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.
[ 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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iv-b
It isn't the only thing that's provided her with information but it has confirmed what she already knows. There are two Uzumakis present. There are two Uchihas present. She needs to find them before they find one another and be ready to act as mediator between any possible conflict. All she needs to do is actually find them.
Easier said than done. It wasn't as if they went around announcing their names every time they got in a fight with someone right? (So maybe that was just Naruto who did that)
She pauses, hearing the sudden downpour of water being wrung out of clothing. Was it another newcomer? Sakura turns to greet them with a fake smile and oh-! ]
Naruto? [ No, it can't be. ]
1/2!
Would peope stop calling me tha--!
no subject
Nothing he can do about that now.
Taking off the soaked jacket so he can continue to ring the water out angrily, he changes the yelling to childish passive aggression instead. ]
You've got the wrong Uzumaki, 'ttebasa
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I do? [ That's good, she thinks as she looks him over. He can't be much older than she was whenever she left Konoha for the first time so maybe he's been on a mission already. ]
You must be... Bore-uto? [ Sorry for the emphasis, Sakura's just reciting what she saw on the board. ] That's even better. You see, I've been looking for you.
no subject
He shakes out his coat to let the last bits of water droplets fly off the end, holding up to determine if he can stand having the now more heavily damp than soaking wet fabric on his shoulders. Apparently this is more important than being looked for, since he doesn't really look back over to her as he responds. ]
Why's that?
no subject
I believe your life is in danger so I need you to stay with me a little while, okay?
[ At least she's polite enough to offer a hand. ] My name is Sakura Haruno. I'm a medic-nin from Konoha and a teammate of someone who would be very interested in meeting you.
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If you're talking about T-- ... Naruto-san, I've already met him.
[ He goes to shake some water out of his ear, pulling off Sasuke's headband as he does so that it doesn't fall off. ]
This place is real weird, but seriously? Danger? From what?
no subject
What was that? ] A number of things.
[ Murder robots isn't at the top of her list but it seems to be the topic of the past week, at least. ]
I know you're capable because you have proof of your strength in your hand there. [ A little flattery and honesty won't hurt, so she starts with that. ] But you're learning how to work in a team correct?
There's strength in numbers. If we stick together, we can get the rest of the shinobi from our village to join us when we find them. [ Just not Sasuke. He is currently not invited. ]
no subject
This was already exhausting. Adding more people to the list made him feel nauseas for sure.
But, if it's as dangerous as she's making it sound - and he trusts Sakura to not over exaggerate - then did he have a right to argue? ]
... Alright. But I want to find my team mate first. I know she's here, I saw her name on that board, and if this place is dangerous, she shouldn't be alone.
no subject
Boruto's request didn't strike her as odd either. There were a number of names on that board that she couldn't recognize however. Was it possible that one of them was his teammate? ]
I can agree with that. [ Nodding her head, it's a good idea. ] If she's around your age, then she should be a priority. I can trust my teammates to handle themselves--[ Okay, that's kind of a lie but she's putting on a strong front here!!! ]--all on their own so let's put our best efforts into locating your teammate.
no subject
This is, of course, all while Sakura's talking, and probably makes him look like a giant brat. Which is the most honest representation of himself all day. Lucky Sakura. ]
She's pretty good at being conspicuous if she feels like she's in danger. Which I'm pretty sure she'll assume right off the bat without the extra warning. She's pretty good at being cynical. [ Realistic considering they've been kidnapped, but hey. ]
no subject
They still have their headbands on after all. ] Don't worry, I promise we'll find her. There's not many places for a person her age to go here.
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Plus, if Sarada got pissed at him for telling, he really didn't want to have a black eye on top of everything else. ]
What if she ends up just showing back up here after she finds her way out of that place and we're busy looking elsewhere?
no subject
If we're going to start looking, we better get a move on.
[ Logically, someone might just end up here once they were out of ViViD but what if his teammate was already here before him? Sakura rather look around than try to make idle conversation with someone she barely knew. Keep herself busy.
So sorry kiddo, she's brushing that suggestion off. ]
no subject
He trudges after her, shoes making small squishing noises as he walks. ]
Is there a place to dry off near by? [ It sounds like whining, but he swears it's got purpose. Other than to get him a dry coat. ]