You know what everyone needs after rampant robotic attacks and another iteration of clone wars? A vacation! That’s right everyone, you deserve this. CERES understands what you need. CERES is here for you all the time, so never doubt that this is a pleasure colony, and they are here to look after all of your needs. Kick your feet up, relax, and let CERES Recreation and Activity Necessity Keepers (Team RANK, that is) set you up with your ideal getaway.
It’s as if you can sense the incoming relaxation and luxury before you even completely finish loading. There’s the warmth encompassing your entire body as your code gets transferred into this particular ViViD Level. A cool, refreshing breeze hits you. The sounds of waves gently lapping against the coast fill you with relaxation. The sun, the sand, the surfs, it’s all there – welcome to the beach, baby!
An echoing greeting message from the ocean comes next, if you can translate it.
 OOOOOOOOOOOOHMAHH GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHD.
YOOOOOOOOOOOORRRALL SOOOOOOOOOOOOO KYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT.
KYOOOOOOOOOOOT EEEENAAAAUUUUUUUF TOOOOOOOOOOOOO EEEEEEEEEEEEEEET.
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PHASE I [ 08 00 ] That said, isn’t that breeze a little… too strong? It feels like it’s brushing up against all of you, if you know what I mean. When you open your eyes and look down, it becomes rather clear why. It seems that you’ve found yourself in some pretty interesting attire. Everyone. No exceptions. You appear to have two options – be overcome and scream like the Victorian maiden your heart says you are, or strut like a model in this stuff. Turn some heads! Work that up do!
But don’t worry, we’re also conscious about safety here at CERES! Therefore everyone’s also been provided a pair of super high-tech safety-tested appendage protection floatation devices (STAPFD for short.)
At least everyone around you is caught in the same sort of attire – and everyone around you also appears to be stuck inside a giant sand castle. It’s entirely malleable to what you want it to be! Want to see a fancy sand bidet? Feel like adding a sand statue in your honor? Think that wall should now be a door? Well, with enough perseverance, you can make it happen!
Just uh, be careful about getting sand in your… everywhere.
PHASE II [ 1000 ] Someone broke it. Not pointing any fingers, even though you sure do seem like a prime suspect, but someone broke it.
It almost starts like an earthquake with how the castle starts to rumble, the sand shaking right beneath your feet. And then the walls right next to you start to cave in followed promptly by the ceiling right… above your head. Oh dear. The sand starts to run and fall, losing its structure and shape. The hallway behind you starts to cave in, ceiling first and then the walls follow suit. Now the sand really is getting everywhere – but not just uncomfortable places. It’s in your hair, your eyes, your nose…. this sure doesn’t seem like a pleasant way to go!
Best to start running – there’s a trusty drawbridge to get over the moat (because what’s a sandcastle without a moat?) but who knows how long until that, too, is going to give way? Best to cross over it before it starts to shake and disappear too. Or if you don’t make it, hopefully you can land some pretty impressive airtime to make it to the other side!
If not, well...there'll be the sensation of sand crushing down upon you, filling your mouth and eyes, and you won't be able to breathe at all – and then you're alive again on the beach (but possibly in yet another new, uncomfortable, skimpy swimsuit). Honestly, be more careful, would you?
PHASE III [ 1200 ] However, once you do make it to the other side, it’s all smooth sailing from there! Or is it? Hah, as they say, life sure can be a beach.
Which is what this is.
Welcome to your Beach Episode, folks. Now that you’ve made it out of the collapsing sand castle, you’ve made it to the luxurious, picturesque golden coastline. Sure, you’re coughing up fine, luxurious, sand dust right now and you’ve definitely gotten sand in all of your crevices thanks to your swimsuit, but that’s okay! Go take a soak in the ocean or something or cool off with a smoothie. There’s a smoothie shack off into the distance, complete with a long chalkboard with… well, probably a few familiar names? And some unfamiliar ingredients. Sounds appetizing right?
That said, once you do ingest some of the smoothie with the name of a newcomer, you might suddenly find yourself feeling a bit… different. You’ll be taking on some of their traits, one of the most intense parts of their personality – or you might need to take a second to sit down because you’re suddenly seeing one of their memories. Whoa. What do they actually put in this stuff?
PHASE IV [ 1500 ] For the brave souls that venture out into the water, you have even more adventures waiting for you. Anyone who’s swimming around, wading in the water—hell, even looking at the water is getting scooped up and deposited in one of these giant orbs. But don’t take up too much room, because someone else is getting shoved right in there with you. Time to get cozy with your new friend, because it's only going to get worse as the waves begin to carry you out into this big, blue, virtual ocean. Hopefully the choppy waves don’t bounce you around too much or – well, you could always get really friendly with a stranger! Why not?
At least until it’s made very clear that fresh air does not make it back into these balls. That seems like a bit of a design flaw. Now what? Fight the other person who’s inhaling all your air? Suffer through it for swimsuit-clad fun? Or if you break it…. well, you sure are stranded out in the ocean. Or are you?
After enough flailing, you’ll be met by a giant, dumb-looking creature who will then eat you whole.
Everything goes dark. This is surely the end --
And then you're in Cerealia proper; it seems that was the exit to the level (but why there?) and you'll find yourself either in one of the fountains or the pond in the park. Either way, you'll be very, very well. And this time, that's not virtual. But hey, at least you'll have all of your stuff with you.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Do you hear that?
Anyone idle on the beach will hear a distant melody coming from further out into the ocean. It’s a beautiful, elegant song that automatically makes the listener stop what they’re doing and immediately wander toward the noise. It takes you a moment to recall – it takes a moment to think about anything now, really – but you remember hearing the smoothie shack owner say something about mermaids populating the beach. Could this be their song calling out to you? Whether you would normally abide by this kind of call or not, you find your feet walking further and further out into the water, the shallows lapping up to your ankles and up and up as you are drawn in by the song.
A rather classic song, though the usual instances of French are also replaced with the very enticing, enchanting nonsense promise of omelette du fromage........and then they try to drown you.
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IV
I'm uninjured.
[ He replies, keeping the smile in place hoping its presence will belay his peaceful intentions otherwise... these are close quarters and if she hits like Sakura... He would prefer not to lose blood in the water where any predator can catch the scent of it. ]
no subject
[She looks up and around then, carefully pushing away so she can sit up without rocking the bubble too much. Maybe if she thinks like a ninja, she can move like a ninja, even if the only ninja she has to base this off of is like. Lee... But at least there's Neji to fall back on to imitate.
Anyway.
The bubble thing continues to rock wit the waves, but at least she's not falling all over this guy now and she sighs lightly.] Now that that's taken care of... This bubble is getting further and further from shore. [She can barely see it now; she should probably be a bit more panicked about that, but mostly she's just inconvenienced.]
no subject
We can walk back.
[ He offers, and to further emphasize his point a light green glow begins to concentrate on his hands and feet as he starts to get up. The chakra at his extremities keep him attached to the wall of the bubble but the distribution of weight begins to take its toll and the bubble starts to move in his direction being the heavier of the two. ]
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[She looks over then and cuts herself off in surprise, both because of the glow and because she definitely slides a little his way as the bubble shifts. She squeaks in surprise and presses her hands to the bubble to try and hold herself in place.]
Is that chakra? Are you a ninja too? [She seems to perk up a little at that fact; her default neutral expression softens and there's a hint of a smile. It's useful and way more than she could currently offer.]
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I am. [ He answers before asking: ] How do you know about chakra?
[ During his previous stay he'd quickly learned that ninjas weren't a common commodity here so how did she know? Again, Lee's name came to mind, but he didn't want to assume. ]
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[Which is sort of a lie because she's accidentally perused Lee's memories before and seen snippets here and there of other people, but that would take a lot more explaining than Yuri wants to deal with currently.]
I'm... assuming you're from the same world as them, anyhow. Am I wrong?
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Your assumption is correct. [ He nods in her direction, tilting his head down before placing a hand pulsing with chakra on the bubble encasing them.]
Can you swim?
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I can. [Thankfully. Her eyes flick up to the shore that's getting more and more distant.] I assume you have something up your sleeve that involves more than just 'pop the bubble and hope we can swim to shore.'
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[ The chakra in his hands suddenly disappears as he stops using it to stick himself to the bubble but instead transfers it back into his body to enhance his strength and -- he punches through the bubble. His chakra manipulation isn't anywhere near as good as Sakura's but he's not Naruto either. This, at least, he can do. He quickly moves to grab her hand to pull her through the opening before it collapses on top of them. When they're out and back on the ocean, Sai is left standing on the water while a light green hue of chakra covers the bottom of his soles. ]
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Well, no time to argue, since he's popping the bubble and pulling her along. She almost gasps out a warning, instinctively recoiling from the touch and steeling her control on her powers. It's a good thing too, since she doesn't feel like letting go now, gripping his hand tightly and moving close in fear that moving away might send her plummeting through the water.
She stares down at the water and then at Sai, eyes wide] This is amazing.
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Please climb on top of me.
[ It would be easier to maneuver if she rode on his back. That way he could run back to shore without having her drag in the water. ]
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It also feels weird because so far only Lee's carried her like this. And given the amount of skin-to-skin contact this is going to generate... But, Yuri's practical at least. She can see the pros to this outweighs the cons and her own discomfort.
Dammit.]
I hope you're fast. [She takes a deep breath, steels herself again, and climbs onto his back, though a bit stiffly. She really doesn't want to be holding onto him for more than she needs to!!
This is so uncomfortable w h y]
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So, when she climbs on, Sai makes sure to secure his hold on her and begins the long trek back to shore. ]
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Sai's mind is also a little...
Well. Actually.
Yuri had thought she'd be creeped out by the bit she's subconsciously picking up. The surface is blank, enough so that at first she thought her powers just simply weren't working for once, leaving her blissfully quiet. When she actually picked up that, no, her powers were working just fine, it was Sai himself who was 'empty,' she grew curious.
Not curious enough to start delving deeper, mostly because she's wasn't sure if he'd be able to tell and partly because she was wary of her own control. Still, she makes a note to ask Lee and Neji about this guy later.
She sits up a little suddenly as she becomes aware of a problem and tilts her mouth close to his ear, as if concerned whatever she's sensing below the waves will catch on that she's aware if she speaks too loudly.]
There's something big under the water. I think it's tracking us.
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It's been following us since we escaped the pod.
[ He confirms. There's no reason to lie when she can clearly sense it. Without his ink, he can't take to the skies so he went with outrunning it instead. ]
It will catch up with us soon.
[ He adds more chakra to his feet to increase his speed. As he modifies his plan. ]
no subject