The white hawk swoops down from the sky and briefly perches atop the marlboro himself. When he seems satisfied that it isn't about to start moving again, he floats on down toward Yukina herself to settle on her shoulder as the woman breathes out a relieved sigh.]
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[Naoki's descent is marked by that sound, the huffing exhalation; he jumps to the ground, landing with a solid thud. Standing up, he shakes lingering, er, marlboro muck (for lack of a better world) from his hands and looks toward Yukina.
Oh, that hawk is something else. He stares admiringly before giving her a smile and dusting off his hands.]
That takes care of that, huh? You okay?
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By the time the man hops down to the ground, Yukina has to shake off her thoughts as a smile rises up on her lips unbeknownst to her. True to her blunt fashion the demon states the first thing on her mind.]
That was amazing.
[It really is a tone of admiration. Never mind for the moment that she's barefooted in muck and dirty as all get out. She seems to realize in the next moment how that may have sounded and amends her words.]
I mean your flames. I've never seen something quite like them.
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His face ends up going a little pink-- he's not used to hearing something like that so immediately, is all. He feels sheepish about it, bringing his hand to the side of his neck unconsciously.]
Thanks. Where I'm from, there're more demons who can use 'em.
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I don't know of any who can do as much without weaponry.
[Even Chitose's impressive firefly sword found it's sparks and flame from the speed of it being drawn from it's sheath.
That much said Yukina offers a hand out as he seems to sink down some before directing her eyes again to the downed marlboro. At least it seems still but that also means there may be others around. She looks somewhat serious again.]
We should keep moving.
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But yeah, you're right. Before something else comes along with an even bigger mouth than that thing.
[He indicates over his shoulder to the fallen marlboro with a jab of his thumb before starting to move. In truth, Naoki only has a vague idea of where he's actually been before, so he's just kinda winging it.]
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I'm sorry for not being of much aid. I'm not very skilled at hand to hand fighting as of yet. I can spar but I'm afraid I don't have the strength required for greater than that.
[Female demons are always somewhat weaker than males after all. It doesn't mean she's stopped trying of course but her progress is somewhat hampered.
The hawk takes flight then, winging his way back up into the air.]
Gin-o should be able to lead us out or at least point us in the right direction.
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[Naoki sounds puzzled.] That would've been that much rougher to deal with if you hadn't kept its attention. [Credit where credit is due-- where he's from, demons can be powerful regardless of gender.]
And you've even got a friend to help us out.
[He follows the hawk with his eyes.]
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Her eyes follow Gin-o as well for a moment, her voice fond.]
He has always been a very valuable friend.
[That said she does begin to follow the hawk's path, though she can't help but ask another question rolling through her mind.]
You're a demon, I think?
[It's tentative. None of those she knows look quite like he does but he had referenced a demon's abilities. If she were to concentrate she could tell but she's never been particularly good at sensing demons as demons.]
no subject