December FamMeet

[cleavethetides]

Who: The Grove
What: Town Hall
When: Mid-Late December
Where: Inn Lobby
Warnings: Child death mentions, torture, body horror all probably will be brought up.

[ In the morning, Irene will trek around the Grove to knock on doors and let everyone know she's setting up a information sharing meeting in the Inn's lobby. She figures there would be best, considering the new fireplace (thread pending on my behalf) set up and the fact it's about as safe as they're going to get.

Irene also lets everyone know that any fights and any blatant drama starters will be met with punishment. She doesn't elaborate on this further. Zahliya is invited. Irene tells Moder if she wants to sit by the door to listen, she can. She does not invite the merchant siblings, however - though she'll make no objections if someone else does.

She seems to be writing things down in their shared journals this meeting so people can reference this later. ]

Comments

plant horror, teen death, the usual stick bones horrors.

[oleaeuropaea]

So, uh... Wolfwood and I mighta accidentally wandered off into the woods when we got here? [Accident? No it was intentional but listen. He's not gonna admit to that part out loud.] Like Sesa said, there wasn't any of that nasty fog out there to worry about. That doesn't mean we didn't run into problems though.

Oh, also. Bein' that I'm new here, I might be saying some stuff some folks already know so. Sorry about that. Anyway!

[He flutters his hands around.]

First things first. The trees out there are... real creepy? I accidentally touched one and got smacked in the face with... a memory? It's hard to say. There was snarling, people screaming and. Fire. A lot of fire. And also laughter but... not? They definitely were laughing, but it didn't sound like the fun kind. Like they were crying out, almost?

Probably shoulda turned around after that but... We kept going. And we found a body. It was a girl, pretty young. Pink hair. I wanted to bring her back but - [He trails off here, grimacing.] She had something growing out of her chest. Some kind of bush. And there were others nearby. They all sorta... woke up. Rose Hound-y things, I guess? And we got attacked.

It was pretty bad. I... barely made it out myself. But in the middle of it we... remembered something? Not of us, but of her. That girl. She said we could punch 'em in the noses to disrupt their sense of smells. Not that it does much against a whole pack.

We ended up runnin' after that. And when we started runnin' the fog caught up. It up and poofed the hounds away. I'm pretty sure I heard it say something, too. That they needed to rest. That "we" could have fun later.

[He looks around for a few seconds.] After that, we ran into the big moose with hands and the Gargoyle thing. Uh... Moder and Zahliya? I think you said. Got patched up and here we are.

[He slaps his chest, wincing only when he whacks his fingers on some of the metal plating.]

I think that's all of it. Unless Wolfwood saw anything else?

[lupusxylem]

[Damn it, Vash. Wolfwood has situated himself up by the wall somewhere with the Punisher close by (just in case, emergencies, you know), arms folded across his chest. He's listening, but clearly not actively trying to participate in discussion exactly...at least, until Vash calls him out by name and starts detailing what they saw in the woods. Which is valid, they probably need to know, but. Ugh.

Fortunately, Vash has summed up everything better than he could have anyway. He sort of tilts his head over his shoulder when Vash basically offers him the floor, to which Wolfwood responds eloquently:]

Just a lot of words to say: don't go into the fucking woods.

[oleaeuropaea]

Ehehe... [He scratches at the back of his neck.] Yeah. Pretty much just that. Don't do what we did, yeah?

[lupusxylem]

Ain't like it was for nothing.

[They DID find out some information so................progress?]

[oleaeuropaea]

Just... maybe not worth the cost. W ith some proper preparation, and maybe some time waiting for better weather....

[Have they learned their lesson? Survey says no.]

[cleavethetides]

No shit.

[lupusxylem]

Did you expect me to just play nice and stay here just because I was told to?

[cleavethetides]

I'm sorry, I didn't realize "not being a reckless dumbass" and "playing nice" were the same thing.

[lupusxylem]

[WOW]

Hey, I'm still here, ain't I? And I got information you wouldn't have had otherwise. You're welcome.

[cleavethetides]

Information we could've gotten other ways, you mean? Of course. Silly me.

[ Her tone is So Flat. She's got the look of "I will lock you in your room do not TEST me". ]

Look, I'm not about to fault you for doing something stupid when you didn't know. Just... try to not go charging head first into danger without a modicum of thought next time, okay?

[lupusxylem]

[Haha well ACTUALLY Elsword did warn him, he just ignored it, so. Oops.]

Yes Ma'am. [His answer is sarcastic, because of course it is.] I'm just going to put it out there: I don't intend to just sit on my ass twiddling my thumbs here. That forest can't keep us trapped forever.

[cleavethetides]

It kept others trapped for hundreds upon hundreds of years, so it's kind of infuriating to think it can't hold you for more than a couple of weeks.

No one is asking you to do nothing, I am just asking you to not be reckless about it. You could bring corruption or monsters into the grove if you act without thinking and it'd be putting all of us in jeopardy if that happened. Caring for the well-being of people around you might not be a thing where you're from but I'll rip your thumbs off and shove them inside your ass if you don't at least respect our safety, comprende??

[lupusxylem]

[Wolfwood huffs, clicking his tongue harshly and glancing away. He gets it, but that doesn't mean this whole thing leaves him feeling any less frustrated. He's tired of feeling like a mouse in a cage.

To his credit, he seems to think better of firing back. He never intended to hurt anyone (other than maybe himself), and look where that got him.]

Yeah. Yeah.

[simplicitas]

...

I told you so.

[lupusxylem]

Yeah, yeah.

[He's still pissy about what happened. His shoulder still hurts because the cold makes the scar ache.

It's not fun.]

[succiduous]

[Gnosis listens patiently to everything. Listens, records in his notebook (he's just like this, the Edelweisses were record-keepers back in the day)...

"A girl, pretty young. Pink hair."

He goes pale. The man is already pale, he lives in Furryville Scandinavia after all, but suddenly his normally stoic face twists into wide-eyed shock, and his gaze flits from Vash's face to his notebook to the floor.

Gnosis tightly grips his pen, the feathers on his head puffing up.]

...blue eyes?

[Oh buddy oh man he's having a horrible fucking day.]

[amhran]

[ Concern noises from Caoimhe, she kinda just grips the side of Gnosis's coat a bit like - YEAH THATS HER!!!! ]

[oleaeuropaea]

[Vash looks down. The answer is obvious even before he speaks. Nevertheless, he makes himself swallow and nod.]

Harder to tell because of how long it'd been but. Yeah. Looked pretty blue.

[He sighs.]

I'm sorry. I wanted to bring her. She could have been properly laid to rest and - [Man he just feels terrible now.]

[succiduous]

...no. Don't apologise. I appreciate that someone managed to locate her at all. Most people who leave this place by whatever circumstances aren't often found again. Death is the kindest ending that can happen to you here.

[He stands suddenly, shaking his head.]

Excuse me. I'm going to make tea.

[amhran]

[ Caoimhe covers her face for a moment, holding back any tears. Then, pulls her hand away attempting to shake away any jittery feelings. ]

No... You... Did so much already, thank you for telling us... Thank you so much.

[oleaeuropaea]

I - I know it's not enough. [His eyes fall.]

I'm sorry. I don't really know any of you guys but. Still. I'm sorry.

[amhran]

[ Caoimhe can only offer the palm of her hands. Against his arm - not the mechanical one. She pats it gently, attempting to ground him. Remind him that he is still here, and his presence matters entirely. ]

But you did... You let us know... We will find her, and get that body... We will lay her to rest. If anything, we are so happy you made it back alive. Please... Thank you.

[purifier]

[Garg staring at you from the corner of the room, then very loudly:]

Gargoyle thing?

[oleaeuropaea]

[Oh! There he is. Vash points!]

Yeah! That guy!

[Sorry bud...]

[purifier]

I swear, you children come back ruder and ruder every time!

[POUTING]