TEST DRIVE MEME ( 020 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #20

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.

Due to the shortness of the month, both Reserves AND Applications will open on February 17th!

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.

Hell's Fury Burns the Heart
Back in December, the island of Maati treated travelers to unique Trials, tailored to their own unique sins and vices. Of the seven possible trials for adventurers to undergo, the Trial of the Forgiving, the trial laser-focused to exploit those most predisposed to be wrathful and violent, was among the simplest. Unlike the other trials, there were very few puzzles and mazes. The Trial of the Forgiving was largely, in essence, a trial of temptation.

This Trial takes the shape of a stone-walled spiral, with trial-goers starting at the outermost point and working their way steadily to the exit at the center. The torches lining the hall as it stretches infinitely onward paints the walls with a warm amber tint, giving the entire place a much more welcoming ambiance than will eventually become evident.

Your task is simple: make it to the end in one piece. All you have to do is withstand the constant harassment from the very, very familiar faces that will stalk you throughout the entirety of this gauntlet. Each specter that appears will be one with which you hold a significant grievance - be it a personal antagonist, a long-standing nemesis, a foe you once faced, or even yourself, if your self-hatred runs that deep. All the while, they'll be doing their utmost to incite you to strike at them. Taunting you, acting out, threatening you or the ones you love; while they cannot physically harm you, they don't necessarily need to, in order to strike a nerve.

They want you to attack them. They want you to lash out. In part because all damage you attempt to deal to them will be rebounded back onto you - and whoever might be accompanying you - instead. A poorly-timed attack or well-placed insult might very well be enough to one-shot you, or your companions, into oblivion.

It's a good thing you have, potentially, innumerable chances. Every time you're struck down, you'll simply reappear at the very start of the Trial...and have to start making your way to the end all over again.

The Weakest Link
Once again, Mu has reformatted one of Maati's Trials for its own purposes. This one is based off of the Trial of the Trusting, which focused on building bonds and connections between its victi - er, between its trial-goers. For those prone to paranoia, distrust, or simply being emotionally closed off, this would be the challenge laid out to them: a sequence of puzzles and traps requiring teamwork and faith in one another, at least in the situational sense.

Fortunately - or, perhaps, unfortunately - things here are going to be a little simpler, though you'll still be waking in a tunnel lined with dark green stone, intermittently lit by the odd, irregularly spaced torch. This Trial will make its intentions quite clear from the beginning, for, you see, you're going to be waking up with a friend.

One that happens to be chained, that is. To you. A length of about two feet of chain links the cuffs that bind you, one wrist to another, with whatever other unlucky soul has woken up here beside you. No matter what you do to said chain, it remains stubbornly indestructible. Though you could always try breaking your wrists, or severing your hands instead, or...actually, you know what? Why don't you just try to get through the Trial with your new friend, instead? It's probably going to be at least marginally less painful!

The path that is open to the pair of you is fairly linear. Its difficulty largely stems from the back that you'll be traversing it as a permanently linked pair. Obstacles present will always be surmountable as a team - switches and levers that might involve two people to reach, doors that require dual switches or buttons to be held down, puzzles that require passing of information between the both of you to expedite progress, and so on. There's also the matter of the Rarriers - ogre-like creatures of large stature and a territorial nature. Those under the keen gaze of a Rarrier will find them impossible to attack; their front hide is as tough as steel, and attacks tend to simply glance off. Their backs and sides are of a much more vulnerable nature, however. If only you could reach...or get someone else to do it for you.

Assuming you're not both sick of each other by the time you reach the exit, you'll be rewarded with the breaking of the cuffs that connect you, symbolizing that a friendship forged is stronger than any iron! Though, by the end...maybe "friendship" isn't the word we'd use.

Well Met
This place is hot, dry, and arid - but at least it's brightly lit! The peach-colored swell of dunes seems to be limitless, in nearly every direction, with the stretch of sand fading seemingly infinitely into the dark, purple line of the horizon. The sun overhead is relentless and sweltering; if you're the sort of person who needs to self-regulate, temperature wise, you might be in for a bit of a problem the longer you're stuck out here. Could be a rough time.

Fortunately for you, there's water. Very nearby, in fact. It's the only deviation from the sea of sand: a dark, circular blot that looks very, very much like a water well. As the only landmark in the vicinity, it seems at the very least worth checking out, right? The closer you get, the less it seems like it might be a mirage, or some other elaborate ruse. It looks like a perfectly normal, unassuming well. Which is why, of course, it isn't one at all.

Well mimics are native to the island of Monsun, and they're...well, they're exactly what they sound like. They favor dry, desert-like environments, and hunt by luring travelers and animals alike to the temptingly fresh waters they hold. Mu has been helpful enough to recreate one in vivid detail, just for you.

These creatures are largely tube-shaped animals, buried deep in the sandy earth. They suction fresh water from deep within the earth and hold it in the lowermost parts of themselves. The simple construct that travelers see - the circular, stone shape with the rope and bucket for hauling water - is, in fact, their mouth, carefully adapted to camouflage itself into something that seems perfectly serviceable. Once travelers attempt to grab hold of the rope or bucket, or even the rim of the well itself, they'll discover that the surfaces have all been slicked with a sticky substance that may very well take off a layer of your skin if you attempt to tear away without taking great care.

Once the well mimic has entrapped its prey, the "well" sprouts teeth around its stone rim, lining its rocky gullet all the way to the bottom, as well as a fat red tongue. Rope-like tentacles whip out to seize whatever poor soul has found themselves ensnared. If you don't manage to get free in time, you'll learn just how it feels to be digested over a period of twenty-four hours while your body is broken down into a squishy, delicious mulch for the mimic's consumption.

The best way to kill these creatures is by tricking it into swallowing something lethal - fire, poison, sharp weapons, whatever you have on hand. Well mimics are quite blind and hunt purely by touch, and will seize whatever touches them without any knowledge of what it is. And once it has one victim in hand, it's quite incapable of grabbing hold of another.

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

xigbar | kingdom hearts

[ambitionfed]

trial of the trusting.
[ Yeah, this is very much not his shtick. He's at the entrance of the trial, surveying the others who have the misfortune of experiencing his presence, and he jerks his head toward the stretch in front of them. He isn't too pleased about the chain, but... ]

You wanna go first, bigshot? [ That's not how it works, but okay. Then again, he's definitely planning on letting the person he's chained to take the brunt of whatever's going to face them.

Later on, while they're making their way through the trial, Xigbar decides he's incredibly done with all of this... Obviously, the chain won't be able to handle corridors of darkness, right? Duh. Xigbar tries to open up a portal, but-- ]

You've gotta be kidding me.

[ get fucked, asshole ]

well met
Aren't you an ugly one!

[ It's a good thing Xigbar is a slippery one. It's easy to stay out of the way of the thing trying to eat him. Tough luck he's having, but it's okay. Because he actually seems to be... having fun? That's probably fine.

He's got his arrowguns, so it's pretty okay with him. Xigbar disappears, reappears just as someone--you?--stumbles upon them. ]

Better watch out for that thing!

[ Like he wouldn't push someone in front of him to save his own skin. ]

well met

[pyroluminesce]

[Ffffffantastic. (Can't swear, the Disney assassins will break down my door.) One of the last people he wanted to see in whatever world he'd gotten stuck in, but wasn't that just his luck.]

[...Weird, that...didn't look like your average Heartless.]

What's the matter, havin' a rough time? You're gonna make me think you've lost your touch.

trusting? what's that?

[forgotten_tide]

[The girl looks up at him as they walk from beneath her hood, her mouth visible beneath it making a very careful line. She does not like this. She does not like being chained to anyone, but especially this particular high-ranking member of the Organization.

At least it isn't the Superior or Saix, she tries to console herself, but... it doesn't help much. Instead she simply holds onto the giant key in her hand all the tighter.]

...I tried it, too. [She says quietly. On one hand, get rekt, Xigbar. On the other, it means they're stuck together. The internal screeching is intensifying.]

well met

[want_to_belong]

[He'd already been making his way over when he saw something happen, but when the guy disappeared...

Definitely not Noctis, but he had Noctis-like abilities somehow. It still always blew his mind when other people popped up with magic.

He stopped in place to narrow his eyes at the well that was now clearly not a well, but jumped with a yelp and took a few steps back when someone suddenly talks right beside him.

Okay, give him a second. He did not just squeak. You heard nothing.]

You can warp.

[His fingers tightened around the hilt of his gun, but he didn't bother to point it at anything. Instead, he glanced back towards it.]

Don't think our weapons are going to do much against that. It'd be like shooting a pile of bricks. Better to just avoid it... You okay?

Trial of the trusting because I'm horrible

[atailoftwoworlds]

[Zidane shrugs.] Sure. I'll take the lead. [Since he's only just met Xigbar, he's got no reason to think that the other man is the type who would be happy to use others as bait but should he find out, then he's no pushover.] I'm a master at dodging traps, anyway. If we run into any, that is. [Well ok that's an exaggeration because cocky teenager here but he can survive.]

Axel/Lea | Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance

[pyroluminesce]

[well met]

Okay, so this isn't really what I was expecting.

[Here is one young man who could not be LESS dressed for the desert, in a long hooded black coat that quite literally came straight from Hot Topic. He frowned in perhaps a bit less confusion than the situation might have warranted, looking around at the desert and muttering to himself.]

...No way I took a wrong turn and ended up in Agrabah, right? Can't be, that's in the other direction. [He sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck.] At least I think it is. Not like I have every single world memorized.

[Life's hard, ain't it? But it was what it was, so not much to do but walk in the direction of the only real landmark available. Look, a completely normal and unassuming well.]

[antepone]

[ Oh, yikes. That's definitely not proper desert attire, but... you know, she hasn't seen him around, so she isn't surprised. He's almost definitely new, and at least this is on Mu. If he happens to show up on the island, she'll have to introduce him to Clothing Mountain. ]

Hi. Did you just arrive here?

[forgotten_tide]

Axel?

[He isn't the only one who is not dressed for the desert at all, though she's sadly grown accustomed to this sort of thing on her missions. She tilts her head to the side. Eyes wide, before a teasing smile crosses her lips.]

And here I thought you did. [She taps the right side of her head, a friendly jest.] But no, this... isn't anything like a part of Agrabah I've been to.

[want_to_belong]

[Not Monsun... This place had to be Mu. He had no particular memory of how he got there.

Which usually meant surviving or looking for other people. Wary of any potential predators that might be looking around, Prompto made his way through the desert with his gun in hand.

It took a little while for him to spot anyone else, but when he did he was immediately reminded of when he first saw Kravitz. Trenchcoats were in these days, weren't they? Not that the fellow Hot Topic reject with the "Check Meowt" tank top had the right to comment.
Not recognizing the shock of red hair, he figured this had to be a newcomer.]

Hey!

[He trotted towards him with a hand up in greeting. And gun still ready in his other hand.]

You okay over there?

[missingache]

[It really is hot. Roxas can't say he's missed the heat at all, especially since he too is not dressed for it. There's a heavy sigh as he looks around, spotting another similar dressed figure.]

........ Axel?

[Is that really his friend?]

[tokenflavortownie]

[Those are definitely not the right sort of clothes to be wearing. Good thing about them, though; his black cloak and red hair stand out impossibly well against the sand dunes.

It's a good thing she's on her way towards the same Unassuming Well.]

Hello there! [She calls, waving one arm with a metal broom held in it.] I'm hoping you're not some kind of illusion!

[vagabone]

[There's someone else out here with Axel, and he sure is skinny. So skinny there isn't any actual skin involved.

...But he does have eyeballs and hair. Is a hairy skeleton spookier than a bald one?? Too bad if he is, because he's also heading to the well, for lack of any better options. Lost again, great.]

jester ( critical role ) ota

[technicallytechnically]

i. hell's fury burns the heart.

If it were anyone, anyone else, Jester may be able to ignore them. It's pretty difficult to get on her bad side, sure. But there are a lot of bad people in the world. Avantika, Trent Ikithon, that Algar guy, that one dude who kicked a cat so hard it exploded...

She could, possibly, ignore any of those people taunting her. She knows she's not her strongest on her own, knows it's a poor idea to fight anyone with any sort of power without backup.

But Jester sees the large, imposing figure, the bald head and pale skin marked with faded tattoos marked with scars and that horrible smirk, and she... she panics.

Lorenzo, grinning toothily at her, not moving to attack but holding his oversized glaive out as if to remind her who that weapon has taken from her, drawling out in that voice that sends shivers down her spine to this day, "Looks like you're alone again..."

Jester, normally confident, feels alone. She grasps the holy symbol at her waist, tries to will it to warm at her touch, remind her of the Traveler's presence, but it remains dormant, and she whimpers, because Lorenzo keeps fucking talking.

"Breaking you will be even easier a second time," he taunts.

Jester outright shrieks like a pained animal, and she gestures and the loud, hollow sound of a disembodied church bell tolls, sending Lorenzo reeling back and covering his ears... but Jester herself recoils further, crying out and nearly falling to her knees.

She feels what must be a thick line of blood dribble out of her ears. They're ringing. Lorenzo's taunting laugh sounds almost distorted.

That's not supposed to happen.

ii. the weakest link.

[Now, Jester, for her part, has pretty much no issue trusting people. In fact, one could say she is perhaps a little too trusting, barring the few red flags she does occasionally pick up on. She generally does look for the good in people, though, and will strike up a conversation with a stranger without any real worry.

The issue, however, is prolonged exposure to her. And while some find her brand of chaos delightfully endearing, some... have a little less patience.

Let's hope the person chained to her at the moment isn't one of the latter, huh?

When her partner wakes up, they will find Jester jiggling the chain attached to both of their wrists very annoyingly. Like, there are hands being flung around annoyingly.]

Ohhh, this is just like what my mom does sometimes! This is the real kinky shit. You know, you should've asked first, but I guess I am pretty irresistible. Can I pick our safe word? I think it should be... jenga! No, wait, uh, um, what's really unsexy, um, skinky-doodie!

[Now would be a good time to tell her this isn't a sex thing.]

iii. well met.

[Jester is a little unusual for a tiefling. First of all, she's a rare brilliant blue color, something she prides herself on by calling herself her mother's little sapphire. But more importantly, her dad came from the ocean or something, and also might be the Gentleman, but that's NOT IMPORTANT right now, the important thing is she's at her best in cold temperatures and the desert is the opposite of that.

She is sweating like... well, like the Gentleman right now, which is something she's TRYING NOT TO THINK ABOUT, THANKS, we are focusing on the need for water and also the lack of water and why isn't her spell to Create Food and Water working. She just spent about two months traversing the ocean and making pure water and large amounts of magical food daily, and suddenly it's like she forgot the words to her favorite song or something!

She hums a tune she heard in Hupperdook the night she danced with Caleb and Nott as she drags her feet through the hot sand, just to make sure she still remembers things, even if it doesn't really solve the problem. It does make her feel a little better.

Gaaaaaaaaasp! Wait a second! Maybe she doesn't need that spell after all! (Well, she totally does, and she'll have a talk with the Traveler before bed about this, but in the meantime—) There's a very convenient well just over there!]

Holy shit. You're just messing with me again, aren't you!? You're such a dick sometimes!

[But the insult is delivered with no small amount of love behind the words, and she is grinning as she skips over to the well, an obvious gift from her god...]

i

[devilstongue]

There's a gentle touch against her shoulder and the unmistakable scent of Nag Champa as Molly passes by Jester, red eyes focused on the bastard in front of them. Whatever new bullshit this was, he hadn't expected to see him.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't frightened. A little nauseous, even - but there was no chance in any hell that he was stepping aside. If it was really Jester, he'd die a hundred times to protect her. What was the worst that could happen, after all?

Pulling out his scimitars, he whips them back over his nape and stands ready to fight.

"Hey, asshole!"

ii.

[want_to_belong]

[Waking up in Mu was always a challenge in and of itself. It was always completely random what they might find themselves facing, and it didn't have to make any sense.

When he felt something tapping at his chest while his back was against a cold floor, and someone talking, he squeezed his eyes shut tightly with a grunt before finally forcing himself awake. Which might've been the worst decision of his life. A female... Molly? What? The skin and features immediately struck him as somewhat similar, but more importantly, it was a girl. Almost on top of him.

With a chain.

He lifted his wrist up to check it and no doubt, there was a chain attached to him, too.]

I-It wasn't me!

[He shot up into a sitting position, quickly scooching away. He waved his hands wildly to try and dismiss any notion that he was responsible for these chains.]

I-I swear!

[The perma-virgin was slowly turning more and more red as her words really started to sink in. The closest he'd ever gotten to a girl was being in the same picture.

In a desperate bid to save himself, he attempted to get up and run - which immediately failed after about two feet when the chain suddenly yanked against him and he stumbled over. Realizing that he must have just pulled on her, he fumbled about to get himself back to his feet and check on her.]

S-Sorry. Sorry. I, uh... [Help him out here a little bit before he faints.] I didn't mean to... Are you okay?

ii

[barberian]

Jester.

(She's trying to be patient, but Jester is rattling their chain over and over and talking about something to do with sex- which is embarrassing, but there you go- and Yasha is standing, waiting for her to notice where she is. Because Jester was not here before, but she is now. And the two of them are joined neatly by manacles at their wrists. She can probably break them off if Jester stops moving for just a moment.)

Jester, (she says again, raising her voice a tiny bit, and then when that doesn't work she yanks the chain back in her direction instead.)

Jester. How did you get here?

saunters in weeks late for pain, i

[lesbeau]

This was not Beau's trial, even though it easily could have been. She's a girl to hold grudges and think with her fists instead of her head, and out of everyone they could have been faced with, this place had to pick the worst. This feels like a dream-- and she'd be happy to dream of Jester after being stuck here for months on end-- but seeing Lorenzo's fucking face just makes her want to break every bone in his body.

The sound of her boots hitting the floor rings out as she moves into position in front of Jester, staff up.

"Hey you dick! I'll kick your ass as many times as it takes!" They killed him before, and sure that was with a whole team, but... she only learns from her mistakes so hard. Maybe backup is coming. She just needs to get this started.

Alyssa Amell | Dragon Age: Origins

[theharrowed]

1. Hell hath no fury...
[This wasn't a face she'd ever expected to see again. Not since their duel in the Landsmeet. Alyssa goes deathly still save for the hand itching for the dagger at her hip, her blue gaze cold and distant. She remembers the red heat on her hands well. How he refused to accept the reality of a fledgling Blight and caused so much grief in the land, tearing apart not only the nobility, but leading to the near-destruction of the only institute of learning for mages in Ferelden. She isn't even from Ferelden, but that Circle was her home...]

..Loghain. [There is anger in her tone, barely leashed and frigid. Yet the slap in the face comes verbally as the former regent turns to the only other person here.]

Silence. Your betters are talking, mage.

[She wants to set him ablaze, but she doesn't reach for her staff resting on her back. She could do it without, but her hands remain at her sides as she lifts her chin in disdain.]

No. You are dead, and you were never my "better"... traitor.

2. It's sand, blowing on sand in a place full of wind and sand.
[Bless the Iron Bull ten years later Deserts are not something that this particular mage is familiar with. Ferelden is full of swamplands and mountains. So to say she's woefully unprepared in her blue and silverite Warden armor is an understatement.

And why she's so quick to fall for the trap.

She jumps back, pulling out a dagger from its sheath on her left hip and stares as the creature starts biting at her.]

Sweet Maker, what-? [Of all the things to be taken aback by, of course it's a fake well.

Well, shit.]

2.

[petrifiedshadow]

[Amell's blue and silver armor was out of place, as was the black and silver dragon flying towards the well at top speed. The middle of the day was the wrong time for a Nightwing of all dragons to be crossing the desert. That well in the distance was the best thing Starflight had seen all day.

Until it started sprouting teeth just before he got to it. With a yelp, he started winging backwards, creating even more wind and sand.]

What is that?!

Starflight | Wings of Fire | OTA

[petrifiedshadow]

I. Weakest Link

Starflight had to admit at this point he was getting sick of both caves and chains. Between growing up trapped in the cave he and his friends had been raised in, plus several stints in various prisons, he felt like he had more than his fair share of both lately. On the plus side, at least he wasn’t chained to the cave, and he wasn’t alone, which would have made the whole thing even more unbearable.

Of course, it was always possible his companion was working for whoever put them here, or there was some sadistic twist at the end. He’d read about a similar ice kingdom ritual one time, where two dragons went into a cave and only one came out. Or when Scarlet threw him in her gladiator arena with one of his friends.

“You don’t think they’re going to make us fight at the end of this, do you?” he asked cautiously, as they came upon another large door, locked of course. He started inspecting his side for any sort of hidden buttons of levers, his claws scraping gently across the stone.

II. Well Met

The middle of the desert, in the middle of the day, was no place for a black dragon. The closest he’d ever been to one was when his friends had skirted the border of the kingdom of sand and the ice kingdom, in the close highland deserts. This was completely different, and Starflight was miserable under the glaring sun. He desperately wished he had Sunny here. He didn’t know if SandWings could navigate deserts better than other dragons, but it didn’t matter. He missed her, and all his friends, terribly right now.

He was flying low over the dunes, the hot air helping him keep aloft, but despite how long he’d been flying he didn’t see anything that would offer shelter from the heat, or water. Gliding lower, he finally spotted the well in the distance and sped up, but seeing another figure nearby he pulled up quickly. Starflight considered landing, but he had no idea if this person was dangerous or not. He circled overhead at a safe distance, likely more ominously than he meant to be, a dark shadow passing over the meager water sources below.

I

[waterfight]

Tsunami didn't like this. She didn't like it at all. It brought up all kinds of awkward feelings and the same sick awfulness that she had felt when she had been dropped into an arena and told she needed to fight her friend. Someone who she thought of as close to her as a sibling. She tugged at the chains around her forelegs ad scowled.

"...If they expect us to fight, they have another thing coming," Tsunami muttered darkly as she reared up to run her own talons across the stone in search of some kind of clue. She dug her claws into a crack--then decided that it was just a crack in the stone because no way would a Scavenger make a puzzle that involved large, dangerous talons.

Zidane Tribal | Final Fantasy IX | OTA

[atailoftwoworlds]

The Weakest Link


[Zidane happens to be pretty friendly and easygoing when it comes to working with others. There are few people he genuinely hates unless they are downright evil bastards and while there are people he doesn’t get along with, he’s willing to put aside any personal feelings and cooperate to get out of a difficult situation. Whether or not that’s relevant to you (are you a snobby judgemental person?) is another question. But either way, he’s chained to you.

And the two of you have reached a dead end. Or rather not a dead end but you are in a large circular room a rather large sealed door and a few strange-looking symbols around the wall. Said symbols may or may not be a clue how to open the door. And Zidane could potentially notice and solve them if he had the patience. Which he generally doesn’t when it comes to things like doors and barriers blocking the way.]

Okay, listen up. We’re gonna move a few metres away from that door. And then on the count of three, you and I are gonna charge and knock that thing down! Got it?

[Clearly the best puzzle solver in the room here.]

Well met

[Well, he is in a sticky situation (no pun intended). Zidane, not having heard about these monsters and feeling a pretty thirsty, was one of the people who grabbed the rope and only managed to just get away by using his knife to slice off part of the rope (which is now gooey. Ewwwww). Unfortunately that cannot be the same for his leg, is caught by a surprise rope tentacle, making him fall onto his back.]

Whoooooah! Geez!

[And the monster is trying to pull him inside. The good thing is that he manages to cut the ‘rope’ and quickly scramble a few metres away, although another tentacle tries to reach out to him.

Maybe some help?

Or maybe you’re the one who is trapped and needs help. In which case, you will see a young blond-haired kid with a tail run up, a spare knife in one hand and his main weapon, a swallow blade, in the other. Stance ready, he thinks with the right aim, he can get the monster to catch and swallow it. Plus, he gets to show off his throwing skills. Especially if the person he's helping out is a pretty girl.

And……three, two, one!

And unfortunately, it misses and lands right by the monster itself.]

Awwww man, looks like I’m gonna have to do it the old-fashioned way.

well met

[want_to_belong]

[Alas, Zidane, Prompto was arguably pretty but he was not a girl. He should know better than to approach anything in Mu, but he had innocently stopped for a small sip of water and discovered that mimics came in many forms. His gun wasn't the most useful thing here, and his knife was a bit short to reach the thing that had caught his leg. He had one foot on the outside of the 'well', firmly pushing against it to keep it from pulling him in, and the other up in the air being tugged on while he weapon his back.

Luckily, a brave and daring hero was coming to the rescue. Prompto noticed him from the corner of his eye, figuring he just 'needed to hold on for a minute', when... suddenly a blade stabs into the ground right next to his head.

With a yelp he tried to roll away from it - which was pretty hard when one of his legs was caught - nearly causing him to slip with the foot that was holding him away.

Worst. Heroing. Ever. Zidane was almost as bad as he was.

He did grab the blade and make some wild swings at the gooey rope around his ankle, though.]

Gabriel Knight | The Beast Within

[notjustawriter]

The Weakest Link
[It's not like Gabriel knows the first thing about waking up in a strange place with a complete stranger cuffed to him. Hell, he needs to jot that down as soon as possible, because it sounds like an incredible premise for a novel.]

You ever seen anythin' like this before? This is the kinda thing they usually leave to the movies.

I'm pretty good at figuring things out, but this is new even to me!

[...Yeah. He's pretty into this.]

Well Met
[Right. Sand everywhere. In the middle of the desert. When he'd been in Bavaria mere minutes ago. This is, absolutely, without question, some kind of dream.

Hopefully not a prophetic one. He's sick of those.

Fortunately for Gabriel, he is just smart enough to know that a well in the middle of a desert is incredibly fishy, and he keeps his distance, looking instead to the companion he's found himself with.]

Ain't that suspicious. You think there was some kinda settlement here? Seems strange for there to be nothin' but a well.

The Weakest Link

[eudaimonikos]

Not...exactly like this.

[Michael holds up his hand to inspect the shackle, which is definitely the more familiar part of this scenario.]

These are good make. Doubt we can break them without breaking any bones.

Izuku "Deku" Midoriya | My Hero Academia

[heroondecku]

[The Weakest Link]

[Izuku isn't exactly the kind of person who has trouble trusting others. Really, unless someone does or says something suspicious, he's likely to assume trustworthiness until proven otherwise.

Situations, on the other hand? Those he'll distrust like innocent lives depend on it. Even dreams - especially lucid ones that involve feeling like he blinked and went from class to some kind of strange, overly-theatrical villain plot. The whole thing is just weird enough that he'd almost be willing to buy this as the mysterious joint training lesson if the person he was chained to wasn't a total stranger.

But since this is a stranger, he has more important concerns than the exact details of what's happening, at least for the moment. He can worry about "actual dream vs remote-kidnapping-via-teleportation Quirk" later.]

Hey. [He turns to give his full attention to his partner-in-chains.] Are you alright?

[Dream or not, he's got a job to do.]

[lightlessfuture]

[ That partner, as it turns out, is a tiny two-foot....bug? Animal? Something? Whoever or whatever it is, it's clearly not human.

The Knight observes the much smaller cuff around their much smaller hand with mild interest. It's not the chains they've seen before, and they're in a dream, so it's probably fine.

At the sound of Izuku's voice, they tilt their head and look up at him, and then give him a tiny wave.

..Wait, wait, no, they know this one. This doesn't require sign language.

After a moment's pause, they give him as enthusiastic a thumbs up as they can manage. Yes, they're fine. ]

cairngorm | land of the lustrous

[echopraxis]

[ 01. hell's fury ]

[There are no taunts, no direct confrontations, but maybe that's worse.

There are only glimpses of flowing cloth, the sound of bells and the flitting noise of loosed arrows. Here and there, when a corner is turned, a flash of a humanoid figure with a beatific smile, a sharp glint of color as the sunlight reflects off the tips of their bows--sometimes white, sometimes deep blue.

They're barely past the entrance when Cairngorm surges forward in pursuit, limbs taut with anger and fear. One of the figures stops at at the end of a corridor, as if waiting, and in its arms is a second, smaller figure. It glints like the arrowtips, but whatever color it is, you can't see, because Cairngorm slices through it with their saw as quickly as breathing.

It dissipates, and the saw instead hits the stone wall of the maze and embeds itself. Fine cracks run up Cairngorm's own arms from the impact; they don't seem to notice, and instead let go and fall to their knees, shaking.]

[ 02. the weakest link ]

[Cairngorm has never seen a handcuff in their life, but it doesn't take much examination to get the gist.

The first thing they try to do, after you both wake up, is try to see if they can tear it apart. By yanking it. And since they're literally made of quartz, they can yank really fucking hard. (In fact, it's very likely you'll fall over, while they look very unimpressed at you.)

And when that inevitably doesn't work the next step is to try and break it the chain using other means. Or their own hand off, eventually, if you're particularly annoying. It's not that big a deal, really. It'll reattach.]

2.

[hyperlit]

[Unfamiliar touch is forever unwelcome. Even more so when it is something entrapping them, pinning them in place. The Drifter wakes with a familiar lurch, static and blood fuzzing in their veins, snowing their vision as they rouse, slowly.]

[The situation hits them like a sledgehammer, and they proceed to wake less slowly as they snap back away from the other party, pulling their chain taut with the shock of learning they've been attached, pinned, to another person.]

[Their dismay is entirely silent, but palpable nonetheless. They tug at the chain fiercely, alternating between glaring at it and then glaring at...whoever this is who has been chained to them.]

Nari Reno | Original

[everylittlesecret]

Hell's Fury Burns The Heart
[Nope. Nope, nope, nope. This was not happening. Nari was not being followed by a version of herself. Except she was, and it was awful, and Nari wants nothing more than to keep ignoring the taunting coming from behind her. Every time the specter moves into her vision, she just turns her back on it.

All the while muttering how this is the most fucked up dream she's had in a while. And that Satan needed to kindly step off so she could go forward instead of spinning in a circle.]

Weakest Link
[Whoever it is that she's woken up tied to will be given the most scrutinizing look. Nari will also be sitting as far away from the other person as the chain will let her. Sorry, it might take some convincing to get her to cooperate.]

This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real...

Wildcard
[Hit me with your best shot!]

hell's fury

[antepone]

[ Oh.

For her part, she sees... well. Her father. More and more recently, she's been thinking about him. It's... hard not to, with Alfor around. And Ignis, too. After everything that's happened, she thinks she's been able to confront those more negative feelings.

But it's not fun at all. She's shaking, as she stares him down, and when she sees out of the corner of her eye-- ]

N... Nari?

[ Is she seeing her, too? ]

agent maine | red vs. blue

[bloodbathing]

I. Hell's Fury Burns the Heart

[ Know what Maine's really good at? Violence. Brutality. Killing his enemies. Leaving behind a trail of bodies as he bulldozes his way through his missions, as confident in his strength as he is in gravity — or perhaps more so, since the latter fluctuates with the planet. He's the person that's called in when it's time to fight fire with fire. A person whose rage rises like a storm, until his hold on his temper snaps and he lashes out without care for who or what is around him.

Maine is not a person who forgives. He's not a person who can walk by his enemies without attacking. He is, in short, utterly fucked in this Trial.

For the umpteenth time, Maine appears at the beginning of the Trial. His labored breathing can be heard even outside of his armor. He clenches his fists tight and growls — a low, near-inhuman sounding thing — before he squares his shoulders and starts stalking down the path yet again. ]


II. The Weakest Link

[ There are worse things in the world than being handcuffed to Agent Maine. The massive man is clearly capable of handling himself physically: fully armored, he stands over seven-feet-tall and looks like he could throw a whole slew of cars with ease. Communicating with him, however, could be a bit of a problem.

See, Maine doesn't talk. It's not that he can't (yet), he just chooses not to the vast majority of the time. So, rather than cracking the ice, the behemoth of a man simply stands there like a monolith, staring down at his forced companion through an opaque gold visor that gives no indication of his thoughts or emotions.

So, uh. Good luck building trust! ]


III. Well Met

[ The relentless heat wouldn't be an issue if the cooling system in Maine's armor were working correctly. Unfortunately, it seems to have decided to shit itself, leaving the space marine all but cooking inside the titanium alloy.

Dammit.

Maine's helmet comes off first, revealing the face of a man who — aside from looking like an intense motherfucker — appears remarkably ordinary in spite of his sheer size. He squints against the sun, shaved head already glistening with sweat, and starts detaching more pieces of his armor's white outer shell.

Better heat than cold, he thinks. But he still needs to remove some layers (armored as they are) before he starts moving around, even if it's just to walk to what looks like a well. ]


(( ooc: maine is from a pre-injury (s9) canon point. for those unfamiliar, feel free to check out his general first impressions & permissions post. wildcards are also welcome! ))

ii...........screAMS......

[counterblows]

[So Wash wakes up, and it's to a familiar shape - faceshielding and bright white and domed gold.]

[There's about two seconds where his ability to process shorts out. When it returns it's to the cycling of what feels like every possible emotion under the goddamned sun, a frantic miasma of relief panic guilt dread regret grief terror and when it stops it stops on confusion because there's no way of knowing who's behind the helmet, who he's talking to, who he's currently - ]

[...handcuffed...to...]

[This complicates things. This complicates a situation that's been made fucking complicated by the presence of someone he was so certain he'd never see again but he thought he'd never be seeing C.T. again until he did so this is his fault for not mentally preparing for it.]

[He can only manage the one word, really, and it's honestly more of a wheeze when he issues it.]

...Maine?