November Intro: Red Sun Rises Like an Early Warning

[lifeaftr_mods]

INTRO LOG: NOVEMBER

Who: Everyone!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: November 3rd and beyond
Where: Ensō
Warnings: Mark as needed!

The New Arrivals: Hold My Hand
When you wake, it will be to the lapping of waves, frothed with foam...pulling at your hair, your skin, your clothing. The sand is soft and wet beneath you, but it's several inches submerged. And the longer you stay here, the more obvious it will be that the water level of the ocean ringing this strip of island has begun to to rise, and not merely because the tide has started to come in.

And what's more? You can tell that something else about this entire situation is horribly, horribly wrong.

Perhaps you've lost some special power. Perhaps some piece of your memory is freshly and disconcertingly blank. Perhaps you've just discovered that one of your senses is missing, or that you've been rendered unable to speak, or you've been struck by a debilitating fatigue. Not only are you stranded in some unfamiliar place, stuck on a rapidly flooding beach, but you aren't even doing it in full possession of all your faculties.
For those who agreed to put themselves at a disadvantage for a stranger, these are your consequences. If you're unclear as to the handicap your character has been assigned, if any, please check your initial acceptance notice!

All new arrivals will additionally awake with knapsacks, their names stitched to the front. The contents of said knapsacks can also be found in your acceptance notices!

For All: It's a Long Way Down
The water isn't a problem for the newest arrivals, either. It seems that the waters all over Ensō have started to rise, slowly at first, and then with a steadily increasing rate. At first, you might be forgiven for assuming the tide must simply be unusually high, or maybe that the island's begun to sink. But the longer it endures, the more obvious it becomes that neither is the case.

The water has begun to rise. Something is wrong with the island itself, or the being living on it, and now there is nothing preventing the water's inexorable approach as it steadily washes over and over the mainland. In fact, if you listen closely, you might even be able to hear a peculiar sound tearing over the cold rush of the coastal wind; something akin to a desolate wailing.

Either get to high ground - and quickly - or find out what's causing this. But either way, we suggest you hurry...because there are a great deal of newly arrived, very disoriented folk on the beach that could really, really use your help.

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As a final note to those who participated in the Test Drive Meme, bear in mind that 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.

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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

[souris_keteer]

[Mickey had begun to approach her just as she begins trying to get up. Poor kiddo. He kneels down nearby, trying to speak gently and quietly.]

Easy, easy... you need any help there?

[foreverafter]

[ ooc; Mel, your Mickey is the best on dreamwidth and I'm sure the world, but because of Sachiko's canon I'm actually super afraid for him. Could you look these over and fill them out for me? I WOULD FEEL AWFUL IF I HORRIFIED MICKEY I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.... ]

[ She gives up the ghost (ha ha) and flops back into the quickly rising water. A soft groan eminates from her body, just to reassure him she isn't dead, but goodness, is she sizing him up. He's not a monster, well-- from her perspective, he's neither man nor beast... what was he?

He looked too friendly to be a threat... ]


Hnnn...

[souris_keteer]

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<small((OOC: sorry about that! made sure to drop a line in the permissions asap.))</small>

[<i>Mickey smiles, offering her a hand if she'd like one.</i>]

Easy, you don't have to rush. My name's Mickey Mouse. I'm here to help.

[foreverafter]

[ She brushes aside his hand. Monster or not, she's not sure what to make of this... thing. It's a little tempting to kill him and gore him up, just to see what the skeleton of that kind of creature looks like. She could probably make a mask out of his skull that would fit around her head.

She has no empathy to speak of, but if she had a single morsel, she'd at least feel a tinge of what she just thought was very very wrong. She spits up seawater and everything that came in with it.

She sees a satchel just above the tide with her name on it, and walks back over to it to open it up. Inside were her scissors and a few... useful things. She smiles, suddenly not feeling so abandoned. ]

You. [ Her voice is raw, but definitely sounded like a seven year old's. ]

If I was brought here, leaving wouldn't be nearly as simple, so no questions about that. [ She was the one who spirited other people away, for goodness' sakes. Something more powerful? Requires knowledge. ]

Something's wrong. [ About everything around them, now. About how the tide didn't obey the sky, how it felt like they were sinking. ] High ground...?

[ Not one for words. ]

[souris_keteer]

[Seawater, ick. He frowns, wondering if he should find her some fresh water to drink before she speaks up. Huh, she's pretty clever, figuring that out so soon!]

I can take you to higher ground! We just gotta hit the mana pools. They take us to different islets, and we should be nice and dry over there. Just follow me, missy!

[he stands up, all smiles and sunshine. come on, it'll be fun!!! we're following the leader, the leader, the leader~]

[foreverafter]

[ Oh my god, this might be the hardest act of all to keep up, sheerly because she's just baffled by it, like she was roped into a kids show and is being chatted up by the mascot. It twirls disrespect and confusion in her into one very undefinable emotion. Like... being the child who kicks Santa in the knee at the mall meet and greets. ]

Mana... pools.

[ Magic? Teleportation? She needs to test the limits of her powers here before she forgets. ]

[souris_keteer]

That's what the Storyteller calls 'em. They're the rabbit we see in our dreams who tells us what to do.

[...which he says as if that's completely normal.]

I'm sure they'll pop up again once the flooding's stopped. I sure hope that's soon.

[foreverafter]

Makes sense... [ unsure ]

[ Murder school or Wonderland. It's not like Sachiko gets to decide what can exist and what can't. Maybe she's in heaven somehow, and this is as good as she deserved. ]

How far is it?

[souris_keteer]

It's not too far!

[He looks back at her, a little worried.]

Are you tired? ... I could try to carry you!

[Try being the operative word here. piggyback?]

[foreverafter]

I can walk...

[ It'll be strange piggybacking something that's near your height, right? Even if she's all skin and bone and wouldn't be heavy at all. If he did, he'd feel how cold she was. Not-alive cold. ]

Thank you though. Just... get me somewhere I can rest.

[souris_keteer]

We can make little stops along the way. I don't think the water's rising too fast.

Don't you worry, I won't let anything happen to you.

[foreverafter]

I'm not worried...

[ A little indignant, but still, the truth. She's aggravated about this place, but it doesn't scare her. That takes a lot more effort. ]

I just want to make it somewhere we can sit without anything sinking. Then I can find more out about this place-- right?

[souris_keteer]

Right. I'm sure the Storyteller will give us some clues. Until then, we're on our own.

[foreverafter]

Who's the storyteller? Why do we answer to them?

[souris_keteer]

They're the... Um... they...

[How best to put it?]

I guess they're some kinda mystical magical figure. They want to know what's going on as much as we do. And if we give them good stories, he helps us with supplies!

[foreverafter]

Magical figure...?

[ Now that Sachiko has settled on an fake identity mostly, mentally, she sounds apprehensive at that, as if the very idea is a bit nervewracking for her. Of course, internally she's like 'if this is the person who took me here, I'll kill them.' Not knowing what's going on is a good coverup-- she'd know. ]

Stories? I want a blanket... [ sniff ] Where can I give him a story for one?

[souris_keteer]

The Storyteller pops up in our dreams! They might show up tonight, at this rate.

[And, of course, with his hand on his heart-]

I can ask them for a blanket, if you want! That way you can save a wish.

[foreverafter]

[ She'll prepare her mind with her best Nightmare on Elm Street impersonation, then. If she has to be here, she must be here to follow the rules, too. Therefore... in order to engage with an important person, she must be able to dream again.

She frowns, as if feeling guilty. ]

But that's your wish!

[souris_keteer]

And 'cause it's my wish, I want to use it to help others. That's what's most important to me.

[foreverafter]

[ The joke is really on you, Mickey! Sachiko doesn't need it and some new people certainly will need that kind of wish spent on them. She just wants it for appearances-- if a little girl doesn't mention she feels cold before someone brings it up, especially after near-drowning, something is definitely weird about her. ]

Haa... then, thank you. I'll pay you back with a wish of my own someday!

[souris_keteer]

[Mickey would rip out his own kidney if someone asked for it.

... Please don't ask for it sachiko]

Don't you worry about it. For now, let's get you safe and get you rested.

[foreverafter]

[ :)))))))))))) ] O- okay... I'm just a little...

[ Hahaha oh god here come the tears. Were it not for the salt water still in her system she wouldn't be able to fake this. ]

I'm just--- I miss home...! I'm scared without mama or papa!

[souris_keteer]

O-Oh...

[He comes toward her, arms open. If she wants a hug, she can come in, but he won't force one on her. The offer is here!!!]

It'll be okay! We all have people we miss... but we're gunna get home, I know we can.

[foreverafter]

[ She'll hug him very briefly. Enough to feel that she's cold, but easy enough to dismiss on the ocean. Or bad enough to realize this child seriously needs to get warm! ]

I hope so... I'm scared of a world without them!

[souris_keteer]

[Not that the idea of her being dead would ever cross his mind in the first place... but he pats her back, allowing her to hold him as long as she needs.]

It's okay to be scared... Everyone gets scared. But every day we get a little big stronger, and a little bit braver. You're never as scared as you could be when you have a friend around.