October Aftermath: Crystal Clear

[lifeaftr_mods]

Who: All!
What: You're back, for better or worse. Time to recover.
When: Backdated to the 24th and beyond.
Where: The Monkey Compound, Islets, etc.
Warnings: Mark as you go.


No matter where you are on the morning of the 24th, things will very abruptly go dark.

Unless you're dead. In which case, things are already dark. And you do not see this.

For the rest of you, however, the Storyteller appears only briefly. Gone is their seemingly indifferent nature; as the rabbit hops too and throe, the pages of their tome flick back and forth in an erratic pattern, stopping on a blank page for only a moment, before continuing on. Despite the pages always turning in the one direction, there seems to be no end to them, not at all.

"I'll keep this brief, for the moment. All of you have now been removed from the caverns below," A haggard sigh- and a reluctant addition. "Those of you still alive.

"Your efforts have allowed me access to what lies below. I have sealed off the entrances- from now, the responsibility of cleaning up the mess is upon me."

And that appears to be it. Darkness returns, along with the sensation of lying upon the sand. Birds call out from the jungle, joining the rhythmic shift of the waves. No matter where you were on the island; underground, or above, you awaken upon the shoreline near the Storyteller's temple, along with the rest of the survivors.



"For what it is worth, I am truly sorry."

---

[[If you have yet to do so, make sure you confirm your character's death here!]]

Comments

[souris_keteer]

...

[Mickey doesn't say anything. He doesn't even seem to acknowledge he's not alone anymore. He just stares in the distance.]

[seesbosscrotch]

That's life, you know. Terrible things happen... all the time. To people who don't deserve them. Out of nowhere. You can't stop all of them.

[He leans forward, looking off into the distance as well, leaning on his own legs.]

You can stop some of them.

[souris_keteer]

[Still nothing...

... Although now he slowly turns his head to look at him.]

[seesbosscrotch]

The only way you can stop some of them... the only way you can do any good at all...

Is to stand up, unbroken. To take everything the world has to offer on your shoulders and bear up under that weight. To face down the thing that threatens you, be it man or god or all the demons of the Twisting Nether -- or to existence itself, to entropy and chaos and despair -- and tell it, "No."

But you can't let it break you. No matter how much it hurts. No matter how badly you want to run away, and hide in some dark corner of a cave or your mind. You stand back up. And you make the world a better place. However you can.

[souris_keteer]

[He still doesn't say anything, but his eyes soften. He then pushes the bottom of his palm to his eye, trying not to cry. It's so tempting to do just that, to run away and cry and just let nothingness wash over him.

But that wouldn't help anyone.

He makes a little noise - "mm-hmm", nodding slowly.]

[seesbosscrotch]

...You remember why I said you had to make what you do fun? That wasn't just talk, you know. [And there's a reason he said it so specifically -- because it isn't easy. Not at all.]

[souris_keteer]

[Nodding again, not as slow this time.

Finally, his voice comes out, dry and hoarse.]

... Th... thanks.

[seesbosscrotch]

I've been where you are. I've seen the path you have to walk.

It's easier if it's not alone.

[As he'd done it.]

[souris_keteer]

[He sighs deeply through his nostrils. He wishes his friends were here... maybe this would be easier with Donald and Goofy and Pluto. Who knows.

He hugs his knees.]

I don't... want to be... that useless... anymore.

[seesbosscrotch]

There are always going to be situations where you're useless. You have to accept that, because the alternative is going the bad kind of crazy. There's only one of you and you can only do so much.

[souris_keteer]

[he winces at that.]

... Can't I do more...?

[seesbosscrotch]

You can try. But at some point you have to accept you have limits. You can't be in two places at once, for example.

[souris_keteer]

[Ah. Now that makes sense, sadly.]

... I... I understand.

[seesbosscrotch]

The trick a lot of people don't learn is that you shouldn't do nothing just because you can't do everything, and you should never stop trying to do more just because you can't do enough.

[souris_keteer]

[A slow nod.]

... I... I w-won't give up. I promise.

[seesbosscrotch]

It's not the giving up that's the problem. It's the breaking.

Some of the greatest evils I have ever seen were perpetrated by men and women who never gave up, but broke. They lost sight of what mattered -- they got so focused on succeeding in their goals that they forgot their goals and focused solely on success, and in the process ruined everything they once cared about.

[souris_keteer]

[His eyes widen - he didn't even know that was possible.]

I don't... I don't want to do that!

[seesbosscrotch]

Oh yeah? [Mar glances at the mouse finally.] Are you sure there isn't some small part of you right now that would do almost anything to make sure you never saw anything like -- all of that -- happen to people again?

[souris_keteer]

[Well...]

... There is a part of me, I-I can't deny that, but... maybe... 'almost anything' wouldn't be the right thing for everyone. No matter how much I want to believe it.

[seesbosscrotch]

But maybe a little more than you would have been willing to do before?

[souris_keteer]

... A little more, mm-hmm.

[seesbosscrotch]

Now something bad happens again. Once again, you're a little more willing to do whatever it takes to prevent that. And then again. And then again.

You see?

[souris_keteer]

... Yeah, I think so. It's... not easy to stop thinkin' that way.

[seesbosscrotch]

It is and it isn't. Because you just have to lock down your principles, commit to them, and never waver from them no matter what. Even if bad things result.