lifeaftr | November Intro: Red Sun Rises Like an Early Warning

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.

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.

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

[He's like Drifter. There's a mask covering his face, he isn't using any words and even his heart is blocked off. The connection puts her at ease almost instantly and she follows his fingers with her eyes. She gets the walking motion. Understands away is where he wants to be. Where she wants to be, too, now that her bag is back in her arms.

So she takes a couple steps forward, in the direction he gestured, and turns to see if he's following.]

Okay. Like this?

[She lets the stick fall to the ground and raises both her hands, mimicking his motion from earlier. Two pairs of finger legs, walking along. Because now there's two of them.]

I can take you this way. It's safe.

[Even though he's the one that suggested it to begin with? Of course he would realize this way is safe. Far safer than the waters behind them, but she's like five. Sue her. She's trying to help.]

[Wh- why is she suddenly acting like this was her brilliant idea? Brian just looks at her for a moment, kinda dumbfounded, before the amusing side of it all hits him. He almost grins. Kinda. It's close.

He just nods and gestures for her to lead the way, shaking his head once he thinks she's not paying attention. He's certainly not gonna hold anything silly like this against a kid.]

[And lead the way she does. She's been here long enough to learn where different paths go and how to get from point a to b in a decent enough time. That's one good thing about raccoon children-they have a decent sense of direction, even with the rising waters covering the usual paths she takes.

But while her route makes sense to her, it may not to her companion. She's going in the general direction of the mountain, but not the most obvious, direct way. The erratic pattern she's moving in takes them between large trees and around bushes that could have been easily avoided had they stayed the course.

Until something catches her eye and she comes to an abrupt stop, leaning over to grab-

A shiny rock. Nice. Amazing.]

Do you want to hold it?

[He follows without question at first, but as her path starts to twist and turn, Brian begins to lag behind, confusion and suspicion tugging at his mind. (He doesn't really think she's purposely leading him somewhere else, but suspicion is such a natural reaction at this point.)

He's just about ready to cough exaggeratedly and point towards their goal when she stops-- and picks up a rock. Boy, this one has the attention span of a gnat, huh? Brian's not really annoyed, though. They're still moving faster than the water is, and if she wants a shiny rock, he's not gonna say no like an asshole. He's not an asshole. ...Although, there's probably at least two people on the island ready to contest that.

Brian shakes his head, and pointedly shoves his hands in his pockets. Don't take what you don't need. It's a good rule, in his book.]

[It's a garbage rule!! The tiny hoarder in her says take everything, especially if you don't need it. You never know when a good, shiny rock is going to come in handy. The heck. She doesn't look disappointed though. Not one bit, so much as curious as to why someone wouldn't want this exceptional piece treasure. She reaches behind her and shoves it into whatever pocket she can reach.]

Okay. I'll hold it for you.

[It's his now?? Anyway?? Incredible. Accept her garbage.

But whether her does or doesn't, she seems content enough and continues on their merry way.]

[He snorts as she pockets the rock. Alright then. He's not gonna stop you, kid. You do you.

At her words though, the absurdity of this situation- the advancing water, the winding path they took, the fact that Ren acted like he didn't want to go alone- kinda hits him all at once, and Brian laughs. It sounds strange to his own ears, and he stops quickly.

He recovers and shakes his head, giving her an 'ok' motion with his thumb and forefinger, then a thumbs up just to make extra sure she gets it.

Oh- alright, it looks like they're on the move again, and at this stage, Brian just wants to follow to see what she'll do next.]

[The laugh may sound strange to his ears, but it's music to hers. She's not sure what warranted it other than him being happy. It's a confirmation that she was right to shove that grody rock into her pocket. She knew that treasure would make him happy, somehow. Treasures do that.

She turns back once to copy his 'ok' and thumb's up, waits to see if he laughs again and makes a thumbs up towards the mountain. It's fine, little mountain peanut. They're coming.]

When we make it to that place, you'll laugh a lot. It'll make you happy.

[Yes, clearly it was the grody rock he wants nothing to do with, and not her odd and amusing behavior. Obviously.

Brian doesn't laugh again- she'll have to try harder than that- but he does grin at the mirrored motion, and nods along to her words. Whatever she says goes, honestly. He'll follow along.]

[New life mission? Make The Boy laugh again, but that comes after guiding him safely to his new mountain home. Away from the water, from whatever dangers will come from it all-he'll be okay there.

And along the way, she continues to pick up various pieces of garbage, hoping one catches this guy's eye, while she fills the silence with soft hums.]

November Intro: Red Sun Rises Like an Early Warning

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sorry this is incredibly late! we can tie it up here if you want <3

never apologize ya bean!! we can prob wrap it tho <3