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

[whiteas]

I'll have to get more creative with the name then.

[ She's trying to be playful, even if this whole situation is frankly irritating. It comes off a little snider than she intended. ]

What was it like where you were before? That other-other world.

[postictal]

It was a, uh, Castle in the Mist.

[Snide is no object. Honestly, he'd be a bit more disquieted if someone wasn't sniping at him in some manner or another. That's just kind of his general default state of being.]

Got volunteered to fight someone else's war. [Supposedly.] Didn't end up doing very much fighting.

[whiteas]

[ That would've been a more familiar scenario. Castles and wars sounded a lot more like home than this place did. ]

You don't look like much of a fighter.

[ Says the girl in the tulle skirt. ]

[postictal]

Neither did any of the kids there.

[Sorry, was that hint of bitterness creeping into his tone? Might've been. He's still not over that, actually. Fuck you, Ozuma.]

Wasn't exactly a selection process. Or a willing one.

[whiteas]

A lot of kids learn to fight young where I'm from. We have entire academies to help us prepare for it, but I take it that's not what you mean.

[ she had very abruptly learned the difference between schooling and real war only months ago. ]

Particularly given the lack of consent.

[ No one who started learning combat in her world was there because they were forced. It was just a necessity. The world needed heroes or those who couldn't be that would die. What he is describing sounds very different, but Weiss only has her own experiences to go by. She had been upset when Ruby skipped years because she was supposed to be her leader, not because of the moral problem of a 15 year old preparing to enter a job many didn't make it to gray hairs in. She's trying to understand though. ]

You look like you made it out though. That's not something everyone can say regarding a war, even if you ended up.. well, here.

[postictal]

Well, that's the thing. I didn't.

[He let them drive the knife into his soul. An attempt to - well, if he's honest, he's not really sure. Cut them out? Sever whatever remnants they may have left behind? It hadn't worked; he can still remember them, from the chilly smile to the rosied cheeks to the way their words had lashed out across the space between them, red and glistening.]

[It's hard to forget someone like Chara.]

[(But shouldn't he be having trouble remembering? He'd seen them, he remembers, walking among the trees - looking almost content.)]

[(Content, because it was almost over. For them.)]

But I knew what I was going into that time. Not anyone's fault but mine.

[If he could have tried and keep himself in his own goddamn head, maybe this wouldn't have happened in the first place.]

[whiteas]

I doubt that makes it much less traumatic. I had to fight for the right to become a huntress back home. We'd fought plenty of times before, taken down criminals and fought terrorists, but when it came down to losing...

[ Even if she hadn't physical scars, even if she hadn't been one of those who lost their lives or limbs, she had still lost so much. Friends, her faith in herself-- everything she had believed she was doing to protect this world, her team, had all fallen apart and everything that had helped her discover who she was to begin with had been taken away.

Weiss closed her eyes, but straightened her back before looking directly at Tim from across the fire. ]

It doesn't matter if it's your own fault, everyone has the right to their own pain. That's terrible if you didn't make it through.

[postictal]

[That's alarmingly poignant for someone who was just threatening to call him "Space-Case." Perhaps he shouldn't be surprised. Even the most vindictive of souls generally have a soft spot - even if it's hard to uncover.]

[He's learned that, if nothing else, that's even more likely than ever.]

Not really. I was just kind of getting in the way.

[A shrug; he's long since mastered the ability to be utterly frank about his own death, or the potential for it. It's not particularly pressing.]

Maybe here I can be a little more useful.

[whiteas]

I won't argue with that since I don't know you, but my point still stands.

[ A lot of people dismiss her own feelings because she's rich/spoiled/a Schnee/whatever, even if she has a lot of real issues. Things she can't necessarily talk about. So there's a bit of sympathy there whenever someone feels like they don't have the right to feel a certain way about their own problems. That doesn't mean she's going to tell them they're wrong about their role in something though. ]

Well, what sorts of things are you capable of? Obviously we're not all experts at everything. [ If her fire is anything to speak of. ] I'm sure there are going to be more people than just me who are going to need something here.

[postictal]

I can make really great compost, apparently. [He sounds wry as he says it, though it is, for what it's worth, a true statement.]

Real good at staying alive. Usually.

[He's definitely survived a stabbing that should've been fatal. But then, he had a little help. From multiple sources.]

[whiteas]

I might be optimistic in hoping we aren't here long enough for that to become a useful talent.

[ Please don't tell her they're going to get to the point of farming. She doesn't want to be a farmer. She wants to buy her groceries at the market and never have to deal with compost in any context besides Jaune trying to claim he's the Compost King because of that ludicrous board game. ]

[postictal]

[In his experience, it's never wise to become dependent on something that promises to prove a source. Ozuma had promised, apparently, to protect and grant everyone sustenance, and on how many levels had he failed in that simple directive by the time Tim arrived?]

You don't wanna get dependent on anyone for stuff like that. [It's less a warning and more...advice. Though it's entirely up to how Weiss chooses to interpret it.] It's better to have some kind of back-up plan. Even if it's making compost.

[whiteas]

The last meal I ate before I arrived here was packed for me by my butler.

[ Basically, she doesn't particularly have a choice right now. She has zero food talents besides having really good taste and table manners. ]

I know how to do some basic things but I'm not afraid to admit that I don't particularly have a choice in regards to dependence on someone, at least until I can find someone to teach me. [ A beat. ] I'm a huntress in regards to monsters, so I'm probably going to be able to adapt to hunting best, though, so I was hoping I'd find someone to teach me how to hunt animals instead of Grimm.

[postictal]

[That earns a small blink of something bordering on amazement - as close as Tim can get, given his general state of emotional asystole that very little, up to and including his own death, seems to be capable of rousing him from.]

[At least she's capable. And she can admit her own faults.]

I'm guessing Grimm are...bad guys where you come from, yeah?

[whiteas]

Soulless monsters that almost drove humanity to the brink of extinction and still threaten to do so, yes.

[ At the very least she wants to be thought of as capable. She knows people see her heels and dress and jewels and think precious princess. She's been called that before. And while she's got quite a bit of pride, it's been fairly broken down. She's on her own now with no safety net, and she somehow ended up in a possible worst case scenario immediately after getting rid of it- she needs to tell people exactly what she needs to learn to survive at this point, and she knows it. ]

[postictal]

Well, I don't think there's any of those around here.

[He could be wrong, but there's no way of knowing. Not just yet. Plenty of monsters around in Sol, but they considered themselves more or less their own species rather than anything malicious, and in general, their actions reflected that.]

[whiteas]

There aren't.

[ She says that with a confidence that's probably unnatural to someone who doesn't know about the monsters. ]

They're attracted to negative emotions like fear and pain. The beach would be crawling with them by now if they were near, if everyone would have made it out of the water. All those rafts would have been a buffet on rickety wooden dishes.

[postictal]

[All right, well, fair enough. Seems like she knows what she's talking about, so he'll trust that for now. No reason not to.]

So what I'm hearing is - you can take care of yourself in a fight.

[whiteas]

I'm also a very intelligent student, singer, and teammate.

[ Weiss seems almost refreshed from getting to brag about that. It's strange to not have people just know about her. As bad a situation as this is, it's the first time she's ever gotten the opportunity to be judged entirely for herself. ]

So are you a farmer?

[postictal]

[If he were predisposed to smiles, perhaps he would have smirked at that; the way she says it, it's almost like she's rattling off a list of positive qualities for a resume, or audition.]

[She's eager, at least. That's seldom a bad thing.]

[Tim shakes his head.]

Just a guy.

[whiteas]

A "guy" who does what besides space out, make decent compost, and not die all the time?

[ She's trying to be friendly here, but it's not easy when he's not giving her much to work with besides space-case compost king. ]

[postictal]

[She's not exactly wrong to be wary. HE IS A LIAR. He always has been. Untrustworthy on every level it is possible to be untrustworthy, with little room for exception. He shrugs. He's learned a little, in his time at Sol, and among that which he's come away the wiser for is knowing when it's safer and simpler to not explain yourself if you don't choose to.]

Guess I'm just talented.

[whiteas]

It sounds like you're just being uncooperative.

[ Weiss doesn't quite understand his behavior. She'd learned not to trust anyone a long while ago in Atlas. It was at Beacon that she'd learned to trust again, then she had to fight the urge to withdraw into herself entirely again when she'd been forced back. Teamwork didn't happen with those who didn't share, and those who couldn't unite against a problem didn't succeed. That's what she'd learned.

And Tim was just being a pain in the you-know-what about this, and her expression said as much. ]

[postictal]

[That's another reaction he's come to anticipate. Not easy to work with, that Tim Wright - but paranoia as far as his reliability is concerned is a good thing. Sooner she learns not to trust a word he says, the better.]

Didn't realize we were doing team sign-ups.

[whiteas]

[ Weiss rolls her eyes at him, but she'll at least bother explaining, gesturing as if she's handing him the answer to his problems while she does. ]

I may not be an expert and most of my knowledge regarding compost was obtained while telling classmates to play Compost King away from me while I was studying, but I at least know that compost takes a while to make. I have my doubts you're going to be able to trade it for some time. You must have gotten a sack filled with a tent, an unlimited amount of those fire beads, food for months, and a water filter if you're anticipating being able to survive without anyone else's assistance and apparently nothing to offer.