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sticksandbones2023-04-06 08:03 pm
- !event,
- !tdm,
- elsword: add,
- elsword: elsword,
- final fantasy vii remake: aerith gainsbo,
- final fantasy xv: noctis lucis caelum,
- my hero academia: izuku midoriya,
- nier automata: 9s,
- original: felicity morais,
- original: hyacinth,
- original: rennuid tathviel,
- spy x family: yor forger,
- summertime rendering: shinpei ajiro
TDM 001
Whatever you remember last, something interrupts - be it a fight, a test, a walk, or death itself. All you can recall is a childlike voice (or was it voices?) asking, "Do you want to play with me?" before everything stopped. Your eyelids feel heavy, and the surrounding air is chilled. When you wake up, you and the others find yourselves standing in a makeshift plaza on a foggy morning. In the very center is a well. The water within is cold and clear as can be.
Surrounding the clearing is a ring of what looks to be the foundations of buildings never finished, save for two rather large ones and a smaller one. Only the small building has any light shining from the windows. One is labeled as an inn but has no name, and the other is an imposing, large manor with a red dog quietly scratching at the door. Given the indents on the wood, he's been at it for a very long time. Beyond the buildings is the start of a forest, though it quickly fills up with a fog so thick you can't see through it at all.
The smaller building is simply signed as a general store. A thick figure stands in the doorway, layered in brown and dark red cloaks that cover most of his body, save for brown worker's gloves and his pants. Two blue lights shine from the shadows where his face would be, and they shift as they watch you... before he turns around and takes his seat at the counter of the store. It's open, but he doesn't seem too thrilled.
There's a gap in the fog in the south east corner of it all, and you can hear the flow of water if approached. Trying to force your way through the fog lets you move forward four feet before you hit an invisible wall, while trying to go up- be it flight or climbing- sees you thwarted twenty feet above the canopy with a similar experience. Those above will see only the tree tops and a dense, heavy fog, and a cloudy, cold sun-lit sky. Through your explorations, you can find the start of a gate almost opposite across the clearing of the river, with a somehow familiar sign hanging from it:
Welcome to Aldric's Grove.
The inn is just as empty as the rest of the grove, save for the shopkeeper. Four rooms on the first floor are locked, and won't budge even under force, and their keys are missing from the clerk's counter. On the bright side, there are remaining keys, free to claim - keys to the store rooms, too. The kitchen is large, as one might expect from an inn, but the kitchenware seems a touch out of date, by anyone's standards. The pantry has enough to feed the lot of you for a time, fresh food and vegetables and dried or cured meats, alongside spices and herbs. One could bake if they were so inclined.
There's a lounge room as well, just before the stairs. All the furniture was pushed to the wall for what can be presumed to be cleaning, if the empty bucket and dry mop is anything to go by. In the center of the far wall is an empty fireplace, but there's no firewood to be found.
Upstairs are more rooms, accessible only with keys. It's not perfect, but it's at least a place to stay. There's a bed for two, a small table by the window, a dresser and closet, a very small stove and a private bathroom to each, but everything seems bare... at a glance.
The worst of it is that you know the layout. You've been here before- or... no, that can't be right. Surely you would remember a place like this. Right?
"What you take from the river, you must return." That's what the Shopkeeper says, if you stop by the store before going to the river.
The water rushing over rocks can be heard even from the distance of the grove itself, but upon approach it only seems louder. From what can be seen, the fog has only receded enough to grant access to 30 yards of the river and it's matching banks- after that, only fog and unusually thick bramble patches remain and block off passage on land or water. At it's deepest, the water is four feet deep and the current seems gentle. Fish can be seen swimming through the water, and objects glitter beneath the sand and mud.
Along the riverbanks, scales, small bones and teeth and strange coins marked with canines litter the ground. Keen eyes will note that some of the bones and teeth are that of animals, and some are that of humans. Some, however, are impossible to identify.
Stepping into the water feels relaxing. It's cold yet inviting. The fish swirl around your ankles before darting away, and just for a moment, everything seems like it will be okay.
On the other hand, when trying to cut through the brambles, there's a low rumble from the surrounding woods. Persist, and a vine coils around your ankle, dragging you into the water. That feels less relaxing, most likely.
At some point, there's an unusual sound- earth moving on it's own, old trees parting from their nesting place and rearranging themselves behind the fog. And as the din dies down, the fog parts, showing a thick tunnel of trees and leaves. It might look like something out of a fairy tale, if not for the sickening noises of the bark and wood creaking and writhing slowly. Whether you want to go or not, however, you will find yourself compelled to walk down the road eventually.
The road seems like a brief fifteen minute hike and a near three hour trek at the same time, but when you come to the end, you find yourself still in the woods, still circled by fog, but not the same as the grove. Once enough people are there, the path closes behind you. Keen eyes may spot hollowed out logs, trees with holes beneath the roots or high up above the branches, and large patches of very tall grass. Within the center is a cage with a pinecone shaped button on two opposing sides. Before you can finish taking it all in, however, a soft, cheerful whisper of a voice speaks:
"Let's play! If you win, I'll give you something special. Promise! Here, I'll explain the rules:"
1. Robbers must hide within the arena, and not get caught. Upon being found by the jailer, they have the opportunity to flee. But if they get caught, they get brought to jail.
2. Prisoners cannot free themselves, but free players can by pushing both of the buttons on the cage. This will give everyone a three minute immunity to run and hide again.
3. Players must move every five minutes, or they get caught immediately.
"The game will end if everyone gets caught or if at least one person stays free at the end of the hour."
The voice doesn't elaborate what happens if everyone gets caught- if you lose. Instead, it's jailer steps forward from the shadows, staring at everyone with a featureless face. It resembles a moose-faced centaur made of rusted metal and wood, yet what should be creaky, slow steps are light and agile. You have five minutes to hide. But when it bursts into a run, searching forcefully through grass, leaving cracks in the earth beneath its hooves as it starts to run, there's an unsettling feeling in your stomach: what happens if you get caught at all?
In order to win as a group, 10 threads featuring a successful escape- be it from the monster or from the cage- must be submitted by the end of the month. You may only submit one thread per character, but two characters can use the same thread. If you want to get caught and suffer consequences, or try to fight the monster, please use the "FIGHT OR FLIGHT" comment beneath the submission toplevel. Should the characters win the game, they will get a prize after all submissions have been accounted for!
CLICK TO EXPAND!
❖ A portion of the arena of the game- alongside the hiding spots in that area- are on fire, or destroyed by fire. Kjell forgot they were in the forest when fleeing the jailer.
❖ One of the cutting boards in the inn kitchen is cleaved in half, and the counter has deep gouges in it. Yor was cutting bread.
01
Heeey! Hey there! You're not just gonna sleep outside like this, are you?
[...
No response...
Hmmmm.
It's probably polite?? to not start poking him?? so she's just going to start making the noisiest steps she can possibly make as she walks over. They're big, exaggerated steps that she puts her whole body motion into, and likely look a little bit goofy, but it's for a good cause! He could catch a cold sleeping outside like this, and Aerith needs to find out if he's from this place anyway. She even sees a few tiny branches, time to step on those too - crack, crack.
...]
Wow! You can really sleep through a lot, can't you?
no subject
It's the crack of the branches that seems to get him eventually, maybe coupled with the sound of her voice drawing close, but whatever does it, he stirs at long last. Just his head at first, turning in heavy slow-motion from the side it was rested at, only to drop to the other instead -- as a groggy groan at the back of his throat seems to precede his muffled words. ]
Ugh... nope. 'M waking.
[ Maybe. He hasn't exactly decided yet, and in the end instead of sitting up, he ends up sliding lower along the wall, until he's landed completely into the bed of flowers and is free to roll flat on his back, with all the grace of a sack of rocks. Once there, he drapes a slow-moving, lethargic forearm over his eyes -- which are still closed, by the way -- and falls still again. There's a mumble, though, flat and completely devoid of energy. ]
...Five more minutes.
no subject
[He went even more vertical.............. This is going poorly.
Noooooo, he's like a cat though... She can't hold back a helpless little giggle, because it's funny even if it should be frustrating. Aerith wouldn't be mad at somebody for something so simple anyway, but it's somewhere between endearing and entertaining.]
Haven't you already slept enough? [She bends to sit with her legs underneath her, tucking her dress under her legs as she goes, but carefully away from the patch of flowers he's slumped into.] I bet this guy's been here for ages, huh?
[It's not something said to herself - the question is directed downwards, at the blossoms by her knees.
...
She knew it.]
I think you've probably been here for a lot of minutes already.
[It's said in an oddly knowing tone.]
no subject
Uh-huh... I mean, obviously. Where else would I be? This is my—
[ —hotel room. He remembers going to sleep at the Leville, after paying for it normally and everything? So he doesn't see the problem.
Except... something doesn't feel quite right. Maybe the distinct lack of a pillow beneath his head and shoulders, or maybe the clump of something he can clutch in his other hand, the one that's beside him, if he moves his fingers. It feels cool to the touch, and... grassy!?
Abruptly, all of a sudden and with a choked noise at the back of his throat, he sits up. The movement almost gives him vertigo with how panicked it is, and he reels for a second, palm and fingers falling away from his eyes so he can see. ]
H-Huh...!? Wait, are you even part of the staff? Why are you in—
[ Hold on. He was blind for a moment from the sudden daylight, but... ]
Where is this!?
no subject
I'm not part of any staff... If you think I am because I'm a girl, I'll get mad, you know.
[But she looks him over carefully, the way he seems almost lost. He's been here for quite a bit... but perhaps not as a resident after all. It seems too visceral of a reaction for just falling asleep and forgetting where he is, doesn't it...?
No. He's like her too, isn't he?
Her voice is a little bit softer when she speaks next. Sympathetic, even.]
You... don't know this place either, do you?
no subject
Either? Which means, you're not—
[ Not... what exactly? From here, wherever here even means. Not to mention the person responsible for why he's waking up in some weird-ass... somewhere. Damn it, this is all too confusing, he wishes he could just go back to sleep. Then again, he's pretty sure that's what he did the first time... ]
Well, it's not my hotel room. No clue beyond that. Guess that voice wasn't a dream?
[ Noctis... ]
no subject
Nope. I guess that answers my question about you too, then, if you're not from here.
[It still leaves the question unanswered of where they are... This place that she doesn't know, but feels a little bit off. Even communing with the flowers feels off - for lack of a better descriptor, like she's listening to a voice a little bit left of where it should be. And it's definitely not the outskirts of Midgar, where she should be. Or with the people she should be with.
Nothing is as it's intended. That's both frightening and exhilarating.
But all of that is something to figure out later, because for now...]
Can I ask you what that voice said?
no subject
[ So it couldn't be her... nor the number one person he's tempted to think of when something's amiss, as much as for a single worrying second Noctis almost considers he might rather have even that man pop up from some corner like he tends to, right now. Shady or not, at least he'd have some mysterious solution the intention of which he can't start to guess. But he also can't say he was paying a whole lot of attention; since, you know, things were muddled and he just thought it wasn't real.
For now, he focuses on pulling himself together as they talk, drawing his knees to a more comfortable position first and then pushing up from the ground on one hand. It isn't too difficult, at least -- seems like wherever he is, he's completely unhurt. His body follows commands just like usual, and he drags himself to his feet, a few blades of grass sliding down from his jacket. There's probably more, so he gives it a shake.
Unfortunately... there's also a flower petal in his hair from earlier, yellow and bright, too high up for him to see. ]
no subject
[Something gathered both of them here to play... Aerith wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the people in the square were like that, too.
Something about it unsettles her. It's different from the train graveyard... But she'd like to listen to this child too, she thinks.
Everyone has something important to say. Even more so the ones that no one tries to hear.
But her new companion is standing, so she'd better stand too...! A little hyup and a hop, and she's up on her feet. Ah, there's a little bit of grass on her dress, that's not too hard to get off at least...
Oh, hmm. That's a flower petal in his hair, isn't it? Only one real way to handle that.]
Hey... [Aerith motions to herself, like she's going to share a secret.] Lean down towards me for a sec? There's something I need to tell you.
no subject
[ Noctis cranes his head as he questions it for a second, because... drowsy or not from his sleep, he still doesn't think he can imagine how this helps. It wouldn't make sense even if he were more awake... How exactly will whispering in his ear, or whatever she's planning to do, keep some mysterious disembodied voice from hearing them? Well, whatever. She's been awake in this place a little longer than he was, by the looks of it, so maybe she's seen or knows something.
And he doesn't really have reasons to distrust her at this point. Though... granted, he doesn't have reasons to trust her, either. But it's just a hunch.
So he does as she asked, bending a little closer with a single step forward, settling his hands on his knees. There, that should put him a little more easily at her level. He quirks an eyebrow at her from there, asking without really asking: what? ]
no subject
No, not quite. It's still very important, though. It's...
[Aerith leans closer. The pause is for the dramatic effect, you see.
...And then her face splits into the widest grin as she grabs his shoulder with one hand for balance - he can take it, right? right - and with the other quickly snatches up the offending petal.]
This! Right here! [She finally releases Noctis and waves it in front of his gaze triumphantly, like it's her own special prize.] You had it caught right in the middle of your hair because you decided this was a good place for a nap.
[deserved, through and through]
no subject
[ He stifles an undignified noise, its muffled echo still in the back of his throat as he startles with his shoulders drawn up, the way a cat might when disturbed from a resting spot or just otherwise touched against its will. The only thing that stops him from lifting a hand to brush her off after the fact is that... well, she's a girl. He can't exactly treat her the way he would Prompto or Gladio when they do this. So all he can do is just shuffle instead, looking away. ]
You could've just told me... Like normal people.
[ A mumble of protest is all he has left. Ugh. His cheeks feel hot and he's sure he must've made a dumb face just now, so this is actually the worst. He draws back to a safer distance while trying not to look too much like retreating in defeat, running his fingers through his hair. He could've handled a flower petal on his own...
Aerith: 1. Or actually it might be 2 by now but anyway. Noctis: 0. ]