aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 010 )

Entry tags:

*test drive meme

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 010 )

Test Drive Meme #10

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 April 17th, and Applications on April 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.

Friends on the Other Side
When you open your eyes, it is to a shadow-tinted cityscape. The buildings are clay-built and colorless, plunging seemingly infinitely onward into the sky before disappearing into a dense pool of foglike sky. The silence weighs heavily like a mantle across every inch of this place, and no matter how you squint at them, every structure seems strangely blurred, as though being viewed through distorted telescope lens, or in the reflection of a pool of water.

All told, it's probably obvious from the start that all is not well here.

From the moment you arrive in this strange nether-place, your eyelids have begun to grow heavy. Something about this city and its perpetual, misted darkness leaves you inexplicably drowsy, ready to curl up and fall asleep on the spot.

That wouldn't be a problem, perhaps, if you were alone. Mu does not boast a great deal of flora and fauna, but what it does have is a creature capable of inflicting much in the way of misfortune - clockroach. They occupy this city in swarms of wraith-like wisps, both intangible and curiously amorphous. But when they draw close, they instill a sense of terror like no other, usually igniting one's fight-or-flight response as a result. Sure, they might not be capable of actually hurting you, but why should that matter, when they have a skill for inducing a sense of utter dread in their targets?

Ever try to get some sleep with fresh adrenaline pumping in your veins?

Pretty Fly for a...Fire Guy
With indigo-blue skies, lush fields of green, and miles of rippling grass hills for as far as the eye can see, Mu has cast you into the perfect and picturesque evening. As the imaginary sun lips the very edge of the horizon and the last glow of orange fades to the purple of dusk, the fields come to life with a smattering of bright, wavering lights.

LifeAftr has its fair share of fireflies native to its many regions, but this particular kind is special. They're the size of quarters, very pretty to look at...and incredibly volatile besides. It's hard to interpret what these wondrous little glow-bugs might view as a threat or not, but at least it's remarkably easy to discern as much based on the sight of them alone: they're handily color-coded depending on their moods.

While they glow a contented amber by default, those that fireflies warm to will find themselves bathed in a green-blue glow as those bulbous, organic lanterns tint with a soft, cool turquoise. A few of them might even settle across your arms and in your hair, if they take that much of a shine to you.

Of course, those the fireflies don't warm to will be able to note as such when they light up a blazing crimson, mere seconds before the insects spit a stream of glowing orange, molten-colored acid. It stings and burns in equal measure, just as likely to scald you as it is to set the surrounding fields aflame.

Flower You Doing That?
Adventurers were both wary and relieved to discover that the next island on the horizon, known as Ziziphus, appeared to be a rather vegetation-rich paradise. They were considerably less relieved to learn that this island contained predators just like all the rest of them, despite the rich green backdrop of its meadows and the promise of lush woodland at its heart.

So it is that you, too, will learn that sometimes tufts of ferns are not tufts of ferns at all...but dangerous creatures called spindlanks.

What might initially appear to be a leafy hillock will very quickly prove to be something far more...mobile, if you get close enough. That clump of grass and red ferns will abruptly hoist itself up on six vine-like tendrils, crawling for its prey like a very large, mossy spider. While it's fully capable of swiping at its foes with its massive, leafy arms, the spindlank's favored method of dispatching its prey is simply to scuttle forth until it's positioned directly above you and drop down. If its weight does not crush you and choking on the clods of earth doesn't smother you, don't worry; the spindlank intends to eat you alive with a set of fleshy jaws set deep in its center.

For despite their leafy appearance, spindlanks are very much carnivorous. Their size can vary from anywhere between six and ten feet tall when their appendages unfurl entirely. They burn as easily as any plant matter would, but the size of them can make them quite difficult to topple alone.

And they are almost always hungry.

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He'll get there. It takes getting used to.]

Something like that. I wonder if perhaps some of that will change once they regain more strength. We meet with them approximately once a month to tell them stories of our time here. That helps restore their strength. In turn, they give us things we ask for. It's how Prompto got his chocobo, for instance, and I came to have this.

[Ignis pushes back his sleeve to reveal a rather solid looking bracelet, something totally not his usual style.]

It was gotten for me as a gift from the Storyteller and has been enhanced let me read written word. It can also alert me to certain emergency beacons I might miss otherwise.

Story teller gets strength from stories? Huh... that's kinda cute.

[Ignis shows off the bracelet and Gladio reaches for his arm, drawing it up so he can look at it a little more closely. Definitely not Iggy's style but if it really is as enchanted as all that it's worth it.]

It lets you read? How- uh... I mean. [A soft, sheepish kind of laugh and he releases Ignis' arm to shove a hand through his hair in embarrassment.] Not to be an ass or anything but how's that work?

Indeed. A fitting name for one I would deem a god of stories.

[Ah, but if that sheepish laugh isn't familiar. Once Gladio's released his arm, Ignis gives him a gentle punch to the shoulder before moving to pull a folded letter from his jacket pocket. Once unfolded, the water-stained note might look familiar to Gladio. That is, if he can recall a note he wrote and left for someone over ten years ago.]

While you can, in fact, be an arse, I will let it slide this time.

[He settles the note as flat across his leg as he can and then holds the arm with the bracelet over it.]

Put your fingers lightly on the gem, if you would, and then let me know when you're ready.

[A free pass from Iggy? What?

He'll take it.]

You... still have...? [It hasn't been that long for Ignis, though. It's been a matter of months but even then for him to have kept the note, and kept it on him hits Gladio hard, leaves him feeling guilty for the distance he's let grow between them over the years.

He has to clear his throat before he can speak again and even "lightly" resting his fingers on the bracelet there's a weight to the touch that he can't help, his thumb resting on Ignis' wrist below the bracelet.]

Yeah. Go ahead.

Of course. I have Prompto's as well.

[Ignis doesn't know how the three of them drifted apart during the darkness, but he can sense something off in Gladio's manner. Emotions have never been the easiest thing for any of them to handle, so he just assumes the Shield is struggling with the sentimental nature of his action. It's probably best not to mention that having Gladio's note when he returned to the island was actually more comforting than having Prompto's. It was like having a small piece of his missing friend with him.]

Are you familiar at all with Braille? I dabbled a little bit before we left just in case. You know how I am.

[He just never thought he would be putting it to use for the reason he is.]

I believe there is some kind of translation magic that affects the whole island and this place by extension, since I never learned enough to be able to read as fluently as I do. Once I trigger the scan, you're going to feel the words translated into Braille and scrolled along the face of the gem much like an electronic display might scroll written word. Lets begin.

[There will be no visual indication of Ignis mentally triggering the magic needed to scan the letter, but after a few seconds Gladio will feel the words, translated into Braille, scroll along the face of the gem his fingers are resting on. Oddly enough, even if he doesn't know Braille, he will find he can understand what is being said.]

There are a few people on the island who are mute or only communicate through visual means. The bracelet was originally a way for me to be able to communicate with them. I had the abilities widened a few months later when I realized the Storyteller could likely allow me to read with it as well.

[Gladio nods along, humming an affirmative when he remembers that Ignis can't see the motion. Right, so that makes sense in a weird kind of way.]

'Course I know about Braille. You... well you end up getting real good at it, if that helps. [Maybe? Probably not but it might be reassuring to know that he does learn to cope.

Even expecting it, having the braille begin scrolling along under his finger tips makes him gasp, hand jerking away for a brief moment before he places them back on the stone. His thumb, resting on Ignis' wrist, twitches, vaguely tracing out the letters without him realizing he's doing it, translating the dots and bumps into something more familiar, even though his brain can understand it just fine thanks to the magic.]

That is... either really cool or kinda scary, maybe both?

Of course I do. It would hardly be in character for me not to master something I set my mind to.

[A small flash of his old cockiness appears for a moment. Despite his words, it is comforting to have that reassurance. Learning--gathering knowledge--it's such a large part of who he is. If he lost the ability to do that forever...

He'd rather not think about it, truth be told.]

Generally, with things like this, it's better just to go with both. Flexibility is such an important skill to keep limber, after all.

[Yes, that is a very bad joke. Enjoy.]

[He's nodding along with what Ignis is saying, yes certainly. Learning and flexibili-

wait

wait

Gladio groans loudly, shoving at Iggy's shoulder and making exaggerated noises of disgust.]

That's low even for you!

[Ignis doesn't resist the push, swaying back and laughing as hard has he has in quite some time. He has to admit, that was a pretty bad one, but it just slipped out. It was an accident. He promises!

Right.

Once he's stopped laughing, he shrugs and then pats the ground he's sitting on.]

Well, I am pretty low right now. Can't get much lower than this.

[He supposes he could lay down, but that doesn't really appeal that much at the moment. This is certainly no haven.]

Keep makin jokes like that and you'll be six feet under.

[And since he's letting Gladio push him around...

Beware Iggy there is a noogie incoming unless you squirm away. No product means he can do this without ruining your hair. ]

[Wait! Wait! No fair! Abort! Abort! How dare you, Gladio! He trusted you!

Ignis tries to pull himself free of Gladio's grasp, but the hands that push and lightly punch at the other man's chest have little force behind them. Besides, it's not like his hair can be in much worse shape that it already is in.

Once Gladio's got the noogie out of his system, Ignis tilts his head up, newly disheveled hair sticking out in all directions. Still, his expression is serious as he lifts a hand toward Gladio's face.]

May I?

[The feel of the Kingsglaive uniform under his fingers makes him realize, quite suddenly, that the mental image he has of his friend is ten years out of date. It's something he'd like to rectify.]

[It's all Gladio can do not to laugh at Ignis, his hair being the wreck that it is. It's nice to see him anything less than perfect.

The question, though, catches him off guard a bit. When's the last time Ignis asked to do this? The last time he even bothered to preface it with a question and not just running his fingers over his face to make sure there weren't any new scars.

He leans in, bumps his cheek against Ignis' outstretched fingers.]

Yeah, of course.

[For this Ignis, though, there would be plenty more scars, worry lines deep in his brow, his beard less trimmed and thicker, never mind the vast difference in his hair.]

Thank you.

[Ignis' touch is light as it moves over Gladio's face. He's still not used to this kind of thing and is fighting back the part of his mind that says it's not proper to do it. Thanks to the blasted visions of Noctis' future etched into his memory, he doesn't need this to know how his King looks now, but Gladio is a different story--a different Gladio--if Ignis is perfectly honest.

His lips press into a tighter line each time he finds one of those new scars or deep worry lines. Once he's finally finishes, his hand doesn't fall away completely. Instead, his fingers weave into the end of that long hair.]

Well, the good news is that apparently I'm still beating you at the facial scar game, but this...

[He gives the hair in his grasp a light pull.]

This is a mess. Of course, somehow I expect you still manage to make it look positively dashing.

[He anticipates the tug, sways with it and grins, not quite laughing but the amusement is clear in his voice.]

Well if I'd known it was a competition... [He reaches up to tug his hair out of the elastic, letting it fall thickly down around his face. Even moving with the tug it pulled his ponytail lopsided.]

'Course it looks good on me. Everything looks good on me. [A pause to bat Ignis' hand away so he can fix his ponytail.]

Just... didn't really have time to keep shaving it. Gave up a few years ago.

Oh? If everything looks so good on you, then would you care to explain why you eschewed wearing a shirt so often?

[Once his hand is batted away, Ignis lets it fall to rest in his lap. Despite the teasing in his words, his expression slowly grows more serious as he listens to Gladio fix his hair.]

This is going to sound strange, but I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm sure Prompto and my future self were around, but this present me wishes...

[He pauses then, tucking his chin into his chest out of embarrassment as he fumbles with finding the right words to express what he's saying. Much to his displeasure, he fails.]

Oh, blast it, never mind. You must have knocked loose all my remaining brain cells with that noogie.

[There's a soft little "heh" and the sound is accompanied with the same kind of smirk he used to reserve for nights out in Lestallum, flirting his way through the crowds. It's such a familiar sound that he has no doubt Ignis knows the exact expression that goes with it.

That's why he rarely wears a shirt, thanks.

But then he speaks again and it's Gladio's turn to look away, somber and with no small amount of guilt.]

We don't... really see each other, actually. Once in awhile, in passing maybe...

[It hurts to admit it, especially to this Ignis who seems so earnest.]

What?

[Ignis' lifts his head then, the moment so quick it causes his sunglasses to slide down his nose revealing his right eye open wide in shock.]

You said we were all together going to the Citadel. Why wouldn't we have stayed together during such a dark time? I know we would have gone wherever we were needed most, but I would have thought...

[His voice trails off then, uncertain as to how he should finish that sentence. Uncertain and maybe a little afraid of knowing the answer to why they weren't together.]

[He didn't want to explain, to tell him what happened. He doesn't want to admit to his own part in their separation.]

There was just- [His voice is thick with too many emotions and he doesn't know what to do with any of them other than let out a harsh breath and try again.]

Always something missing. [It wasn't just that. Not exactly. There was so much more, so many layers of hurts and absences. So much loss and so many people to protect. But it all came down to the same thing. They were each a reminder to the others of what they'd lost.]

Noct.

[It's the obvious answer, but with how much Gladio is struggling, there has to be more to it than that. After all, they were the three who knew Noctis the best. It makes no sense that just his absence would have driven them apart. If anything, the memories should have kept them together. But what more could there be? What could have impac-

Suddenly, something dawns on him and he swallows hard, reaching out blindly to find Gladio's arm, his grip tighter than it should be.]

Tell me my blindness didn't cause this. Please. I know I never told anyone what happened that day, but it wasn't anything to do with either of you. I swear this on Noct's life!

"Hey! Heeey no..." It's startled at first, then soothing. Gladio's hand covers Ignis' on his arm, gentle and reassuring. Ignis sounds so distressed he just wants to draw him into a big, smothering hug the way he used to do to Iris when she'd had a bad dream.

"It wasn't your fault and it sure as hell didn't have anything to do with..." His other hand comes up, lightly brushing his fingers over Ignis' temple, not quite touching the scars. Then he realizes what he's doing and withdraws his hand, though he can't quite release the grip he has on Ignis' hand.

"Look a lot of it was just... I was mad, okay. Furious. We couldn't do anything, couldn't fix anything... and-" He frowns, squeezing Iggy's hand once more before drawing his hand away, shame keeping him from continuing the contact. It seemed wrong somehow to be reassuring Ignis for something when it was all Gladio's fault.

"I agreed with the Marshal. That we should plan for the worst. Prompto wouldn't hear it and you... well... disagreed."

"Yes, I'm quite certain I did," Ignis feels overwhelming relief to hear that his blindness wasn't the cause of their separation. After the tension Prompto told him about, it seemed a real possibility, however, the relief fades quickly as Gladio continues and when his friend finally pulls away completely, Ignis frowns, hand following until it manages to snag the Shield's again.

"Now, stop pulling away from me. It's quite obvious that you're blaming yourself more than necessary and I'm not going to stand for you punishing yourself more on top of it," his words start with a sharpness to them that is quickly replaced by a softer, more understanding tone. Oddly enough, there's almost something apologetic to it. "The me who told you that, he knows things he will never tell you, not until this is over and perhaps not even after that. I struggle with the idea of telling you now, but I've already told Noct and Prompto knows as well. It's unfair to leave you in the dark."

He gives Gladio's hand a squeeze before releasing it, taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders as if he's about to relive one of the worst moments of his life. That would be because he is.

"In Altissia I was shown things, Gladio. Visions of the future that awaits Noctis once he returns to the Citadel. I don't know if Pryna acted on her own or if Luna used the last of her power to command it, but I've seen the price he will pay. I suspect you know what I speak of now so close to the end as you are, but I've known what was coming since that dreadful day when we lost so much. The literal truth is that the last thing I saw were those visions, because I still see them and will continue to see them for the rest of my life."

"That me who could not agree is the same one who will be doing whatever he can to abort the future he saw. Preparing for the worse? In his mind, it's the same as standing still and not trying to change the fate the Astrals laid out Noct so long ago. Accepting either Noctis never returning or things going along as the Prophecy proclaims both lead to the same place--Noct's death. That is something no version of me can accept."

A sad smile crosses his face then, "You always were the realist among us. You and the Marshal. You aren't wrong in wanting to plan for the worst. There are just some things people can't accept if they wish to keep what little hope they have left in their hearts alive."

The tension after Iggy lost his eyesight really had nothing to do with Iggy. It was all Noct and Gladio bumping heads and Gladio feeling absolutely powerless. No way to help Iggy, no way to help Noct, and no way to move forward either. It was the same thing that drove them all apart in the end.

Ignis grabs for his hand and Gladio sighs, reluctantly letting the other keep hold of him. He doesn't want to admit it but he's missed this, the closeness of his friends. He had Iris, of course, but it wasn't the same. He watches Ignis carefully as he speaks, chewing at his cheek more than once to stop himself from interrupting. He'd let him finish at least, he owed him that much.

"You knew?" His frown is clear in his voice and he lets out a slow breath so he doesn't sound as angry as he immediately feels. "Why the hell wouldn't you tell anyone? We could've-" No, his voice was rising and he struggles to keep it in check.

"With more information we could've maybe done something, Ig." He shakes his head, exasperated but it's all so far in the past now there's no use in getting pissed about it. "At least we'd have known how long we'd be waiting. Those first months were so hard. Like Prom thought we'd wake up any day to Noct standing in the doorway like it was no big. And then six months passed..."

"By the time he'd been gone a year I was either going to punch Prompto's teeth out or make him cry. So I left Lestallum, helped Cor and the Glaive start evacuating what was left of Liede. Too little, too late."

"I wish it had been as simple as just telling you what I knew. Truly, I do, but the visions showed me no useful information aside from, perhaps, the fact that he was gone long enough to grow a beard. Besides that, I was given no specific timeframe, no indication of where or when he would be back. What it showed me was the The Kings of Old running him through with their blades; what it showed me was Noct burned to ash by the power gathered over the generations; what it showed me..." Ignis' words come to a shuddering stop and he turns away, hands curling into fists at his sides as he desperately tries to push back the pain speaking of the visions brings him. "What it showed me was his father pinning him to the throne with his own sword like one might pin a butterfly to a board. What good would telling you this do? Who would it help? Tell me, would knowing this have done anything but crush what hope you had left in your heart?"

Ignis can't say that he's surprised that Prompto had so much to do with Gladio finally having to put distance between them. While Ignis and Gladio's personalities are opposite in ways that usually complement each other, Gladio and Prompto's personalities are opposite in a way that often causes them to clash. With no Noctis there to be a buffer and Ignis himself likely focused on relearning how to do everything in the dark, those clashes would have only gotten worse. This is why Ignis can't find it in his heart to scold Gladio for his actions. They make sense, especially in such a high stress environment.

"It's never too late." This, though, he can scold on, if only lightly. "Not so long as even one person can be helped. You should know this."

He wants to make a joke, maybe something about Noct's saddest scrappiest beard. (Still better than Prompto's goatee though, sweet Shiva.) But the more Ignis goes on the clearer it becomes how much this hurts him, pains him in ways Gladio can't understand. It hurts, seeing him like this and it hurts more knowing that the Ignis he knows, the one that's been keeping apart from him all these years, has been bearing this pain alone for so long.

There's nothing he can do for the Ignis he knows and maybe nothing he can really do for this Ignis but he can't sit by and ignore his pain. So Gladio pushes up onto his knees so he can shift himself, less beside and more behind Iggy, throwing one arm around him and crushing him against his chest in a hug, half dragging him onto his lap when he drops back down to the ground.

"You could've told us so you didn't have to suffer alone, idiot." And it's easier to focus on Ignis and how much he's hurting with all of this than have to acknowledge how many lives were lost because they didn't act sooner. Because they held out hope that Noctis would return before things got too bad. Before entire regions worth of people were lost to the darkness.

A soft noise of surprise leaves Ignis' mouth when the hug comes. It isn't what he was expecting at all. More anger, and heaven forbid, maybe even disappointment were closer. After all, though Ignis knows some of what happened during the darkness, he hasn't been there yet. Maybe something he saw would have helped. There's no way to know now. All he can do is add this to the list of things he wants to change if they somehow find a way to carry their memories back home with them when they leave this place.

Ignis' tense shoulders relax and he lets his forehead rest against Gladio's shoulder, fingers curling into the Shield's jacket. A soft chuckle affirms his friend's statement. Ignis is an idiot; he's been told as much by many people since arriving here, yet somehow it has more staying power when it comes from Gladio. Mira may know the pain of fighting a predetermined destiny and Prompto may know the pain of missing and wanting to protect Noctis, but only Gladio understands the duty that has been laid upon their shoulders since they were children. No matter how much they may have butted heads about the exact details of taking care of Noctis, they understand each other in a way no one else can.

"You have no idea how much I've missed having you around."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject