August Aftermath: Make Me Okay

[lifeaftr_mods]

AUGUST AFTERMATH: MAKE ME OKAY

Who: Everyone!
What: After the harrowing events of mid-month, it's time to process what you've been through
When: August 24th and onward
Where: Ensō and/or Nastrandir
Warnings: Discussions of violence, injury, forcibly altered mindsets via magical influence, and character deaths. Other than that, tag as you go!

Nastrandir: Can I Fight When I Don't Know How
The morning of August 24th, the day after a Storytelling that was notably later than usual, you will wake to the restoration of your average selves, barring any extenuating circumstances due to recent deaths. The dead will rise again on Ensō, at the Storyteller's Temple, while everyone else will simply wake where they last laid themselves to rest. There's nothing left to do but, perhaps, try to come to terms with all that's just happened.

You've probably witnessed some terrible things, over the past few days. There's a very good chance that you were the one doing the terrible things. Whether you were responsible for the slaughter of a fellow adventurer, watched the fray from the distance, or suffered the spontaneous combustion that seized everyone who hadn't managed to shake away their false memories in time, it's at least all over now. Or...mostly. Any stray sirens that haven't been smashed by the event's end are still shrilling away, though their dangerous effects seem to have been rendered inert without the aid of the broken merotome spilling its memories into everyone else's heads. Likewise, a handful of automatons still wander the island of Nastrandir. Those that have not succumbed to mud and rust and irreparable damage are still capable of firing upon hostiles. Anyone who may have fought by their side before will discover that they're now far less friendly, and will treat former members of the Red Team just the same as they would with any other intruder: with deadly fire.

So you can pick yourselves up off the ground and clean up what remains, or you can say to yourselves: Fuck That, and instead head back to Ensō. Or you could elect to keep exploring Nastrandir, if you're truly a glutton for punishment.

Ensō: Am I Bleeding From the Neck Down
On Ensō and its accompanying islets, it's begun to rain.

It's not a genuine downpour, but more of a gentle, melancholy drizzle. The rain is cool and likely refreshing, particularly if one is just coming away from the humidity of Nastrandir.

Potentially as a form of apology, anyone who goes digging through their belongings will discover that one of the following has ended up in their packs:

[ ♆ ] If you were a member of the Red Team, you will discover that you now own a rather awkwardly-shaped object, about three feet in length. A set of written instructions will inform you that this is known as a redsword, and that, upon placed upon any wet area or body of water, will drain and dry it out over the course of five minutes. This item is single-use, and only works for a ten-foot radius.

[ ♆ ] If you were a member of the Blue Team, you will discover that you now own some very fetching footwear. A set of written instructions will inform you that these are called skip-skops, and can be used to walk on water or wet land without sinking or getting wet. Standard limitations when crossing between islands or attempting to go beyond LifeAftr's limits will still apply. This item is single-use, and will dissolve after one hour total.

[ ♆ ] If you were Neutral, you will discover that you now own, er, this. A set of written instructions will inform you that this object is called a furball, and that it works as a sort of miniature, diminished version of the sirens you spent all that time destroying on Nastrandir. Once planted, it will rapidly grow into a tall, screaming tree full of lorby-like creatures that automatically causes all natural animals in the vicinity to become aggressive for one hour, maximum. This item is single-use.

It's not much, but it might make some of the hell that you suffered through over the past few days worth it! Almost, anyway. In the meantime...relax, lick your wounds, and try and forgive yourselves for what's happened. Please remember to let us know if your character perished in this event! Remember also that death penalties will be reduced following this event; characters will only need to contend with them for a week, and participation in Non-Compulsory AC will not be necessary in removing them.

---

If you're interested, the following links may prove handy:

[ ♆ ] OOC Event Info and Plotting Post
[ ♆ ] Nastrandir's Intro
[ ♆ ] Nastrandir's Locations Page
[ ♆ ] Search Requests Page
[ ♆ ] Deaths Page

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[onegreeneye]

Shit.

That startles Ginko to his feet, and he moves a few steps closer before crouching down next to Yukio. "--Hey, easy, there. Can you breathe alright?" Despite his own caution, his worry at the risk of overstepping something and screwing up all over again, he rests a hand lightly on Yukio's back.

[reflash]

Yukio doesn't shake Ginko's hand off. He's too busy trying to breathe, but his breath is coming too quickly and too shallow, and the taste of vomit coats his mouth and overwhelms his snakelike sense of smell.

Please!! It's me! I'm your brother! Please, please remember!

He was supposed to protect his brother. But instead--

If he's back from the dead, then maybe... it's too much to hope for, but...

"Is... is my brother...?"

[onegreeneye]

"He's at the clinic. Just saw him." He keeps his voice as steady as he can, given how quickly he answers.

He can at least give Yukio this assurance that his brother is back.

[reflash]

Rin's back. It should feel like a weight off his shoulders but instead it just crushes him differently. Rin's back. Yukio still feels like he's going to be sick again, he still can't breathe. Rin's back.

Yukio was the one who killed him.

[onegreeneye]

No response seems... not great. But Yukio isn't lashing out at him or throwing up again, so it could probably be worse.

Ginko just stays where he is for a while, one hand resting stationary on Yukio's back while he waits to see if he seems to be recovering. He doesn't speak for a while, either, giving him a little more time and silence. There's probably more he should do here, something to comfort him or make things easier, but Ginko can't imagine what. Rubbing his back like he's a sick baby doesn't seem like it would be particularly helpful, and he can't imagine that trying to follow up Yukio's silence with verbal comfort would end in anything but disaster.

So he waits, and when he does speak again, his voice is still quiet and careful. "How are you feeling?"

[reflash]

"I'm sorry," he says, eventually, once he can get his breathing under control and figure out something to say. He's wasting Ginko's time, he's making the man worry. He's the worst sort of person.

"I'm sorry, I-- I'll be fine."

[onegreeneye]

"You don't have to apologize. You've been hit with a lot, over the last few days." Nobody could reasonably blame Yukio for breaking down after all that's happened - certainly, Ginko couldn't.

"I know. But trying to push yourself too much before you're fine won't do any good."

[reflash]

"I don't have time to sit around and wait until I feel better," he snaps, shoving himself up until he's standing. He sways just slightly, until he can adjust his footing to be a little more stable, balance thrown off entirely by the sudden movement and the lack of vision and the horror and panic still curling in his chest. His tail lashes behind him, the blade hidden in the tuft scraping against the ground as he instinctively tries to use it to steady himself. His tongue flicks out, rapid, trying to get as much as he can from the scent in the air around him.

[onegreeneye]

Ginko jumps to his feet as Yukio does, holding his hands up cautiously. The way he's moving seems... strange. Unstable. Probably something to do with whatever he's been resurrected without.

"--Okay. Where do you want to go?"

[reflash]

"The..." He almost says clinic, and then catches himself. Rin's there. Rin's there and Yukio couldn't possibly stand in front of him right now, couldn't try to explain.

"My brother and I have been staying in the treehouses, near a mana pool. I should probably go back there."

That means he has to walk. He can't, not yet. It's... dark. It's dark, and he can't see what's ahead of him, or around him. He'd been terrified of the dark as a kid and that old fear just rises up inside him suddenly.

[onegreeneye]

"Alright. Do you mind if I go along with you on the way there?"

That seems better than asking outright if he wants help. Of course Yukio doesn't want help.

[reflash]

Yukio knows what Ginko's really getting at, but even if he had asked directly, Yukio isn't so rude that he'd refuse.

"If it's not too much trouble, I would appreciate it."

His tongue flicks out rapidly as he tries to figure out exactly where a door is, and he walks towards his best guess. After a few steps, when Ginko doesn't ask him where the hell he's going, his stride gets a little more confident.

His aim was only slightly off, and he walks into the wall next to the opening. He recoils with a startled little noise, trips on his tail as he steps back, and goes down.

[onegreeneye]

So far, so good.

Until Yukio walks face-first into a wall.

Ginko jolts, just a few strides behind Yukio, and goes to kneel down next to him, already glancing over him for visible injuries. "Are you alright? Maybe you really should rest a bit longer."

He's a little more insistent about it this time. But not much. He can't risk pushing too much.

[reflash]

"I'm fine!" He is, other than his absolutely annihilated pride. He's blushing, face glowing blue with embarrassment as he rubs at the metal in his forehead, where the casing for his third eye had made contact with the wall.

"I just can't... see." He trails off, somehow even more humiliated by the admission, but the shock of it has snapped him out of his previous mood.

[onegreeneye]

Ginko's surprise lasts less than a second. Of course. He'd just been talking to Rin about this, actually.

"...It's common, when people come back here, for them to be missing something. Sight seems like a pretty tough one, though."

[reflash]

"Will it come back?" It's a pathetic question, but he's thrown off his usual composure, his emotions scraped too raw to hide.

He doesn't know what answer he wants.

[onegreeneye]

"It will. May take a bit of time and a couple stories, but you'll be able to see again." His tone is still gentle, and distinctly on the reassuring side; he can only imagine regaining his sight would be a good thing.

Which... may or may not be thanks to some specific personal issues, but, anyway.

[reflash]

"Oh." He should say more, and he knows it.

"Do they always bring people back?" Not that. He shouldn't have said that.

[onegreeneye]

It's alright, Yukio, he doesn't exactly expect someone who just came back from the dead to be a master conversationalist.

Or particularly tactful.

"...I don't know specifically of anyone who didn't come back." Vague, maybe, but he hopes it gets the point across. They haven't been here a terribly long time, overall; he'd be hesitant to say always.

cw: suicide ideation adjacent

[reflash]

He's going to come back. If he dies-- if he dies again it's going to be just as horrible and just as painful and he's going to come back. There's no way out. It's just going to keep being like this forever.

His stomach twists, he presses a hand against his mouth because he is not going to be sick again, he can't go through that kind of humiliation twice in a day. But it still feels like he can't breathe, like something's clawing at his ribs and freezing him in place. He has to get out of here before he does something worse than what he's already done.

But he has to keep this conversation going. He has to look like there's nothing wrong. He still can't see anything.

"That's good for them."

[onegreeneye]

"Depends on who you ask." He shouldn't have said that. He's sure of that, immediately, but it's already out. And... it's true. There probably isn't much point to pretending to Yukio that everyone here is thrilled about their effective immortality.

"It can be a pretty daunting thought; if you have trouble with it, you won't be alone there." He may not be aware of what's going on in Yukio's head, but the kid's body language isn't exactly looking relieved.

[reflash]

"I..." but he stops there, trapping whatever traitorous thing he was about to say behind clenched fangs. He can't trust his own voice right now, there are too many ways that talking could go wrong.

He stands to his feet, slower this time, and takes a hesitation step towards where he thinks the doorway is, and then another.

[onegreeneye]

Ginko has to wonder, for a moment, if saying that was a mistake. He seems to be wondering that about everything lately.

But, instead of backtracking, he just sticks close to Yukio, making sure he's headed in the right direction. He seems to be alright so far, which is... a relief. The less he has to nudge Yukio around, the more comfortable it will be for both of them.

[reflash]

He doesn't fight back, just lets Ginko steer him where he needs to go. It's easier that way, it's easier not to think right now, just to go where he's pointed. He just woke up but he's already exhausted.