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

[lifeaftr_mods]

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.

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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!

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

2

[boundwitch]

[Sieglinde didn't design the Arachne Patousa for outdoor use. They're heavy, slow, and larger than even the biggest crinoline she's ever seen. The pointed ends of the claws sink into the ground and she has to backtrack to avoid logs and soft sand.

It takes a long time to get to the fire, long enough that it's dark and the fire's started to burn low. But even if everyone's asleep, the creaking and clattering and hydraulic wheezing of the mechanical spider legs might be loud enough to wake a sleeper as Sieglinde approaches.

She's tired and ragged by now, clothing wet and ruined by saltwater spray, holes in the knees of her silk stockings, and she just wants to find someone she knows. But there isn't anybody she recognizes at this fire.]

[ishotyouuu]

[Wade hears the newcomer before he sees her, and at first he thinks it's Muffet again, come back for another round of conversation. But as he throws another driftwood log on the fire and blows on it to stoke the flames, it becomes clear that this is an entirely different person. For one thing, she's not actually a spider-- those legs look more metallic than organic. For another, she looks very young, barely thirteen if he had to put her at an approximate age. She's cute though, despite her disheveled appearance, and Wade finds himself smiling warmly at her.]

Wanna sit by the fire a little, darlin'? You look cold. I promise I don't bite.

im so sorry

[boundwitch]

[The legs creak as (with the flick of a switch) they lower her down to the sand, enough that her shoes settle into the sand. That takes a few more inches off her height, and when she unbuckles the metal holding her legs in place and slides out of the spider legs, she manages less than three seconds on her feet before collapsing into the sand.]

Some people like that. [She says, as if that is at all the appropriate response. But... well, he did start it.] Are you going to warm me up?

don't be this is gonna be amazing

[ishotyouuu]

[Fortunately, Wade doesn't read into that attempt at flirtation as anything more than an awkward turn of phrase. Or maybe he's just too distracted by that neat contraption she's disengaging herself from. He rises to his feet almost in reflex as he sees her faceplant into the sand, stretching one arm out hesitantly as if unsure what action to take.]

Whoa there! You okay?

[boundwitch]

[She pushes herself up to her knees, and then takes his arm to steady herself. There's no movement to actually stand, there's no point in trying with the soft sand and how tired she is.]

I believe I should be better now, thank you.

[The fire's warm and welcoming, and this stranger seems friendly. She'll risk it.]

[ishotyouuu]

[Welp, there goes his arm. Wade leans in to give her greater purchase, awkwardly holding himself there for a few seconds as he debates whether or not he should just let her remain where she is.

Eventually, some form of chivalry wins out over self-consciousness.]

Hey... wanna sit over here? There's space on this log if you want. No point in ruining your outfit, y'know?

[A sudden pause as he takes in her disheveled appearance.]

...Any more than it already is, I mean.

[boundwitch]

[She looks down at her outfit, at the water stains on the dress and the holes in her stockings.]

That is all right. This is my work outfit, and the maid has already complained about how frequently she has been required to repair it. I have others at home. [She doesn't have many outfits, but who does?

At the offer, she nods. It's only a few steps away, but those spider legs aren't for show.]

Carry me. [That's not a request.]

[ishotyouuu]

[For a moment, Wade blinks at her, uncomprehending. "At home"-- sweetheart, do you have any idea how this works? Because Wade does, and just because no representatives of the Lollipop Guild have come out to greet them doesn't mean they're in Kansas anymore. The young girl's order for him to carry her stymies him as well until he realizes, with a flush of embarrassment, that perhaps the contraption she'd used to reach his fire wasn't merely a nifty mode of transportation.

He offers her a sheepish smile, rising fully off of his seat as Tibia watches.]

S-Sure thing! Sorry, I didn't think-- anyway. Yeah. Lemme just... here.

[He braces one of his arms against her back, inviting her to lean against him so that he can slip his other arm beneath her legs.]

[boundwitch]

[No, she doesn't know how this works. She's never experienced anything like this, barely experienced the world outside of a secret German village hidden in a near-impenetrable forest. And not only that, but she's confident in Ciel's ability and desire to find her, even in such a strange location as this.

Wade's flustered apology does not go unnoticed, and she's not impressed, but she wraps her arms around his neck and allows him to pick her up with the easy grace of someone very used to being carried.]

I have never attempted to walk on sand. It has been more difficult than I anticipated, and my Arachne Patousa are nearly useless. Will you be able to assist me in gathering supplies for crutches tomorrow?

[ishotyouuu]

[Wade lifts her with little difficulty-- she's a little thing-- and walks her over to the driftwood log he's been using as a makeshift bench.]

Not sure crutches would fare any better, honestly. Unless you found a way to put, like... some kinda snowshoes built onto the bottom. Or sandshoes, I guess, in this case. Careful, now-- I'm gonna set you down.

[He lowers himself down slowly, depositing her gently onto the log next to Tibia. The Cubone stares at her intently out of the eyeholes of the skull adorning her face, and after looking her over for a few seconds, raises one claw in a wave. Wade plops himself down on the opposite side, picking up a stick and using it to spear one of the cooked fish set beside him.]

You hungry? Might have to warm this up, but it's yours if you want it.

[boundwitch]

They will need to be this size at the base. [With one hand, she makes a slightly oblong circle in the air, describing the circumference of the base of crutches she'll need.

It's not an estimation, she's already calculated the physics necessary to keep the crutches from sinking into the sand under her weight.

There's a moment where she reaches out and almost pets Tibia, but then there's food and of course that takes priority. For all Sieglinde's fancy clothing and talk of maids and servants, she has... basically no table manners. She's just ripping hunks of flesh off of the fish with her teeth, and then talking with her mouth full as she gestures at Tibia.]

Is that yours?

[ishotyouuu]

[Tibia stares with rapt attention at the young girl's eating habits, and Wade has to admit he's a little taken aback as well. He's never seen anyone who looks so much like one of those China dolls you see in toy store windows eat like she's the fucking Tasmanian Devil, but he supposes there's a first time for everything.

It's clear that the little Cubone doesn't appreciate being called a "that", as her features quickly darken into a scowl as she turns away from Sieglinde, crossing her arms over her chest in the universal gesture of disapproval. She'd give out a hmph! if she could. Wade offers a sheepish grin at Sieglinde.]

Think you might've insulted her some, little missy. Thing is, I think you got it the other way around. I'm hers, know what I'm sayin'?

[boundwitch]

[Sieglinde swallows, and wipes her mouth with her sleeve, then considers Tibia a bit more seriously.]

Oh! Are you her mate? What interesting tastes...

[ishotyouuu]

...No. What? No.

[How the fuck did you even get that out of what he said, Sieglinde? Without even going into the biological impossibility of that-- which he is not going to think about thank you very much-- it's very clear that she's still little more than a hatchling.]

I mean I raised her from an egg. She's, uh... she's kinda my little girl, y'know?

[He grips the back of his neck bashfully. He's not ashamed of his love for Tibia, but sometimes it's hard to put into words exactly how much she means to him.]

[boundwitch]

You should have just said that, [Sieglinde says, lecturing and utterly unruffled. Then she turns her attention to Tibia.]

Hello, I like your mask.

[ishotyouuu]

[IXNAY ON THE ULL-SKAY, SIEGLINDE. Wade does his best to ameliorate the situation, pulling an exaggerated face and cutting a hand swiftly across his throat in an attempt to warn the young girl of the can of worms she's in danger of opening, but the damage has already been done. Tibia bows her head sorrowfully, her claws already signing out her answer.]

It's my mother's skull. I wear it to remember her.

[boundwitch]

[The use of an actual sign language is strange to Sieglinde, and she watches Tibia's movements with blatant curiosity.]

My mother is dead too. [A similarity between her and this creature. But... well, Sieglinde doesn't have anything from her parents except her intellect.

There's nothing more to be said on that front, so Sieglinde goes back to eating her fish.]

[ishotyouuu]

[And at that piece of revelation, Tibia can only stare at the girl. In her childlike way she had always thought she was the only one to lose a mother, that it was a horrific situation that only she suffered. To meet someone who had to deal with that same loss left her both vindicated and sad for Sieglinde's sake. Reaching out to gently touch her hand, Tibia makes a fist with her other claw and moves it in a circle above her chest.]

I'm sorry.

[boundwitch]

[Sieglinde's eyes go a little wide as she stares down at the little creature.

An "I'm sorry" seems like too much, because Sieglinde... she isn't hurt by it, not in the way that needs sympathy. She'd thought her mother was dead for her whole life, and then she discovered the woman had only thought of her as a tool for destruction and a sort of reincarnation of a dead man.

Any pain in Sieglinde's chest is just the old bruised ache of a childish desire that could never have come true, the wish for something that could never have happened. (Or for other people, people who were not her mother, people who only pretended to care). ]

It is all right. I have Wolf to take care of me, like you have that man. [Except...

She looks up at "that man", brow furrowed slightly in sudden concern.]

Have you seen a strong man with blond hair? He would have been very concerned and looking for me. [Of course Wolf is here somewhere. He has to be.]

[ishotyouuu]

[These poor kids. Wade feels a surge of sympathy for them both-- dead mothers were never a good thing to bond over, and he marvels over them taking it both so well. He wonders, vaguely, whether Sieglinde's nonchalance over the subject was genuine or whether it was just a front to mask her true feelings. It seems rude to ask. Instead, he focuses on the question she's just poised to him. A strong man with blond hair isn't very much to go on, but at this point it's an easy enough question to answer all the same.]

Haven't met anyone with that description, sorry. I just got here.

[An awkward silence passes, before something in him-- perhaps the grieving little boy he'd once been-- compels him to add his own two cents to the conversation.]

My mother's dead too. F-for the record. She died when I was about your age. So... y'know. I, uh... know how it feels. S-sorta.

[Wade, you don't always have to spill your guts out of your mouth.]