lifeaftr | 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 )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They're still hiding.

[The traditional cats at least. It's tragic. One day she'll be able to show Drifter a true cat haven.]

I think they're scared too.

maybe

[Or maybe there simply aren't any cats in the vicinity. But proposing such a notion to a child has the potential to be upsetting, and so they say nothing of it.]

i will stand watch if i must

[There's no argument on her end. Drifter has a sword and she doesn't, but they still need to rest at some point. If they can manage to get some light in the building, it might be enough to ward off most of the dangers.]

Do you know how to make a fire?

yes

[They lack the means to do so, currently, which means they might need to start foraging in search for flint and tinder and dry wood - but they at least possess that basic knowledge.]

no supplies to make it

[There goes that plan. She flips her bag around to her front and moves the stuff inside. Baking soda, sand, rope, rocks, a multi-tool, and a toothbrush-nothing they could use.]

We'll be careful tonight.

[Tokyo had multiple safe spots she committed to memory. Places that didn't require the safety of fire, though it was nice to have as a backup. This is a whole different game though.]

You should rest first.

[When they get to the building, while it's still kinda light out.]

not tired

[An immediate, rote response - it is not so much that they're not tired as it is the fact that exhaustion simply is not an option for one such as them. They have been tired since they woke with a sickness they could not cure mangling their lungs like some loathsome spore.]

[They have always been tired. It is unavoidable.]

have you slept

[A look of concern crosses her face for a brief moment. That's hard for her to believe and the only reason she doesn't question it further is because they don't look entirely human. Ghosts were the same way.]

On the raft. I think it was for a long time.

[Well, if they both stay away it'll be easier to lookout for danger.]

We'll stay up together.

[That is fair, they decide. They will not force her to sleep, nor will they succumb to that instinct themself when danger could still be bristling in the shadows, just out of reach. Peering about the ridges of the foliage reveals nothing that might be springing out to menace them, but one can never be certain.]

[The entrance to the ruins looms out in moss-straggled gray bricks of stone.]

looks unoccupied

[The closer they get to the entrance, the further back she trails so they can take the lead. There's no sign of any cats, which puts her on edge, but there's nothing spawning either.]

Maybe someone's dead inside.

[Further in, where they'll either be met with some skeletons or spooky ghosts who don't want them in their house. She's hoping it's empty.]

Be careful.

[AND GOOD LUCK. She'll stay behind them. Many, many steps behind them.]

[It's possible. Probable, even. The morbidity of that comment does not unsettle someone who has meted out more death than they have anything else, and their hand falls to the scarlet hilt of their blade concealed beneath their cloak. If any threat is inside, they will eliminate it. As they can, and will.]

[The Drifter dashes, streaking forward in a whoosh of violet through the open doorway.]

[...nothing, dead or alive, awaits them inside.]

[The Drifter glances back to their small charge.]

looks safe.

[That's pretty! Too bad that isn't enough to distract her from the fact they run so fast. Their movements are way quicker than Seto and the slow adventures they went on. She doesn't try to keep up and lingers far behind until the all clear is given.

It looks safe, sure. The whole place has her on edge though and before she fully commits to hanging out in here, she throws a tiny rock at the building wall. And stares at it. Just waiting for the inevitable....nothing.

Okay. That's good. No ghost hands on that side, at least.]

This wall is safe too. That can be where you sit.

[She did her heckin part. ]

[She did real good, though. Real, real good.]

[The Drifter is, admittedly, not used to traveling with a slower companion. They have to stop and start and stop again to glance back and ensure that she is still following. She is, if at a distance. They follow the parabolic trajectory of the pebble as it clatters against the stone, but nothing happens of note.]

[The Drifter glances to her, head to one side.]

from ghosts
?

Yes, this kind-

[It's obvious she still has a few concerns about this place by the way she lowers her voice to a whisper. They don't have a fire and the lack of cats is disturbing. Cautious is her middle name now.

She walks over to the wall and presses her back against it, extending her arms as far as she can for the ghost demonstration. Could it have been just as easy to say wall arms? Probably. ]

They reach out and grab you when you walk by. You have to go fast.

[Which clearly won't be a problem for them.]

[You have to move quickly. She's correct in assuming that this won't be difficult for them; while they're well-accustomed to threats of a far more tangible nature, speed is their most notable asset. Where Ren is concerned, however, things become...]

[Complicated.]

[They focus on her explanation intently. Nod at its completion.]

and you?
can avoid them?

Yes, I learned how.

[By trial and terrifying error. Screaming, crying ladies. Mean torsoless kickers. Jellyfish. Demon birds. Wild dogs. It doesn't matter. No enemy can nab her-she's got this drifter. She may be an irritating escort mission, but at least her AI is decent enough to not die.

Both her arms drop and she slides down the wall until she's sitting on the ground.]

Let's stay here.

[SAFE AREA.]

[Good. She may not be skilled in the vein of defense, but awareness and avoidance - those are important skills in their own right. The Drifter contemplates that for a moment before they nod. That is, they should think, reasonable. particularly for a child.]

[They settle down beside her.]

alright.

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

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