TEST DRIVE MEME ( 007 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #7

Hello, and welcome to LifeAftr! We’re pleased that you’re expressing an interest in the game. Here, you can test the waters, gauge how your character may fare in the world of LifeAftr, and even gain some in-game incentives, if you so choose.

Remember that Reserves will open on January 15th, and Applications on January 24th!

Two important notes:

1. LifeAftr's test drives take place on the island of Mu, which exists apart from the real world and possesses a dream-like quality that characters are innately aware of from the moment they appear on its shores. No need to panic or fret. Dreams are odd things, after all - and anything can happen in them. Why would anyone question where their mind chooses to wander in its sleep?

2. Due to the nature of Mu, threads in our test drive can not only be accepted as thread samples in your application, but can be accepted as game canon as well. In fact, certain choices your character makes in Mu have the potential to bear in-game consequences, largely in the form of test drive reward items.

Ice of You to Drop By
The winter has well and truly settled in, both on LifeAftr and here in Mu; when you wake, you may discover that it isn't on dry land at all, but on a thick crust of ice. In fact, there doesn't seem to be any land in sight, in any direction - just ice, stretching on and on for as far as the eye can see.

Assuming the chill doesn't get to you first, you'll find that there are much more pressing matters than frostbite. One of those things will start cutting to the chase rather quickly in the form of a wickedly pointed fin, glinting beneath the weak winter sun, shearing through the mantle of ice like a hot knife through butter. Ice sharks sound like something out of a sci-fi B-movie and probably are something out of a sci-fi B-movie, but rest assured: they are still quite dangerous. Fragments of undersea ice animated to suit a particularly sadistic shape and size, ice sharks almost look like delicately worked sculptures of glass or diamond, right up until the point where one of them gets their jaws around you. Their preternatural strength and tenacity allows them to "swim" through ice as easily as water. In fact, that happens to be one of their hunting tactics, as they tend to circle a target and break at the ice around them until they're surrounded by icy water, with no means of escape.

Much like real sharks, they can smell blood, and will set upon it eagerly. Unlike real sharks, they are also innately hostile. Anyone who looks like they might be an easy target will be quickly zeroed in upon by several ravenous, but nonetheless quite pretty, of these glittering creatures.

With Our Wassailing Bowl
The rest of Mu might be more forgiving in terms of setting, but that does not mean you're safe. Waking on dry land is generally considered preferable to waking on nothing more than a layer of ice, even if said dry land is nothing more than a jagged spurt of dark, coastal cliff. It's obvious from the start that nothing truly lives here. The island itself is simply some fragment of rock, eroded away from its mainland until it is all that remains.

The island itself isn't special, no. What is special is what is at its center. A massive clay pot of piping-hot wassail steams temptingly at the island's heart, nestled between the crags of rock. Just looking at it, you can know that drinking that heated, blissful drink of cider and cinnamon will surely chase away the unforgiving winter chill, and warm you from your bones to your toes.

Really, the only problem here is that everyone else wants it too.

The second you lay eyes on that treasure, you'll be seized with an instinctive, inescapable need to have it. No one else can be allowed to partake; it is yours by right. You saw it first, after all, didn't you? You'll have to race with your peers to seize it before anyone else does, and you might even have to start fighting dirty to claim your prize. Sure, you could fight that initial instinct, but where's the fun in that?

Dig a Little Deeper
It's not as though actual, real dry land is out of the question for Mu this go around. It's just that there aren't very many desirable options, evidently, when it comes to the manner of islands that resemble those in the proper archipelago. This island in question might be a bit cold, brisk as the winter air is, but it is otherwise quite ordinary. In fact, one would not be remiss in thinking it bears more than a passing resemblance to the island of Chol.

Unfortunately, it's also chosen to emulate a rather unpleasant, if rare, aspect of Chol's landscape: quicksand. No getting out of this one, we're afraid - Mu has dropped you right smack in the middle of a patch of it.

The myth that one can "drown" in quicksand is largely without much scientific bearing. Indeed, the most prominent danger is that one will start to sink and quickly become mired in the stuff, but eventually they'll cease to properly sink at all. No; the real peril lies in the fact that, once stuck, it is nearly impossible to get out of it. Most victims of quicksand risk death by dehydration or starvation, though we wouldn't fault you for fearing death by, er, sand. Who doesn't hate sand? It's coarse, it's rough, it's irritating, and it gets everywhere.
There doesn't seem to be much in the way of ropes or branches one might grab onto for purchase, once stuck. You'll have to ask passersby for a helping hand, and hope they're feeling charitable...or just drag them in with you, if you're that sort of person.

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( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[shatteredlenses]

Flamebind would be so much better for this, but the heat from the flames would also make the ice more unsafe than it already is. Ignis fights back the urge to flinch each time hear hears it creak and groan through the screeching of the creatures' movements. It's safer to stick to Stormbind for now, using its power to draw him from one target to another. The fates have blessed him in this at least. The skill doesn't seem to care whether he's focusing on something visually or audibly. It still takes him to it.

It's just a shame it doesn't work the way a real warp would. He could use it to catch up with the person he'd just saved then. But no, he needs a target. He can't just whip his blade in a general direction and go to it.

Ah well. Wishing does no good, he thinks as he drives his blades into another target, pleased to hear a fin shatter once more. At least his strength hasn't suffered too much even if he is exhausted in so many other ways. Still, he's not going to push his luck as he feels the ice literally start to shift under his feet. As soon as he hears the boy call out, Ignis turns his focus to him.

"Keep talking so I can follow your voice!" It probably sounds like a strange request, but right now he doesn't have the time to explain.

[savedbyasong]

Shion blinked, it was a strange request if only that most of the time he had to be told to shut up in situations such as this. He didn't question the man though, assuming he had his reasons. He was clearly a fighter, he knew what he was doing.

"I'm here, over here. I'm running towards an area where there doesn't seem to be many of these strange ice fins. Do you know what they are? They look like pure ice but they are clearly creatures of some kind, and yet they shattered when you attacked them. They move really fast though, hunt in packs. I don't think this ice is going to hold for very much longer..."

His voice is sounding more panicked now. Breathing, forcing himself to remain calm, not babbling when he could be doing something more productive, they were all tied up together in the coping mechanics that Reno had taught him and so when he gave in to the urge to talk the rest slipped a bit. But he kept running, shooting looks behind him to make sure the man was actually following.

[shatteredlenses]

"Calm yourself; you're doing fine. Keep heading that way. There is solid ground farther inland!" Even as he attempts to calm the boy--the panic slipping into his voice reminding Ignis more than a little of Prompto's tendency to let his fear get the better of him despite his best efforts--he lashes out with his daggers, shattering the fin of the shark nearest to him before he finally starts heading in the boy's direction. As he does, he flips his daggers in hand, dismissing the Stormbinding and Frostbinding them instead. The daggers are large, almost more of a short sword than a dagger, and slightly lowering his center of balance as he runs allows the blades' frozen tips to drag along the ice's surface. It's certainly not really how Frostbinding is suppose to work, but hopefully the chill will help hold the ice together a little longer. Just long enough for him to make it to the boy.

"Keep talking!"

[savedbyasong]

Solid ground. That was something to aim for. Better than running forever over an ice plane with no end. Much better. He kept glancing back, to make sure the man was following. His powers were fascinating but now was not the time for questioning, now was the time for running.

Except the mans words reminded him he was meant to be talking, Shion took another deep breath. "Yes talking... sorry... Your magic is really interesting you moved really fast before. Really useful against these fins... This place is a dream though, but it can't be, not really. Or you wouldn't have saved me..."

Talking reminded him of Reno, almost painfully so. It had been how they had first became close after all. The collar switch, Shion panicking, Reno forcing him to talk to keep focusing...

The memory made him sad, it would always be painful thinking of Reno. His dad if not by blood, someone he would never see again. But it also calmed him, even though there were ice fins surrounding him and he could not see the land that this man had spoken of yet his mind evoking Reno's name gave him the strength to continue.

"Keep going, that land must be somewhere right? Ice won't be able to follow us on land right? Let's hope so anyways..."

[shatteredlenses]

"It is both dream and reality," Ignis' answer doesn't really help explain anything, but fortunately, he realizes this despite the focus he has on keeping his footing as he draws near the boy. "This is a rest stop on the way to the main islands were we reside. Most all who arrive at some point or another came here first, though not all who we see here complete the journey."

That sounds mildly more threatening than Ignis intends, but there are more important things to focus on. He can clarify later.

"There is usually an island here even if it is always changing form. All we must to is continue inland. Eventually we will find it," he pauses then, attempting to get an idea of how far apart they are by the sound of their footsteps. After a moment, he frowns. There is just too much going on and he hasn't had enough practice to make a good guess.

"How close am I to you?"

[savedbyasong]

It might not explain anything, but it did confirm Shion's suspicions. Part way between dream and reality... How that was possible was something Shion didn't know, couldn't even begin to try and figure out. That wasn't as terrifying as it once would be.

The rest of what the man was saying though... that was worrying. Islands? People came here first?

Shion was going home, his world had six cities that were inhabitable. There were no islands where people resided...

Before he could think about it too hard, before he could start to panic about the implications of what the man had just told him he was asked a question. It was enough to distract him.

"Quite close, about ten metres." Could the man not see? It would explain why he needed Shion to talk to follow him. But how had he fought? From sound alone? That was amazing.

[shatteredlenses]

"Excellent. Call out the distance every couple of feet, please," Ignis is forced to pause for a moment as he hears the sound of a shark coming up on his left side. Without missing a beat, he whirls on the beast, blades shattering out the fin as they had before.

As he reorients himself to begin running again, the young man will probably notice that Ignis' path is now not right toward him, but veering to the left as if he's not quite accurately judged how far over he moved to deal with the shark.

He just might be right about that blindness thing. Perhaps calling out a course correction would be helpful?

[savedbyasong]

"Okay, still about ten meters..." He watched as the man ran off to take care of the ice fin. He continued running though he kept track of where the other man was. As he ran back towards him he seemed to be going further left than where Shion was, Shion scanned the ice, incase there was a fin that the man had seen, or heard that Shion had not.

That did not seem to be the case. "A little more over here to the right. You're about twenty meters now..."

He had slowed a little bit, just to make sure that the man got back on course. He didn't stop scanning the ice for more fins though.

[shatteredlenses]

Ignis curses internally as he corrects his path, glad to have the boy's voice to focus on once more since 'a little more to the right' doesn't help him correct very well. His pace slows as he makes his corrections, but then picks up again when he can hear the sound of sharks coming up behind him. As much as he wants to immediately deal with the issue, it may be best to focus on joining up with his companion first instead of taking out every shark that comes near.

Provided said shark isn't cutting off his escape route that is.

"How is that? Better?"

[savedbyasong]

More sharks, Shion's eyes flickered over and back to the man. "Almost, about five meters now." He doesn't stop running though. "Better. Keep running, I think they hunt in packs."

Which means if one is catching up another probably is as well. "If you think land is close we can try and run for it, it might be better than trying to fight."

The man was good but Shion doubted he could fight infinite ice sharks. No one could. And Shion wasn't much help, not without a weapon anyways.