sticksandbones | EVENT & TDM 014

EVENT & TDM 014

THE OCEAN IS ONLY SCARY IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT

WAKE UP

You open your eyes to a peaceful, beautiful forest. Whatever you were dreaming about — be it something happy, something sad, or something nightmarish — seems secondary to the bright wash of greenery and the comforting, cooling breeze that washes over you. It rustles the leaves of the canopy overhead, disturbing a small nest of two-headed birds who chirp as the sticks for their nests are blown away. A hop, hop, hop later, and they return to continue their building, unbothered by your gaze.

As you walk around, you will find that Aldric’s Grove feels… empty. You pop your head into the inn only to find a fine layer of dust on the furniture, and an ever-burning fireplace refusing to be put out. The General Store is unmanned, the door locked, and the lights inside completely out. The house to the south is abandoned, and a building labelled as a clinic sports no patients. The most life you’ll find lies in the church, where the pigeons see you and swarm at your feet, cooing and asking for breadcrumbs.

Flowers bloom, a deer with a halo of horns skips through the clearing, and a small lizard shaped like a leaf climbs the well. You spend several hours alone… and then from the woods to the east comes a giant capybara and a monstrous moose two stories tall. Upon each of them, they carry a hoard of people coming back from what is clearly a summer vacation, if the inner tubes, swimwear, and overwhelming stench of sunscreen are anything to go by.

Maybe the people dismounting the two animals will be nice enough to greet you and tour you around. It’s the least they can do, since you were excluded from the vacation activities.

NOT A MOMENT OF PEACE

It’s still early in the month when a cacophony occurs; an enormous crocodile with too many eyes, known simply as “The Behemoth” suddenly rushes out of the river in a panic as some kind of blue, veinlike latticework covers the surface of it, nearly trapping her within it. It spreads across the entire length of the river from east to west, creeping onto the shoreline up to the church and across the back of the home to the south. When touched, it stings bad enough to paralyse the nervous system, and after making contact for too long while you’re unable to move? Death is imminent, unless someone saves you.

The Behemoth certainly doesn’t try to, too occupied plonking around on land to look for something to do while she can’t go into the water. She won’t attack anyone, but she’s normally searching for a meal, if you don’t mind sharing a snack. As for the other supernatural creatures in the Grove…

Ever since that latticework covered the river, the moose monster — Moder — and the gargoyle that sits on the church’s roof — Zahliya — have only stared and scrutinized. One wrong move, one fight with another resident of the Grove, means either of them are getting up to deal with the problem. It seems that they’re waiting for someone here to show the wrong hand, suspicious of everyone — including those who have been here for over a year at this point. And the second one toe is out of line? Either of them are willing and ready to kill.

Though the suspicion of the Guardians doesn’t wear off and won’t any time soon, the blue gunk covering the river disappears at the end of the first week of July, and it’s anyone’s guess what’ll happen for the rest of the month.

UNDER THE SEA

cw: thalassophobia
What happens is pretty simple if you don’t think about it: Another week passes in peace, and then a disembodied voice somewhere in the woods says, “You guys still smell like seawater and sand, and it’s putting me off of my lunch,” and if you’re new and haven’t gone to the beach yet and have no idea what the voice is talking about… too bad, you’re being lumped in with the crowd. Being lumped in also includes, well… a burst of magic, the sound of fingers snapping, and a loud splash of water. When you next open your eyes…

You’re underwater in some kind of reinforced metal base, one thousand meters under the sea, and something is slamming against the outside of it in an attempt to get in and — presumably — eat you alive. If anyone finds the on-board torpedoes in the command room in time, you might be able to kill the creature before it breaks through the hull and kills everyone inside. And with that hopefully taken care of…

Welcome to your new home for the next two weeks. Your only objective is to survive. There are several rooms here dedicated to underwater research, a bedroom with enough uncomfortable single-person beds for everyone (sadly glued to the floor, too), and a “cafeteria” type room that you can eat in. While the seabase comes equipped with supplies — torpedoes, enough rations to last for everyone but not enough for big eaters to eat big, diving suits and oxygen tanks, and underwater planter boxes growing strange fruits — it may take some effort on your part to ensure that survival is guaranteed. After all, the hungry leviathans know exactly where you are, whether you go outside of the base or not. Water, of course, may pose an issue; there’s no way to filter the seawater here, so the bottled water you have is all you’ll get.

Should you venture out, make sure you’re equipped with the proper gear first. Those of you who cannot swim should probably stay indoors, as there are no fancy vehicles to take you anywhere. Those of you capable of going out may consider braving the danger in search of additional supplies… or perhaps you’re just curious about the ecosystem. You’ll be here for two weeks, after all, there must be something to do. Travel far enough from the base and you’ll find the skeletal remains of something far larger than the Grove itself… and if you’re not careful, a monstrous, snakelike thing who wants you for dinner.

Try not to lead it back to the base for the others to deal with. Who knows how kindly people will take to that?

AN OMINOUS RETURN

As always, when one of the Forest’s “games” ends and you’re returned to the surface when the magic wears off, there’s a reward waiting for you. This reward isn’t as obvious, however. The fog wall is, for the most part, rolled pretty far back. The folks that have been here before may expect to see it revealing more of the trees, or showing off some new area that hasn’t been accessible yet, but the Grove remains quiet upon return. The Guardians, too, have little to say. Normally, they’d be a little more overjoyed at your return… alas.

No, the “reward” for surviving — or blowing up the base immediately and dying, either way — is that the fog wall obscuring the lake ever so slowly rolls back. From within it, something jumps out, a dark black shape, and disappears into the forest.

…

Perhaps you’ll see whatever it is another time.

SPARK NOTES

CLICK TO EXPAND!

WAKE UP

Welcome to the empty Aldric's Grove! ...oh, here come the people, back from summer vacation! Hey hello.

NOT A MOMENT OF PEACE

The river and shoreline near it are messed up for a week. The Guardians are suspicious of everyone here. The Behemoth is taking big steppies around the Grove asking nicely for food. A week passes, and the Guardians are still suspicious of everyone. Yaaaay.

UNDER THE SEA

And then, everyone was trapped underwater in a seabase, made to survive the horrors of the open deep sea. Watch out for leviathans! And try not to eat and drink all of the rations immediately; that's all you'll get.

AN OMINOUS RETURN

Your reward for playing in yet another of the Forest's games is the fog wall over the lake rolling back. Of course, what jumped out of it and ran off into the woods could either be your greatest boon, or your biggest nuisance. It all depends on you.

OOC

Happy summer! This is a reminder that TDMs are considered game canon. For your threads, feel free to make up your own leviathans/weird fish/whatever you want for spice, or just steal from Subnautica, it's all good. OOC Plotting Lives Here if you'd like to plot anything out!

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[If Wolfwood ashed that cigarette onto the flowers Flamebringer would've just immediately thrown hands. As it is, he's heavily considering it, very gradually side-stepping to bring them elsewhere. Just in case, y'know.]

I don't see their owner anywhere around here if that's the case. What, you think I'm going to kill them?

[He kills people! Not plants. Easy to get confused though.]

There's no point in killing something that isn't ready for it. [And then he does that stupid aggressive man chin-point thing, you know where they bob their heads like bearded dragons.] I gave you my name. Are you gonna do the honourable thing and give me yours?

...Wolfwood.

[You know. Even stupider than Flamebringer, which he just throwed shade at. It's Very Likely Wolfwood just gave himself the name, since Nicholas was the only real name he ever had growing up.

Either way, fine. He'll step away from the flowers because they're Ain's and he actually cares about whether they get ruined or not, but that doesn't mean he's doing it for this guy or anything. If anything, he's already pissed off just by the way he's behaving at the jump.]

How am I supposed to know? I ain't seen you around here before, and I come up to you rootin' around in 'em for no reason.

[Yeah that's a Kazdelian merc name if he's ever heard one, but this guy is clearly like Ash and her crew. He's definitely not Terran, that's for sure.]

I'm taking care of 'em, asshole.

[The watering can? The shears? Do they LOOK harmed Wolfwood?]

What, are they yours? Is that why you're getting your panties in a twist over it?

[Wolfwood clicks his tongue derisively, leaning forward on the balls of his feet. These two are Posturing, if anyone happens to walk by and notice them talking they'd be like "are they okay over there".]

They belong to someone who'd be real upset if you were fuckin' with 'em.

[He almost said "Friend". Phew, that was close.

Anyway even Wolfwood knows he's...getting a little too heated over what is ultimately nothing, Flamebringer IS obviously taking care of the plants here, but Wolfwood is grumpy and looking for a fight. Plus he's feeling particularly protective of Ain right now so-]

So maybe you should take a hint and fuck off.

[The fucking smirk Flamebringer wears at that, all toothy and snarly, as he swings his (sheathed) katana up over his shoulder. He's not going to take it out for some fucking guy, but he's prepared to bean said guy with it still in the case if he has to.]

Do they, now? Someone important to you? [Unfortunately the testosterone in this area is Way Too High, Flamebringer isn't backing off either.] What — like a girlfriend?

[Sorry for assuming you're straight]

[It is genuinely hilarious the way Wolfwood actually bristles at the assumption he's straight. Not the assumption that whoever planted these is his "girlfriend", but that he's straight. Lord help him.]

Watch your mouth. My boyfriends would take offense to that.

[Boyfriend...singular, probably still as of this thread but they're Working On It, but he's not correcting himself because to do so would hurt too much, it's fine he can have many theoretical boyfriends.]

Anyway, don't matter. Am I gonna have to tell you twice?

[The way his eyes light up like he's onto something...]

Yeah? Which boyfriend did all this work you're so protective of?

[Wolfwood, you're gonna have to tell him twice.]

[Wolfwood bristles even more, only this time it's accompanied by an angry(?) flush to his cheeks.]

I said fuck off.

[And since he's trying not to start a brawl in the petunias (and at least knows better than to draw his gun on the man), he'll use the broad side of his forearm to shove Flamebringer back.]

[Of course he takes that step back, catching himself on his heel while his tail lashes behind him. He puts one hand up, the empty one, in a "whoa whoa" kind of way even though he's the one prompting this.

By now, they've at least shuffled off in front of the inn, so the flowers aren't in immediate danger.]

Easy, big guy. You don't seem like you wanna die today.

[The katana is still sheathed, but he's no longer holding it Casually over his shoulder. He is, in fact, holding it downwards like he Might try to smack a bitch with it.]

[Wolfwood wishes he had the Punisher on him. He's going to start carrying it around everywhere again solely so he can beat people up with it.

Anyway, all he has on him is his pistol, and. Like. He COULD pistol whip him with it. He could do that. He doesn't draw it yet, but he could-]

Cute you think you could kill me.

[He could! Wouldn't be the first time lbr.]

Cute that you think I can't.

[Flips his sword around in his hand so that the pointed — but not sharp — end of the sheath is facing Wolfwood directly, rather than the backwards way he was carrying it before, and just

tilts his chin up with the tip of it. Hey.]

Are you a worthy enough opponent, I wonder...?

[Hi? Hello???

Wolfwood doesn't even have time to go for his gun, really. Suddenly, he's met with the end of that sword- sheathed, mind, but still quite dangerous in the hands of someone skilled, which he has to assume this guy is if he wants to respect the literal blade being wielded here- and without even thinking he tilts his head back along with the tip of the sword, his teeth grit as he snarls.]

Guess that depends. You want a fight?

[Pleaseeeee want a fight he wants to bite and bite and bite and-]

[Damn, Flamebringer barely has an idea of who this guy and his multiple boyfriends even are really, but he's already whistling at the feistiness. Like alright, go off. You're gonna get yourself killed with that attitude, pick your battles and all but go off—]

I need a warmup.

[Because that's all Wolfwood is gonna be to him. A warmup.]

I'm not shedding blood over the flowers, though. [Lets Wolfwood's chin drop and rolls his shoulders.] And you're barely armed.

[...

Wolfwood remember your thera-]

Give me a chance to get my weapon then, smartass.

[Puts the tip of his katana against the dirt underneath his feet and shrugs.]

Sure. I'll wait here... but if you run away, I'll be disappointed.

[Sits on the edge of the well while he waits like :)]

Edited 2024-07-06 02:12 (UTC)

[Wolfwood scoffs, but he doesn't say anything more just yet. He just turns to head for the church, which is where he keeps the Punisher these days since he's not always home. It sits at the altar as if it belongs there, like a real crucifix in a Catholic church, only this one is much, MUCH more deadly if you end up on the wrong end of it. It's still wrapped up, and he decides to keep it that way as he hauls it back, slung over one shoulder with one of the belts wrapped around his hand.

Only when he's come back does he unsnap the belts and let the cloths fall away, revealing the full brunt of the gun with the silver skull in the center, the etching all up and down the sides making it abundantly clear this is a firearm even when it hasn't been fully triggered.

Then, just to be an extra show-off, he spins the gun over his shoulders until it lands propped up properly against his back, aimed in Flamebringer's direction. Granted, he's not going to shoot because bringing a gun to a sword-fight is kindof unfair, but that does not mean he won't beat the shit out of him with it.]

Hope you're still reach for that fight you asked for, bitch.

[Wolf-whistling deployed. This, at least, makes Flamebringer hop off the edge of the well and actually unsheathe his blade, which.

Guess what it's on fucking fire already. You could say that the— that the— the blade brings the flame—]

The Laterans would love that thing.

[Listen. Flamebringer has been shot before. He's been hit with W's grenades, the Lateran Notarial Hall wants him dead, he craves battle at any one moment. Being shot with a giant fuckoff cross gun is not going to scare him, it's only going to make him hornier i mean what]

C'mon. [And then he flips his own sword around in his grip, an arc of flame briefly obscuring him as he swaps it into his other hand and does the "come at me" finger waggle.] Better make it count.

Edited 2024-07-06 02:39 (UTC)

[I mean listen if he WANTS to get shot with the Punisher Wolfwood will gladly make it happen. He just doesn't want to accidentally kill the guy and spark another massive conflict across the grove about it. But hey, he's done nothing but make bad decisions lately, so!!

Seeing the sword come out, seeing it coated with flames...yeah, okay, this is serious then. Well good thing both of them are fighters then, or this could get really ugly real quick. Ideally they won't actually kill each other but, like, who the fuck knows at this point.

How kind of Flamebringer to give the sharpshooter the first shot, truly.

Because Wolfwood decides he's going to show Flamebringer what he's messed with by swapping the gears on the Punisher, aiming the barrel far enough from Flamebringer so that he isn't actually in danger of getting shot, but will feel the fear of God about it regardless, and peppering the wall he was just standing against with a brief barrage of bullets.

It is scarily accurate for a machine gun. Like, the bullet pattern is super tight. If Wolfwood wanted this man dead, he would be.]

[The way Flamebringer just casually tilts to the side as the bricks behind him get pummelled and shrapnel flies from the stone and bullets alike probably says a lot about the man: He doesn't fear death. It's not that he intends to kill Wolfwood either — there's a time and place for death, and a peacocking spat is not it — but if Flamebringer dies, he dies. It's not like he's got long left anyway.

Anyway, no fear of God for this man. He lacks the rapid regeneration capabilities of someone like, say, Livio — but what he lacks in regenerative abilities he makes up for in sheer ability to simply fuck shit up and live in the moment, and that's gotta count for something.

Flamebringer isn't going to give Wolfwood many more openings, though. He crouches low like a cat about to pounce, tail whipping back and forth, and then uses the damn wall of all things as a launchpad for the sheer force with which he comes lurching at Wolfwood. There's a single fake-out strike to the left that doesn't connect, and then a heavy overhead strike with two hands. If Wolfwood doesn't dodge or block it, it's gonna cut pretty harshly into his shoulder.]

[Shit, this guy is fucking fast. The Punisher's one drawback is it does take a few seconds to rev up and down, being a machine gun and all, so the moment between cycles is just enough time for the guy to make his move, and move he does. Wolfwood is half prepared for it since he was bracing for something, prompting him to jump back just in time to quite literally avoid getting his body cleaved from the hollow of his neck through his shoulder. He's certain this man doesn't have the strength to bisect someone with a katana only (probably???) but he isn't wanting to stick around to test that theory.

Either way, the blade catches him even if it's more of a gash than anything deep enough to need stitches. He hisses audibly at the sound of his blazer ripping through, the sharpened blade slicing one quick, clean cut before Wolfwood manages to get out of the way entirely, playing dirty by kicking at Flamebringer's gut with the heel of his good foot to try to push him back.

And he is not firing the gun, if he can get Flamebringer back in his range. This time, he is swinging the fucking thing at him like a sledgehammer, just wholesale trying to whallop him with the broad side of it.]

[Probably (source needed). Flamebringer is one of those characters who can kill you in one hit in lore, but as a unit in the game he's like mehhhh. Thanks Arknights.

Playing dirty is absolutely allowed. The kick to the gut hits, and he's not surprised by it — unlike a lot of the Reunion people he cut down in front of W years ago, this guy actually knows his shit. It makes the battle that much more entertaining to him; he's the sort to get bored when no one matches his own ability or, say, lands a hit on him. The least people can do is give him a good time, after all; that's the point of battle.

Finally, ~~some good fucking food~~ a worthy opponent.

The barrel connects, too, and he gets walloped as intended, though it doesn't send him flying like Wolfwood may be used to. He instead skids across the soil with his blade pressed into it, sparks flying from the tip as he widens his stance and tries not to fall over. Two strong men with the same personality and bad habits meet what crimes will they commit (it's violence!)

That said, getting whapped with a fucking heavy-ass machine gun does leave visible bruising all up the side of Flamebringer's arms and torso, and it does briefly stun him. Briefly being the operative term, because while he's recovering, he is zooming back at Wolfwood again to close the short distance between them, this time to try and lock their ankles and trip the gunman, following that with another slash no matter if Wolfwood falls or not.]

[The fact he connects two hits on the guy feels so good after all the shit talking he's been doing. Ain't so tough now, are you?

Of course, Wolfwood knows better than to get cocky. Cockiness gets you killed, and Flamebringer has proven he will swing this blade with deadly accuracy. Maybe not deadly intent, but he's willing to flay him open a little to get his point across.

Unfortunately for Wolfwood, Flamebringer just so happens to aim for his one weak point. He locks ankles with his prosthetic leg, and though it's briefly completely unyielding in a way that is probably very confusing, it hits Wolfwood a second later and he fucking crumples like a wet piece of cardboard, hitting the ground hard on his side just in time to feel that blade whizz past overhead. It actually sheers off a few centimeters of hair from somewhere in his bangs, but it's not like he's ever had a normal looking haircut to begin with. No one will notice.]

Shit-!

[The Punisher, lucky for Wolfwood, is too heavy to go spinning very far at all on grass. If they were on a different surface, that might be a different story. But it's still with him, and while it's extremely difficult to get much leverage while on the ground, he can at least swing the thing off and fire another warning shot, though this time if a bullet or two does connect non-fatally, well, that was your own dumb fault-]

Edited 2024-07-06 04:28 (UTC)

[The blade is on fire, now it smells like burnt hair too. Delicious. Don't let those flames tickle your skin too closely Wolfwood, they still burn, and they're still very capable of setting things on fire even if Flamebringer is capable of controlling them.

That said, he doesn't even try to dodge. Bigass gun pointed nonlethally at him? Sure whatever, he is not fucking moving even as an entire chunk of his thigh is shot clean through. There's a feral, absolutely unhinged glint in those orange eyes, the flames of his blade reflecting off of them. He doesn't even shout in pain or flinch; the hit goes off and Flamebringer simply swaps his blade to his other hand and tries to slice Wolfwood's arm cleanly about it.

Not off! But enough to try to get him to drop the damn gun. He can have his arm still.]

[Wolfwood isn't afraid of a little fire. Though, he should be more afraid, since he doesn't have an instant-burn-cure in the form of his vials here with him. He can't fight as recklessly as he used to, because that's just a recipe for getting himself killed.

Case in point. This guy has managed to lock in on the one crutch he has, and now he's struggling to regain ground, much less get back up. He thought, genuinely, that the shot actually connecting would get Flamebringer to back off.

...it does not. And suddenly, it feels like he's fighting against Razlo all over again. Some of his confident swagger fades, his smile going slack ever so slightly, just in time for his eyes to watch as that blade comes down in what feels like slow motion, when in reality it only takes half a second for Flamebringer to get his arm good.

He does not lose his arm, no. Thank fucking Christ. But it is much deeper than the hit to his shoulder, sinking in with an audible sound that makes him cry out in mingled pain and rage. His pain tolerance is stupid high, so he can handle it...but fuck him, that might need stitches.

But true to what Flamebringer was hoping for, he loses his grip on the Punisher because of it.

...but that doesn't mean he lacks his other arm, which is quickly pulling his pistol from the holster underneath his blazer. Not to shoot, but to actually try to pistol-whip the asshole to get him off.]

[Good news for Wolfwood: Unlike Razlo, Flamebringer cannot regenerate, and so he will be backing off here shortly. The fact that he's not dodging right now says a lot — he's too into the fight to care, the battle is fun, and though your average man might value his life, Flamebringer does not. This has its drawbacks, naturally, and so that pistol whip briefly stuns him. Enough so that it causes the adrenaline surge through his body to halt briefly and for the pain from, y'know, having a part of his leg blown out to hit him.

It does not stop him from grinning, but he does stumble back. This will give Wolfwood room to get back up while Flamebringer quite literally cauterizes that wound, though in the longrun that won't do anything. There's a hole in his fucking leg, that's not going to stay closed.]

Haaaha, all you gun-wielding sorts fight exactly the same.

[But so do Sarkaz with swords, so.]

Get up if you're still champing at the bit for more.

[you both need a doctor—]

EVENT & TDM 014

yeah and they will be weirdly homoerotic too

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