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

[ohnehalfte]

[It's an automatic, knee-jerk reaction, so it takes a fraction of a second for Newt's brain to kick in and realize what he's doing--which is definitely swinging at another person--and tries to mitigate. Unfortunately he has almost all of his momentum behind that swing, so though he jerks the trajectory of his fist to miss hitting Shiro somewhere in the chest, he's got the movement of the rest of his body to deal with and...ends up fully crashing into Shiro with a yelp]

[lionson]

[And there they gooooo

Because yeah the punch definitely winded him at the very least, so being crashed into knocked him right over. Hopefully Newt doesn't mind a face full of dirt and plants because they sure did just land on the jungle floor right there.

Shiro tries to yell out some sort of expletive at Newt (or maybe at the situation in general), but he's left gasping for air so no noise actually comes out.]

[ohnehalfte]

[DOWN THEY SURE DO GO. Newt doesn't get the air knocked out of him, but he sure does bang his knee and knock his elbow into Shiro's gut and several other aches--which is why he's making a very pained sound before he's pushing upright as quickly as he can, shoving himself back from the guy he landed on top of. Unfortunately, unlike Shiro, he's got full use of his breath]

Dude, what the hell?!

[lionson]

[Once Newt is off of him, Shiro rolls over onto his side, both to try to breathe better and to sort of curl in on himself and try to squeeze away the pain in his gut. He's no weakling, but goddamn that hurt. He's getting too old for this shit.

He can't speak right away, so he holds up a shaky hand in a 'just a moment gesture' as he takes in a few sharp breaths, coughing in-between them. As his breathing finally evens out, he'll push himself up a little, half-sitting, half laying down.]

You. You're a jumpy one.

[Yup. That's his only explanation.]

[ohnehalfte]

Yeah, well, that happens when you scare people! [Newt's heart is still going a mile a minute and really, Shiro's just lucky he didn't have his butterfly knife in his hand] Don't do that!

[lionson]

Right, right, I'll remember you don't have a sense of humor when it comes to ghost shit.

There ain't any there, by the way.

[At least, Shiro didn't see any. They could be hiding.]

[ohnehalfte]

Yeah, well, it's hard to have a sense of humor about it when all of them try and kill you! [squawked as he pushes to his feet, clearly agitated, dusting himself off.]

You could've just said hi like a normal person.

[lionson]

[Now sitting up fully, though not moving to stand quite yet, Shiro just looks at Newt, thoroughly unimpressed. He just sits there for a moment or two, giving Newt a flat look. Then, once the silence has gone on just long enough to be noticeable, he raises one hand and gives Newt a quick wave.]

Hi.

[No he is not being snippy because he just got punched and knocked over, why would you ever think that?]

[ohnehalfte]

[Newt doesn't look away from Shiro at all, then, folding his arms over his chest, returning that flat look, waiting through that ridiculous silence...except he's not a big fan of silence so he's just gonna...turn and start to walk away, just as Shiro speaks.]

Yeah, start with that next time! [throwing that over his shoulder]

[lionson]

You should start with a verbal greeting next time too!

[He calls back after Newt with that.

Then he stands up, brushes himself off, and heads back towards the temple. Because he was going there for a reason besides to spook Newt anyway, and he's not going to give up on that just because he got punched.]

[ohnehalfte]

[...it could've just been left at that. It could've.

If only Newt were the kind of guy to let something go ever. So he's absolutely turning to shout back at him--] Maybe I would've, if you hadn't scared the crap out of me!

[lionson]

[Shiro is tempted to go in for a hair-ruffle to be like 'calm down geez', but he decides that touching this guy might be a bad idea right now. So instead he just sighs and runs a hand through his own hair.]

Geez, he's more high-strung than Yukio.

[That part is more of a comment to himself, but it's definitely audible. The next part is actually meant for Newt to hear, though, and it's spoken in a more friendly tone than before.]

Arguing over who scared who isn't going to get us any closer to a safe place to sleep, so why don't we set that aside for now and focus on what's in front of us, hmm? We'll get more done working together than stomping off on our own and stewing in anger.

[ohnehalfte]

[that sounds...reasonable. And for some reason, that's incredibly aggravating. He arches an eyebrow, though, and folds his arms over his chest, mouth twisting a bit into a scowl.] Depends. Are you gonna try and pull any more of that surprise crap? Because I will fucking let myself hit you next time, asshole.

[lionson]

[He considers it, and he decides to be completely honest with Newt here. Because honesty is the best policy.]

I won't intentionally surprise you anymore, how's that sound?

[Because he sure as hell isn't taking responsibility for Newt's jumpiness. He already had to do this song and dance with his boys once, and it was hard enough to talk his way out of trouble with five-year-olds.]

[ohnehalfte]

[Newt considers this for a moment, arms still folded]

...alright, fine. [He can live with that. So, momentarily soothed, he's going to walk back towards Shiro] Fingers crossed there isn't anything shitty inside.

[lionson]

[Great success!

Shiro never doubted his friend-making skills for a moment.]

I didn't see anything shitty inside from that first glance.

[Once they're back together he is definitely walking back to the building though. Gotta clear it out before they set up camp in there.]

[ohnehalfte]

I hate to break it to you, dude, but that doesn't instill a lot of confidence in me. [Newt scowls up at the building, reaching inside his jacket pocket for his butterfly knife, which he flips open just as he steps past Shiro, huffing out something like a sigh] Let's get this over with.

[lionson]

And what happened to the whole 'trust your elders' thing?

[Shiro is, at most, maybe 10 years older than Newt. Totally an elder here.

But he will let Newt lead, since he has a knife and all. He's doing better than Mr. 'I left my weapons at home and they're guns anyway so they would be waterlogged' over here, at the very least.]

[ohnehalfte]

[asldkfhs Newt can't help but bark out a laugh at that] It died years ago, man, where you been? [...but yeah, totally approaching that entrance with caution]

[lionson]

stuck on a raft in the middle of the ocean, clearly.

[hahahaha get it?]

[ohnehalfte]

Yeah, dude, same. [right. Just gonna....take a step inside that entrance???? Cautiously????? It looks okay????]