lifeaftr | August Intro: You Think...You Wink...You Do A Double Blink...

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August Intro: You Think...You Wink...You Do A Double Blink...

INTRO LOG: AUGUST

Who: Everyone!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr.
When: August 3rd
Where: Ensō
Warnings: Mark as needed!

Part I: Get Wrekt
You rouse to a splash of sea salt drying on your skin. A haze of glass-white sand glitters in your vision, dappled by lush palms and thick, curling foliage that disappears into a jungle of deep jade. From behind, crackling wood and sawing rope groan from a mangled life raft ran ashore. A petering wash of tide over pebbled sand fills your ears as you struggle to gain your bearings in a vast portrait of tropical color…

No...no, no, that’s not precisely how this story starts.

Why don't we start over?

You rouse to a splash of sea salt, spraying across yourself and the wooden floor beneath you as it breaks across the edge of the platform. The light as it dances across the sea is blinding, dappling white spots across your vision as you slowly come back to consciousness and realize that - this is not where you last remember being.

The middle of the ocean is likely not a place most recall being at all. As you struggle to fully comprehend the new scenario in which you have found yourself, three things become quickly apparent. The raft you find yourself upon barely constitutes as something that should float, never mind a boat. In the distance, perhaps a few hours away at most, a large island beckons to you, a wide strip of beach surrounded by cliffs making it very clear where the most fortuitous of directions shall be.

Lastly, of course, you’re not alone. Hopefully your new companion(s) are just as keen to get ashore before nightfall as you, or voyaging together will not be the most positive experience. At your side you will find a knapsack, one to every member of your raft party, and upon inspecting its contents, you will discover any rewards you may have accrued - as well as a few other items to give you a fighting chance.

A note to those who participated in the Test Drive Meme: those threads, if all parties involved would like, can be game canon in the form of dream-like memories involving a place very much like this one, though the layout is considerably different.

Part II: Choose Your Own Adventure

By fortune (or misfortune, as it were), you eventually find your feet meeting sand, blessed shore to stagger upon as you shake off your newly found sea-legs. There are those that may find this place familiar, as though it appeared in a dream, though the expanse of shore certainly seems larger. The beach stretches off into the distance on both sides, curving around sharp ridges and cliffs, mist obscuring the view the farther along it goes.

So here you are. You’ve found land. Company. Supplies. The sun is now beginning to trek rather low upon the horizon…spending the night outside in such an unfamiliar land is unappealing at best and outright dangerous at the worst.

There is one silver lining in the midst of this mess. Directly ahead, the beach curves up a gentle slope until it meets forest, some manner of building visible through the trees. Further exploration of this area will reveal a dilapidated building of sorts; the architecture is indiscernible to even the most skilled eye. Despite looking as if it has seen better days, there are areas that offer some form of shelter...and who knows what else. Just because it appears uninhabited doesn’t mean you won’t wind up pleasantly, or unpleasantly, surprised.

So what shall you do from here, traveller? There is land to be explored, strangers to meet, friends to reunite with. Supplies to inspect and plenty of questions in need of being said aloud. Choose your path, make haste, and above all else: survive. And whatever you will, take heart.

Your story is about to begin anew.

Feeling a tad adrift? Make sure to check the Locations Page, which has details regarding the starting areas and a handy map for those who feel better with a bird's eye view!

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

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The Search
Prompto wasn't sure he wouldn't wake up from this island adventure just like he did the first one, but he couldn't depend on that. He remembered seeing his friends in his dream and it gave him a horrible feeling. It didn't make sense for them to be here, but it didn't make sense for Prompto to be here, either.

After making sure his new companions were somewhere safe he decided to head out, leaving his big coat behind. It was getting dark and probably not a good time to go out, but he had to make sure. So the young man could be found running about all over during the late afternoon and evening hours, occasionally shouting, "Noct!" or "Ignis!" He'd be happy to find either, but he especially wanted to be sure Iggy was safe.

His snowmobile was sitting uselessly back on the beach and he did swing by to check on it, but moving it to a better spot would have to wait until he found his friends. If he found his friends.

Nap Time
Of course, once Prompto could be assured that his friends were safe he headed back towards the ruins for some shelter. There was at least one girl his age and he didn't want to leave her alone. She might be scared or hungry or something!

There wasn't a ton of time to do much before night, but he did his best to help out with food and water, as well as setting up some extra protections to any shelter they had. There wouldn't be any doubts about who he was is - he would stick close to the guys - but he was friendly and had no problem with other people joining them. He would even be excited about certain people coming around.

Weiss had managed to land herself in the situation of the directionally challenged (she's not lost, she just doesn't know where she or her raftmates went). Her searches at this point were basically central to where she had decided she was staying for the night and mostly to attempt to find wherever her raftmates went while she attempted to play the role of Best Raftmate (self-assigned) and find a proper shelter area.

When she heard Prompto's yelling, it wasn't exactly low profile. She wanted to keep safe once the sun was fully beneath the horizon, so keeping relatively quiet to avoid attracting predatory attention was a necessity. It was obvious he was close enough to her area that it would be a problem, so Weiss went stomping off in his direction. Twigs and foliage broke loudly beneath her tall platform heels, loud enough that one wouldn't expect the noise to have come from a girl who without them didn't break 5 feet. When she finds him, her voice hushes into barely a whisper, the kind a librarian side-eyes you for in a library because it's really not as quiet as you think it is.

"Excuse you, some of us are trying not to attract anything that's going to try to eat us in the dark."

Prompto had a very different set of worries. While ammo was limited and he didn't want to use it unless absolutely necessary, he did have a gun, and that warranted him some feeling of security. He also had some training and had been fighting for a while, even if he wasn't nearly as adept as the other guys. He had some worries about running into giant bugs or monsters, but thought he could take them if he had to.

No, his fear was very much for his friends.

His hand went to his gun instinctively when he heard someone coming but he refrained from raising it just yet, quieting down and waiting to see just who or what it was.

And then... it was a girl. Excuse him while he stared for a moment and had to catch up on what Weiss said. His hand relaxed and let go of his weapon - he was not shooting her - and he tried to drop into a casual pose. Most people could probably tell it was anything but, though. He was all but hopping around on his feet, searching for a place to put his hands. Folded arms...? No, he dropped them down to rest his hands on his hips, but that wasn't quite right either. Finally he let one arm hang limp while the other stayed on his hip, all the while continuously fluctuating how he was holding his weight.

"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you or anything." His tone wavered too much to strike the confident inflection he was hoping for. "I won't let anything happen to you. But, I've gotta find my friends. It's getting dark already."

Weiss wasn't some damsel in distress, which is why the second he reaches for his gun, she's got a foot back to brace herself and her hand's at the hilt of her rapier. To most, that would probably seem like the dumbest idea in the face of a gun, but essentially everyone in her world had a gun- or a weapon that was also a gun. Weiss's herself had what looked like part of a revolver with colored powder displayed in the cylinders hidden within the guard.

But she didn't end up drawing it, her hand resting on the hilt as she watched this.. display. At first she didn't quite get what it was. Then the incredibly odd protectiveness came about and Weiss straightened herself. Well at least he wasn't a threat to anything but her patience.

"I'll keep track of not letting anything happen to me," despite the firmness of her tone, her next words almost come off as a little jealous, her voice cracking and taking on a softer tone, "Your friends are here?"

It'd been nearly a year since she'd seen anyone that wasn't at her father's behest, let alone friends. If this guy ended up surrounded by friends when they were lost in some other world, she was absolutely going to feel a spur of jealousy.

"I'm... not sure, to be honest," he admitted, almost sounding defeated. "I had a weird dream where they were with me and then woke up on some raft..." He bit his lip before finally shaking his head. "I don't know what's going on anymore, but if they're here I have to find them. Especially Iggy." He pursed his lips. He didn't really like talking about Ignis' issue, especially because it felt like he was betraying the other man's pride. This was a serious situation, though, and he wanted her to understand, even if he didn't explain it fully. "He's hurt. I need to find him before it gets dark out."

His head sagged for a moment as his leg bounced in place anxiously. It wasn't a happy memory, but at the very least he knew Ignis was hurt whether or not the dream was true. If he was here he needed to be found.

A dream about waking up on a wrecked raft here... It sounded too familiar, though Weiss's experiences had been more than enough to know they had to have been a dream. A spider woman, a shark man, Jaune, and the friend that makes her not sure how hopeful this boy's quest to find his injured friend is. It was probably little more than a dream if she was in it.

"I had a dream like that, except the friend I saw was impossible. If it was much more than a dream, I'd be surprised... your friend's probably fine."

No sense in bringing the already dire situation down, so she chooses to avoid sharing exactly what happened to that friend. Besides, Weiss left to help people. So despite the slightly awkward start, he seems earnest, so she straights up.

"I'll help you look, just in case. Have you tried looking from a high point yet?"

"I don't know if he's here or not, but I do know he's hurt." He grimaced. Maybe there wasn't a point in holding back. If he was here she'd find out either way. "He... lost his eyesight. Back in Altissia, before we got separated. If he is here, he's still dealing with that."

Which was what made it so important. Ignis was tough, but he still needed time to adjust to something like that. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, not liking the subject but not quite being able to avoid it.

At her words, he glanced out behind him. There'd been a lot of beach and coastal areas, and not too much else. "There's some mountains over there, but I haven't seen a lot of good high points to get on. I think he would head to the ruins... if he knew they were there."

There was no telling what Ignis would know. He could be alone on the beach somewhere again - a thought that pained Prompto. Or maybe he'd found people. Maybe he wasn't even there and the whole search was pointless.

"I guess you haven't seen anyone like that?" There was hope, but not much.

Weiss listened quietly as the blonde explained further. Wandering around this place blind.. it'd be a miracle if he didn't drown if there wasn't someone there for him.

"Everyone I've spoken to arrived on a raft with others, so if he's here, I'd wager he's made it to shore."

Which meant the chances that his friend had were high. It seemed to be the pattern. Weiss thought for a moment before she continued, holding her finger up as she offered her theory.

"Assuming he was on a raft as well, he may have dropped something that no one else on the raft would've known was his, so they didn't bother to pick it up. If he can't see, he might not have known he dropped it and didn't pick it up either. There's a small chance that would be a clue to finding him. Did you look for anything along the coastline, Mister...?"

She's expecting a name from her tone, she has no intention of calling him Mister more than once. As for the height, she has an idea for that too, but it's the kind of thing you don't ask until you at least know the other person's name.

"Ah, Prompto. Just Prompto, no need for 'misters' or anything."

After all, he was no one of importance. But that was right, he should get her name. Would a handshake be right? That didn't seem quite like what someone should do in his spot. He ended up just playing with his hands in front of his chest, not moving any closer to her. "And, umm, what's your name?"

Up to that point he'd been doing all right mostly because he was focused on finding his friends. It was too important for him to get caught up in other thoughts. Now, though, he was starting to realize he was having a conversation with a girl and had no idea what to say. He'd just have to stay focused on his friends. They took priority over everything else. Once they were safe he could fumble around at his leisure.

"Weiss Schnee," she shared, "Though just Weiss is fine."

He didn't seem to want a shake, and Weiss was fairly certain something more polite than that like a curtsy would make him get even more awkward. Not that what she was intent to ask next wasn't going to.

"Now that we've gotten introductions out of the way, how's your upper body strength, Prompto? Do you think you can pick me up?"

Weiss had a few tricks up her sleeve, but flying wasn't one of them. Very intense jumping once she was already airborne, however, might get her boosted enough to get over the treeline for a quick peak to at least try to see farther. However, she has no idea if he's strong enough to throw her the way someone from her world might to give her a fairly substantially physics-defying boost.

"Huh?" Her question took him by surprise, but he didn't want to appear weak. He did his best to feign confidence. "Oh, yeah, sure, I could pick you up, no problem. Are you trying to get up on something?"

At least it was true. Prompto was more of a runner than anything else, but he still was in pretty decent shape. He could manage lifting someone smaller than him like her. Just because he wasn't as big as the other guys in his group didn't mean he wasn't in good physical condition compared to most. He glanced around, checking for any fruits that might be in the trees.

"I'm going to jump."

Weiss turned quickly after such a simple statement, her long ponytail flowing behind her in a spiral as she got a fair distance away before turning back around again.

"Hold your hands flat, like this," she demonstrated, "Then push up as hard as you can as soon as you feel my shoes."

She hoped he didn't have delicate hands. While she may be light, that wouldn't mean that the force that was going to be applied to them with her platform heels was going to be pleasant. At least they weren't one of her stilted pairs.

"Whoa, whoa!" he held up his hands, speaking in a louder voice than he had been. "Are you sure this is safe?"

It wasn't that much different than the stuff he usually did, but that was with the guys. Jumping over each other and doing flips and swinging around and crud ~~and nearly knocking each other out~~ was just stuff they did. Throwing up a girl he just met? He'd feel awful if she got hurt!

That was his first reaction, anyway. His mind took another second to realize something else. If she was wearing a skirt and he threw her up... He kept that thought very much to himself but he started to turn red and get squeamish.

"I mean, I don't want you to hit anything..." The words came out but truthfully his mind was very much elsewhere.

Weiss rolled her eyes, shifting her weight to one hip and tilting her head slightly as she crossed her arms. Her eyes narrow slightly as she sizes him up.

"If I can handle jumping off of a top-level highway into oncoming traffic to fight an Atlesian Paladin robotic fighting unit, I can handle being tossed up by a scraggly blond boy. I'm not expecting I'll get more than 30 feet or so up unless you're far more impressive than you look."

A gentle touch was never Weiss's way. If someone could handle her being harsh and still wanted to be around her, all the better. But for now, she's hoping it'll taunt him into cooperating because he wants to prove himself. At the very least, he'll very quickly realize she's wearing so many layers of tulle beneath that skirt that he's not going to see much. "Now what's your friend's name so I know who to call out for?"

Scraggly? He was lean.

At least that's what he would say if he was with the guys. It was totally different when faced with a girl he just met. As it was, he didn't really have that kind of confidence in himself. He might have looked like he was going to respond, but he just let out a small grunt and swallowed.

He couldn't afford the luxury of being upset. Both Ignis and Noctis were still potentially out there. He'd just have to prove himself. Without a word he got down onto one knee and hooked his hands together near the ground. Maybe he wasn't Gladio, but he should be able to do this.

"Ignis."

If Noctis heard someone calling for Ignis he'd respond anyway.

"Ignis."

She repeated the name. Weiss had heard him yelling before, but she'd heard both names. She wanted to make sure to call for the right one. It wasn't like they weren't making a lot of noise already, so it wasn't going to hurt to be a little bit louder. She did formerly sing operatic-style music without a microphone, she's hoping it'll help. As cranky as she can come off, Weiss is definitely the type to prioritize someone who's hurt over her own needs. They can fight off whatever comes.

Once Prompto was ready, Weiss took a sprint, then a leap, then jumped for his hands. However high he ends up being able to boost her jump, when she's at the peak of that, a bright bluish-white glyph will appear beneath her feet as a second platform for her to jump from to get just a little bit higher. If he's still able to see her up in the trees, he might notice that she's doing something of a loose pirouette toward the top to try to see as much as she can, then just as she starts to drop, she lets out a very loud:

"IGNIS!"

She's hoping Prompto isn't still in the way since she's really going straight down to avoid rocks and palms and whatever else is around. She probably should've mentioned she can land fine as long as there's no one in the way.. Otherwise unless he's prepared to catch her they're both going to have a rather unimpressive crash.

Edited 2017-08-04 22:52 (UTC)

He hefted with all of his might, pushing up from the ground with his leg. Then it was the problem of looking up. He wasn't a pervert. Okay, maybe he was a pervert, but he wasn't a creeper. He didn't want to peek up skirts of unsuspecting girls. At the same time he couldn't just throw her up and not catch her.

It was actually a big relief when he looked up and couldn't see anything. What he did see instead surprised him. Back home only Noctis and the former king could use magic, and they could let other people make use of their powers. The Kingsglaive had used King Regis' power to a large extent, but they were gone now. That left the Crownsguard. Potentially even just the three of them with Noctis who were able to access that kind of magic, and never to the extent the Kingsglaive had. They had never been able to warp using Noctis' magic - something Prompto griped about on occasion.

No one else should have been able to do anything. Prompto hadn't even been able to properly summon weapons for a while. He was going to have to ask her about that.

He shook his hands off and patted them on his hips before running after her. He didn't mind too much, diving to catch her and smacking the ground. Hitting the ground was practically a habit of his in battle. So long as he could cushion her fall, arms wrapped around her.

It took a second, but once they were settled he let go of her. He was a squirmy guy, almost immediately wriggling around to sit up. First things first: "Did you see anyone?"

He's not going to find any admission from Weiss that she possesses magic. Such matters work differently in her world- these glyphs are something unique to her and her sister, and far from what she would consider magic. As far as she's concerned, she doesn't think magic even exists in her world outside of storybooks.

Weiss's throat let out a surprised noise when she felt Prompt catch her. She had been ready to land it normally, but his actions are perplexing her. She's still not sure if he's the type to assume all women need someone to fight for them, if it's just because she looks dainty and frilly, or if he's just the type of person not to let anyone fall. She knows there's one she prefers above literally any other answer, but so far she's not convinced of any of them solidly.

At least he didn't try to hold onto her or wink or pull some kind of dumb line about catching snow angels or any of the other hundreds of things she'd heard before.

"I saw some movement that way," she points before she reaches down to brush off her dress, "But I have no idea if it was your friend or not. At the very least, if he's in earshot I can guarantee he heard that. I have very impressive lungs."

He didn't push or shove, but awkwardly tried to get to his feet without bumping into her too much, trying to avoid touching the wrong thing or putting his hands in the wrong place, and offering a hand as he got his feet back under him. Man, she was tiny. Prompto wasn't that big himself and he felt like he towered over her. It made him feel better about his height if he was honest.

His head whipped around towards the direction she indicated. Normally he'd run right away. If there was a chance it was Ignis, he wanted to get there as soon as possible. They still didn't know about daemons or other night dangers there might be. But he paused his pursuit for just a moment. It was possible Weiss was someone important from home. He wasn't part of the royal entourage, so it wasn't like he knew everyone at the top. It was unusual for him to even be invited to see the king even though he was close to Noctis.

"You use magic... Are you from the Crown City?" He wanted to say 'too' at the end, but he wasn't sure if he had any right to say he was from the Crown City anymore. Still, if she was one of the survivors she could probably be pretty helpful. He'd love a trained soldier or two in this situation.

"I've never heard of Crown City. I'm a Schnee, we're all from Atlas."

Her tone didn't exactly seem as proud of that as it once might have. Atlas is not Weiss's home any longer, if it ever really was. Though based on some of her conversations with others, she probably needs to burst Prompto's bubble, if he's assuming she's from wherever this Crown City is from. Once they're both up and properly reoriented, she sighs. Hopefully whatever was moving over there is heading toward them so he's not going to get too far behind.

"From what I've talked about with others, this isn't the world any of us are from. My world is called Remnant. This place probably isn't either of our worlds. Magic is something from fairy tales in my world- my semblance is an ability that comes from bearing my soul outward as a weapon, not magic."

Weiss tempers her desire to explain further, though. She may be a know-it-all, but she's also aware that it's a lot to take in. She had time to process because the person who explained it to her was in his head half the time, so he took his sweet time getting through anything. She'll give Prompto a second.

"How..." he cut off his own question. According to Noct in his dream, they had reached the crystal, and none of them had any idea what the crystal would do. It was supposed to be divine, hopefully with the power to remove all daemons. They had talked about possible time travel on the other island. Maybe it had the power to warp space and time? Were they the cause of all of this somehow? Was this all some sort of test?

Why him? He was a nobody. His only claim to fame was knowing Noctis.

He shook his head. "Magic is totally real. Noct uses it all the time. He let's us use it, too, but..." as if on instinct, and partially to double check, he lifted a hand to try and summon one of his guns, but nothing happened. "...It's not working right now. It's blue, just like yours."

Of course he would notice something like the color. If something looked similar it would stick out to him more than an explanation of what it was.

The way he says that this Noct person allows them to use it, it sounds a little strange to her. She's trying to understand it and with the gesture he's making, the picture she's getting is like wifi for superpowers and Prompto isn't close enough to the hot spot. Though something about hearing his name over and over again is strange- way too strange, because it sounds familiar.

"Maybe it's real in your world, but it isn't in mine,"

It's not a great argument or real response, but she's distracted thinking about that dream she'd had. So far, it's just been people she knew and a few others she's neither seen nor heard about on the island yet. There's a nagging feeling that something very strange is happening in how she's making this connection though, and the uncertainty in her face and posture is obvious as she asks what she wants to, finally.

"Is 'Noct' a nickname for Noctis?"

It was going to take him a bit to get used to this idea of other worlds. Somehow he figured they had to be closer than that, and maybe somehow they all got sucked through the Astral plane or something. Like being in a different dimension on the same world.

That seems all the more confirmed when she asks about Noctis. How would she know Noctis if they were from different worlds?

"Yeah. You know him?" He smiled slightly at the familiar subject. It wouldn't be weird for people to know of the crown prince. That didn't mean he'd forgotten his purpose though. Still, in the back of his mind, he was wondering if that was Iggy nearby. He couldn't stick around too long and his posture said that, like someone standing in the doorway saying a few last lines before leaving.

"I had a dream too. He was one of the people in it, he had dark hair and a net. I think he was going to fish. He offered to take me back to a camp. I don't remember much after that."

But her impression has been that he hadn't seemed like a bad person. Not that she hasn't been fooled before-- there are a number of people she believed in who ended up betraying her. Weiss didn't want the assumption that she couldn't trust anyone to be one that ruled her life anymore.

"It's one thing to dream about my friends, but if I dreamt about yours there might be something to it. I need to go back to look for the people I arrived with, but you have a direction now. Whether you do or don't find him, I'll be that way."

Weiss gestures toward where she initially came from.

"It may have been a dream, but I can at least return the offer to stick together. Teams have a higher survival rate than individuals."

Could she have seen him on TV and dreamed of him? It was always possible. Being the prince, Noctis was pretty widely recognized by people who had never met him. Still, it was something weird.

"Fishing? Yeah, that's him." Hardly needed anything else to identify him. He took a step back, getting ready to make a run towards the potential Iggy. "Yeah... I've gotta go check if it's Iggy. If you see Noct, tell him we can meet up at the ruins. I'll try to get everyone there tonight. And... ummm..." He bounced restlessly on his feet. "If you wanna stop by or something, that'd be cool, too."

It was a little awkward, but he didn't have the time to worry too much about what he was saying. He could do that when he knew everyone was safe and he had the luxury of being a bungling young man.

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August Intro: You Think...You Wink...You Do A Double Blink...

Prompto | OTA

search.. if this is OK! if not let me know

No problems at all! I was going to tag you but you got to me first

2fast2furiously wanting this thread

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