TEST DRIVE MEME ( 027 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #27

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.

In conjunction with our monthly Test Drive Meme, Reserves are now open! Applications will open on September 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.

Eye of the Storm
Unlike the calmer waters of other dreams, this particular one is in a frenzy of activity. The sea thrashes and roars and crawls hungrily up the shores of the unassuming island upon which you've found yourself; it assumes the shapes of tridents, swords and, most notably, the snapping heads of serpents.

The sea isn't acting rough for no reason, it turns out. Right now, it's seething in conflict with torrents of fire that seem to have, however improbably, assumed the shape of a three-headed dragon. Whether the serpent is simply coated in fire or it is fire isn't clear. You don't really need to know the specifics. All you need to know is that, at present, there are two dragons furiously crashing against one another in a dichotomy of fire and water. They issue rushing plumes of steam whenever they connect, scourging deep furrows into the earth. Adventurers will find themselves thrust into a veritable maelstrom of conflict upon waking. Unlike the case in the waking world, everything is simply too indistinct to grasp or engage with in all but the most oblique manner. All you can do is hold on and try not to get lost - or separated - in these new, wild conditions, and seek shelter as these two behemoths ruthlessly duke it out.

The clash of the elements isn't the only thing you have to worry about, either. Little tails of fire and water will occasionally unspool from the giant wyrms and decide they want a taste of something with a little more body. Though their shapes are indistinct due to their elemental makeup, it will still be evident that these are smaller dragons with a taste for destruction. You can dispel them easily enough, and largely through application of common sense - flame-dragons can be reduced to steam by water or blasts of cold air, and water-dragons can be vaporized by heat and fire - but there happens to be a lot of them, and not very many of you.

There is shelter, however, as a respite from all this. Ruined buildings dot the landscape, impervious to both the water and fire and surrounded by a sense of eerie calm. Though they're long abandoned, as long as you hide in such ruins, nothing can touch you there. Not even the smaller, scuttling dragons can breach those walls, held back by whatever unique arcane constraint lives in the smooth, cool stone.

All you have to do is reach one.

Echoes of the Past
Don't be alarmed if you find yourself waking on the floor of a ruined house in a ruined city on a deserted island. Don't be alarmed, either, if it looks like the edges and corners of most of these buildings, built of simple stone and clay and mortar, look as though they have sustained an awful lot of fire damage in the past. That doesn't have to mean anything, you see.

The houses and buildings here are of an unknown purpose, but the signs of civilization are writ large in stone and on the landscape. And yet, no matter how much you might search, there doesn't seem to be anyone else around.. Abandoned and broken, exposed to the elements without proper care, it's clear that the inhabitants of these places are long, long gone.

Wandering between the buildings will certainly help avoid the heat of the day, and as the day winds on, some thought might be put into gathering the necessities to make it through the night - water from barely recognizable wells, or vegetables scavenged from overgrown gardens that have long since abandoned any semblance of order or restriction. Still, even devoid of their original owners, the contents of those broken structures might well be interesting in their displays of lives left behind. The blocky, square buildings show a sense of efficiency over articulation, with ornate mosaics carved into the walls as a sense of decor. You might even find piles of strange, smooth stones with speckled patterns decorating their exterior, hard as rock and curiously similar in size. Their function can only be guessed at, but they're quite heavy.

...at least, until they shudder and start to crack beneath the pressure of something moving around...inside of them?

Give it five minutes to an hour, and those stones will prove to not really be stones at all, but eggs. To be specific...? They contain these little guys. Tiny, baby dragons, newly hatched and eager to imprint upon the first venturing hand to give them the time of day. They can vary in size from barely nine inches in length to just over two feet, and their coloration can be just as diverse. However, it will become clear within mere minutes of meeting your new, scaly charge that they're just the same as any other baby animal: they're needy, demanding, curious, and hungry.

It's advised you go looking around for something to feed them. These dragons are omnivorous creatures, and will eat anything from berries to meat, but either way, they're going to be looking to you to care for them.

A warm congratulations to an unsuspecting parent may very well be in order.

The Sound of Sirens
The idyllic setting of a tropical island might seem perfect for a vacation getaway...or it would be, if this place weren't populated. You aren't here for very long before you hear it - a loud, shrieking siren, shrilling out over the trees. And then another. And another. And another...

Followed by the sound of gunshots.

It turns out you're not in a happy little island getaway at all, but in the middle of a turf war. Stay in one place too long, and you'll realize that you can start to make out blurred, shadowy silhouettes crouched in the underbrush and huddled behind boulders, issuing indistinct shouts as they charge one another with spears and harpoons, or shoot explosive bursts of scattered buckshot with rudimentary firearms.

At first, these shapes merely pass through you. You are but a spectral spectator, lingering on proceedings far removed from you. But as the conflict escalates, you'll find that you're not as immune to this as you might have first thought. The shapes start to sharpen, and before you know it, you'll start to feel those weapons piercing you for real - and they will hurt just the same, too. But getting caught in the crossfire isn't the worst thing that could happen to you - oh, no. See, if you're not careful, you might find yourself wanting to join them. It might start as a small ember in the pit of your gut - this feeling of displaced upset, that one side of this shadowy war has truly and personally wronged you. Or it might be out of self-preservation, because someone shot you or stabbed you and it hurt, and before you know it, one of the dark, featureless shapes is handing you a weapon for you to pay them back in kind.

There are ways to break out of this, of course. A good shock is all it takes to jolt you back to your senses, though it won't render you immune to the effects of this battle. You'll still have to figure out how to get out of this mess without getting shot or blasted or bled out onto the floor.

Or maybe you can embrace the chaos instead, and decide to wreak a little havoc on the other side. Who are they? Doesn't matter! They're not one of you, so you can make them suffer to the fullest extent, right? Besides, who knows how they might take it if you try to disengage entirely?

One thing is for certain - you won't be getting away from this conflict and out of the battlefield without a fight.

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

kiri | critical role

[mockiri]

( Eye of the Storm )

[What a rude awakening. It feels like she'd only just laid down to sleep, dozing off to the sounds of the nightly raves of Hupperdook, when suddenly the roar of a storm snaps Kiri awake on an unknown beach. There is some panic at first, of course - strange places and frightful battles are things she's grown somewhat used to only while traveling with the Mighty Nein where she can be protected - but a few moments pass and she slowly realizes that oh, it's a dream. Of course. The thought is accompanied by confusion, however. She's never seen a place like this, and she's never been capable of imagining it, either. It's not in her nature. So why...?

Her immediate instinct isn't to fight when the other dragons appear; she's never trained, she has no powers. She does know how to run and avoid trouble at least a little, so that's what she does, ducking and hiding and fleeing wherever she sees them. Her winding path eventually takes her to the ruins where she finds a corner to huddle and hide in, curled up and shivering, occasionally setting free soft, frightened cooing noises. She's clutching her dagger for dear life.

Dream or not, she doesn't like it here.]


( Echoes of the Past )

[Exploring the ruins is nerve-wracking, but Kiri is a curious sort, so she can't really help herself, fascinated by her new surroundings. When one of the stones begins to crack and rumble, she immediately hides, but when a tiny dragon emerges from it and begins crawling around in search of food, she can't resist the urge to go to it. It's so cute and tiny- surely something so small can't be very dangerous. It's a child, just like her! So they should be friends.

Seeking food, it growls hungrily at her, so she growls back. It's taken aback by the identical sound coming from her beak, and after a moment of back-and-forth, it begins to toddle after her as they wander in search of something to nibble.

And that's how she can be found, a short while later: a little bird girl seated next to a berry bush with a dragon curled up in her lap, eating away- one berry for her, one berry for the dragon... and both happily growling in tandem.]


( The Sound of Sirens )

[Ohhhh no, this is not a good place for her, either. Kiri hid immediately as soon as things grew dangerous, of course, but she has no idea where to go or what to do next, and it scares her. And with all the shadowy creatures around, she can't discern friend from foe in this place. Her best defense: make it sound like she's a danger, so that no one comes near her. Maybe the conflict will quiet down. She'll just have to wait it out.

Anyone approaching where she is will suddenly hear the sound of a gunshot, an echo of the gunfire going on around them, but strangely, there's no pain or actual bullets hitting them. Take another step, and there it is again, and again, and again. Each time with no wounds. Maybe investigate what could be going on over there...?]


(( ooc: for those canonblind, kiri is a kenku who can only speak through mimicry of learned phrases. fair warning as her dialogue can be somewhat limited! but please protect the good bird child. ))

( Echoes of the Past )

[shatteredlenses]

[How long has it been since Mu pulled Ignis to its shores? There is some small hope in him that perhaps one of the others have returned, but it becomes clear after a short time, there are not many here...if there is anyone but him at all. He follows the soft sounds of the empty area, hands moving carefully over ruins, feet nudging, but thankfully not tripping, over rocks.

It's the cracking sound of the latest rock he's nudged that catches his attention, the sound loud in the mostly silent area, reminiscent of, oddly enough, a chocobo egg hatching. Carefully, Ignis gets to his knees to find the stone and is surprised when he finds not stone, but a tiny creature.

A tiny dragon!

Ignis can't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. Why are there baby dragons here? Ah, but if those sounds are anything like the sounds the chocobo chicks had made, it means the little baby is hungry and absurd or not, he can't just leave the little creature when it's hungry.

The little dragon proves to be quite a good food hunter and it's not too long before they find some berry bushes. There is growling nearby, but the dragon isn't concerned at all. In fact, he growls back at them!

How very strange Mu is today.]

ii. Echoes

[yallstupid]

Ugh, c'mon...scram. Yo, I ain't your mom, your freaky little Charmander, and I sure as heck ain't your dad, either.

[The sound comes from a moderate distance away, perhaps a few yards. A large, almost towering man with a monochrome undercut and some...bizarre clothing tries to nudge away a bright, red dragon hatchling with his foot. The child keens loudly, hopping away from the offending foot, growling at it and puffing out its (very small) wings and shaking its tail above its head like a warning. Guzma walks maybe another two feet, and the child continues to follow. He takes a deep breath, rubbing his face with one hand before he hears growling from the bushes.]

There, look, y'all's fam is probably in there, yeah? Why don't you bug off and go back to your nest. 'Fore I punt you there myself...

rolls in late to Scream, eye of the storm!!

[lesbeau]

[All of this seems pretty normal to Beau, dream or not- there's been a lot of water-related bullshit on the islands in the last two months, so dreaming about a great fight with it is hardly surprising. She's not sure why she's out here bolting around though, what she's supposed to be looking for--

Until she sees a blur of feathers in the rainfall, and twists herself into a fighting stance with her staff, thinking she's about to be jumped by a monster.]

Hey! Don't even think about attacking me unless you want a whole bunch of fist!

[This is absolutely not going to backfire in the future now that she's taught Kiri that sentence.]

Sirens

[devilstongue]

[ Moonweaver, why is he back in this fucking place? The shadows of the battles make him want to jump in agai, but he'd done enough of that last time, and instead Molly pulls away and starts heading towards any possible moon pool to get out.

That's when he gets shot at - or at least it sounds that way.He immediately ducks for cover. The purple tiefling really hates guns, who the fuck was responsible for inventing such things? Must have been a real asshole.

...but there's no pain and no sprays of dirt and ground as it should be when bullets hit. Just the sound, even the sound of the ricochets that didn't happen. Maybe it was just a memory today. Just some more mind-messing bullshit. ]

Fuck off!

[ Molly hollers, flopping around so he's on his back. ]

I'm not playing these games!

syenite / broken earth trilogy

[sess]

eye of the storm

(It's not the first time that Syen's felt the world end; she should be used to it by now.

When she wakes, hazy and confused and flat out on her stomach, the only thing that saves her from one of the smaller dragons coming straight at her is the insistent jab of her sessapinae, and the following lurch of the ground beneath her. She rolls, pulls from the air around her, but her orogeny sputters, dents uselessly against the floor.

The fire dragon looms over her as best it can, snarling, jabbing at where she's trying to shove herself away and upward. Syen's mind keeps spinning uselessly. What the rust is wrong with her?? She's trying to pull heat from the earth but her orogeny is like a dull shovel, smacking against the ground and bouncing away– she can't pull heat from the dragon, either, which is a laugh and a half. It's made of flame, and she recoils from it as it advances upon her, drawing itself up. It's not large, but it's just the two of them out here and she's cut off from her power. Fantastic.)

What the rusting fuck are you, (she shouts. Because shouting at it is going to do her a world of good. She's running out of options here, okay??)

echoes of the past

No, (says Syne, exasperated. The baby dragon clambering up into her lap and trying to steal her bite of food looks put-out, and then gently puts its entire mouth over her hand anyway; Syenite reluctantly lets it have the last of the apple. While she certainly doesn't want to have to be saddled with looking after this thing, she doesn't want to be held responsible for it starving to death either. Or walking off and getting killed. It might be irritating her, but it's a child. That's what children do.

She's only calling it so because she still has no idea what kind of animal it is. She hasn't seen anything mammalian that also has wings. She watches it curiously, touching her fingertips to the spines down its little yellow back.)

Scapolite, (she says. Unsure of why she's giving it such a name,) Scap. Maybe. ... Fuck.

(And she presses her wet, dribbled on hand against her forehead, knuckling between her brows.)

sound of sirens

(The sirens don't scare Syenite, but as she extends her awareness out across the island, what does give her pause is the regularity of the earth. She quells a microshake, extends her reach a little farther, and hits the water. Nothing happening there, either. Yet the shake sirens continue, blaring and warring and she almost wants to cover her ears in confusion.

But then the gunshots start, and she is surrounded.

Syen finds respite behind a bolder, and comes face to face with one of the shadowy silhouettes, faceless and dark, and a bubble of fear builds in the back of her throat until she realises it isn't here to attack her. It's holding out something sharp– a glassknife, glittering prettily. Syen stares at it, and then at the silhouette, and her hand aches in warning, a dull, low throb.)

No. No. (But the silhouette is nodding, and Syen's heart shoots into her throat, dread clutching at her insides; she peers out from around the rock, searching for a flash of burgundy.

You probably aren't wearing such an inauspicious colour, but that doesn't matter to Syen, who comes charging at the first person to approach her with a low shout, glassknife clutched tight in her fist, blinded by both fear and wild, hot anger.)

sound of sirens!

[vamos]

[Pink hair is close enough to red, right? If it's not the hair, then it's the style - high-heeled boots, a shirt striped with black and red, and the gun that they're clutching in their hand, too...bright green. Stupid bright. Everything about Vamos is, as a rule, stupid right.]

[They've mostly been shooting. Shooting, and missing, 'cause oohhh god they were not joking when they said they're a terrible shot. No one's really noticed yet. And, actually, that's good? Why are they fighting when this isn't their fight? They're done with fights. All done. Been in too many, come to think of it, which means that now's a good time to get the hell out of heeEROH GOD SOMEONE'S RUSHING THEM WITH A KNIFE ]

AAAAA -

[Vamos is very articulate. They're also shooting their raygun with very little regard for whether or not they hit anything.]

Rabbit l Steam Powered Giraffe

[missfunction]

i. Echoes of the Past;

[Baby animals imprinting on her isn't quite so out of the ordinary, but Rabbit's used to ducklings from the manor pond, not dragons!]

Hizzz-za lil' guy! Lookit ya go!

[The hulking automaton, all six and a half feet of her, gave a jittery hop backwards before landing with a thundering clank, a stray screw popping off of her frame and rolling off into the grass. But Rabbit didn't seem to notice anything missing, her glowing gaze focused solely on the little creature wiggling around in front her. The dragon, all golden and speckled, gave it's own tentative hop forward after it's new mother, landing with a mimicking squawk.]

Gettin' the hang of things already, ain'tcha! S-s-say! You w-wanna hear a story? Or just have a fire breathin' contest? [Her head twitched to the side in a familiar tick, lopsided mouth curled into a grin. The dragon playfully attacked her boot, all tiny teeth and miniature ferocity.]

Or-or-or do ya wanna go huntin' for a lil' s-snack? Betcha there's some real juicy worms down in the dirt -

[Wanna go on a worm hunt? Or maybe direct the robot towards a slightly different snack for her new pet?]

ii. wildcard for the other two prompts;

[ooc: if you want to go off of anything with the other prompts, hit me with it! I'm happy to chat too over at meyggy]

i

[catpiper]

[The odd duo doesn't match the scenery behind them, but that's not particularly uncommon for these bizarre dreams. It's just strange. The dragon, and what it wants, is easy to figure out. The other being? The robot? The creature? She has no clue.

She watches from a safe distance, unwilling to risk death even in a dream, and it's only when the mechanical lady talks about digging for worms that she takes matters into her own gross hands.

Yeah, the dragon might be hungry and feeding it could keep it from going on a temple tirade when they all awaken. She's game for that. Worms it is, honestly. They're good enough for birds, so it's good enough for this.

She buries her fingers deep, deep, deep into the ground, getting her fingertips as far as she can, scraping layers of ground to get further and-

Abruptly raises her arms up, clumps of ground and all clutched tight in her palms. There's no way she didn't get one!!!]

I think one's in here.

i

[slaughtermatic]

[Giant robot, and tiny, magic lizard. Two things that would'a looked outta place in a post-apocalyptic Californian desert, which Poison sure as hell ain't stuck in. Not sure what kinda place this is. Don't feel real. Feels more like a dream than anything else, which is what he's tentatively settled on it being. Something dream-like.]

[Can something hurt you in a dream? Maybe. Either way, this thing is an absolute tower of a droid. Don't look like any kinda service unit you'd see in Battery City. Or any kinda service unit Poison's seen in their life.]

[When Poison inches forward, it's slow and steady. One hand at the blaster at their hip.]

You some kinda...service droid?

oh worm?

[awfulsentimetal]

Admit it, Rabbit. You're just usin' that poor little guy as an excuse to make mud pies.

[Aw shit, the fun police finally arrived. There was a subtle hint of a smile on The Spine's black silicone lips, giving away the amusement behind his strict tone. Leave it to Rabbit to make a feisty friend. She was like some kind of broken down Disney princess, except instead of sweet little bluebirds she attracted... stuff like this.

And ducklings. And that one troublesome goose, that one time. The Spine still heard its strident honk echoing through his nightmares.

Or he would, if he slept.

He straightened his tie, steam hissing from his vents.]

You sure it eats worms?

i.

[kindashy]

Oh dear, there are so many of you roaming about... [The voice comes from...above? Yes, actually, though not terribly high off the ground, maybe just about ten or twelve feet. It's easier for Fluttershy to watch her hooves this way, and keep an eye out for more of the hatchlings.] Even I can't corral every one of your siblings. Oooh, but I am going to have a word or two with your parents! Just who do they think they are, abandoning all these poor, defenseless, little eggs?

[A bright, green dragon - colored with splashes of pale yellow and lime, almost like a gourd - chirps from her back, long tail curled around the pegasus pony's neck. She seems off in her own world, but the baby sees another of its supposed siblings and squeaks, doing the most normal thing it knows to do. Approach.

Which would...be a lot easier on the ground. Or, you know, if it actually knew how to use those scrawny limbs and spindly wings. It tumbles of Fluttershy's back like a sack of flour, cartwheeling haphazardly through the air, getting a huge gasp from the little pony as she tries to make a swift dive for it.]

i; i haven't really been in the fandom for several years but you know what

[hatchworthy]

We could look. for nightcrawlers. They are. the juiciest worms!

[Obviously, Rabbit having adopted a baby dragon is entirely normal and not something that requires comment. Let's talk about worms!

Hatchworth does feel more of an affinity for spiders, the little creatures that kept him company for so long, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like other creepy-crawlies too. He is a robot of many interests! His head swivels around a few too many degrees, and the rest of him follows once he's caught sight of one of the abandoned, overgrown vegetable gardens. That looks like worm territory!]

If you put. a worm between bread. is it a sandwich or a hot dog?

[vagabone]

[Once upon a time, he might have been unsettled by a robot. Robots in general. It wouldn't take much effort for one to snap him into a thousand pieces, but... fortunately, he's broadened his horizons since then. No worries!

She's not the only person around who loses bits of their body with the slightest jolt. He scoops up the screw and offers it to her, hoping the baby doesn't go for his foot next. He doesn't have boots, he's never get his foot back...]

You sure it's safe to keep as a pet? Oh, and you dropped this.

[...Granted, she can't be chewed up or set on fire easily, but.]

Jyushimatsu Matsuno | Osomatsu-san

[yakyuuman]

i; eye of the storm

[ If this really is a dream, it feels realer than any crazy one Jyushimatsu ever had before.

The stormy wind blows in his face, clothes, hair. The sea takes odd shapes as it angrily splashes, waves upon waves looking like they want to take over each other with every stroke. It reminds him of all the times Totoko throws a tantrum and takes all her frustrations out on him and his brothers.

On the other hand, there's also a dragon made of fire. Actually, there's another one made of water. What the fuck is going on???

Jyushimatsu is already confused, but the fighting scene before him soon becomes one of the coolest things he ever bore witness outside of fictional TV movies. ]

Whoooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

[ And because he thinks all of this is awesome, he doesn't remember what common sense is anymore. He'll hold onto something so he won't get blown away, due to the sad fact he's all but a small noodle who might potentially fly away with the wind. But that's the only smart action his brain comes up with, and it's not even the smartest one. Actually it really is not, considering the mini dragons which are sooner than later tracking him down and are more than ready to pounce at him.

Someone grab this sparkly-eyed, jaw-hanging idiot and take him to a shelter? Please? ]

ii; echoes of the past

[ And now here he is, wandering through a post-apocalyptic city with no way to know where he's supposed to go and whether or not there's any life left. Surely he met people in this weird dream, but he lost sight of them after passing out, even though he doesn't remember how he lost consciousness. Maybe he was too hungry.

The good news is, Jyushimatsu knows how to survive in a desert island. He was in one before, with his brothers and other unfortunate friends, battling the sorrows of no longer relishing their NEETdom, and with their asses sore from the lack of toilet paper. He even had fun there, before things turned out too crazy and everyone died. But here he's all alone, and incidentally, he doesn't like being alone. At the very least, he needs another soul to share the suffering with. It's unfair that none of his brothers are here...

Life is full of surprises, however, even in a dream like this one. Especially in a dream like this one, that suddenly springs a baby dragon onto him the moment he let curiosity drive his hand towards one of those eggs. The small thing is now whining in his arms, and Jyushimatsu is so lost and afraid for his life because who's to say his new "child" would be above eating his own dad if it gets too hungry?

He searches and searches through the buildings, until he finally finds someone else here, and his eyes are gushing with desperate tears. ]

Hi! Do you have anything my little Homerun King can eat? I don't wanna die!

[ A very weird phrasing, without context. And yes, that's the name he gave the baby dragon. ]

iii; wildcard

[ Hit me up over at gaiamemories or PM if you wanna plot other things! ]

ii.

[kindashy]

[Well, this 'person' Jyushimatsu ound is a lot less person and lot more...horse. Pony, actually, though she also sports a very pastel coloration as well as a pair of feathery wings on her back. All that, and her own scaly pal clinging to her back and seemingly chewing on bits of her mane.

She clearly hadn't seen or even bothered to notice the young man, given how she jerks with a bit of newfound fright the moment he approaches so quick. Backing up to put at least a few feet between them - because she half expected this weird...dragon-land to be filled mostly with, you know...DRAGONS. Not this weird, fleshly, squash-aced sort. Didn't Twilight say something about these types of creatures back when she went through that mirror in Celestia's castle or something? It all seems so long ago...]

Oh! [She spots the baby dragon and it's like all her anxieties melt away. Floating over with gentle wingbeats, she smiles down at the little reptile calmly and affectionately.] Oh dear...that makes two now that must have gotten lost. Poor babies...they must be so scared. Don't worry you cutie wooties, I'll make sure to get you back home safe and sound.

Ah--oh. Y-Yes, right.... Hm, I'm not as familiar with caring for a baby dragon as Twilight would be, but I do know Spike's favorite food are gems. [She taps a hoof to her chin in thought, hovering a few inches of the ground.] The bigger, the better is what he'd always say. I'd actually been, um...t-trying to find some? But I'm afraid I don't have the magic to locate them like my friends do... And I'm afriad I haven't any idea where we are to even begin trying to look...

[In act she still has no idea what this creature before her even IS.]

i.

[vamos]

[Sorry if you wanted someone with common sense. Vamos definitely doesn't have a single brain cell in their stupid, pink-haired skull. But they are having an absolute blast. Look at all this water! Way more water than they've ever seen in one place before!]

[But, oh, hey, a person. A brightly colored person, too. That's definitely a good sign. Colors are good. Means he's not BLI, right? Yeah, totally.]

[Vamos manages to teeter to their feet, and wave.]

HEY! Hey! Person I don't know!

ii.

[ichininyaanshi]

[This is... that damned archipelago.]

[He's back here again? That's........ pretty shitty. Actually, what's shittier is that Ichimatsu hadn't even realized he'd left until about... just now. Even though he's gone through a whole second season back home. Yikes. That's a whole lot of people he has to beg forgiveness from here, though out of all of those people he used to know on these islands, he really only gives a crap about two or three of them.]

[....... well, he'll get around to it. Eventually.]

[Right now, though Ichimatsu most certainly recognizes the general atmosphere of this world - mainly, how old and broken and crappy it all is - he's not in a big hurry to go and scurry back to his old friends. He's, uh. Kind of embarrassed, actually. So Ichimatsu does what Ichimatsu does best, and finds a dark corner somewhere to hide himself in, completely at home with curling up into an inconspicuous, purple little ball. The old, dilapidated buildings make it fairly easy for him to find a hidey-hole, and the fact that this whole place is deader than dirt is a nice bonus.]

[He wonders if Pachinko is still around...]

[... oh, but someone found him. Seriously? As soon as he hears the loud crying, Ichimatsu sighs, shifting slightly away so that he doesn't have to look at them. He doesn't even really register the voice, caught up in his own situation. Dang it, he's gotta figure out how to get back to his tree house, he doesn't have time for some rando! Who the heck's talking to a guy like him right now... ?]

[Wait.]

[Did he hear something about dying???]

I volunteer.

Toriel | Undertale | Sorry I wrote a prose novel; please rp with me :(

[mymostvulnerable]

Echoes of the Past

The fringes of Toriel’s plush fur and her robe collect dust and specks of stone as she rouses from what seems to have been a long and dreamless slumber. She wakes to a sensation of incorporeal incorporeality, like feeling her shape crumble beneath a child’s blade and knit itself together again in another space. Blinking the film of slumber from her eyes, the monster hoists herself to her feet and takes a long, solemn stock of her surroundings. Around her stands a deteriorated structure, ruins of an ancient house, overgrown and empty like her home. It is apt that she fall in one ruin and rise in another.

With a quiet inhale, Toriel instinctively brushes away any dirt she spies on her front and makes her way out of the home’s doorless doorway. To her left and right lie similarly listless remnants, as if an entire town collapsed within a day. Swallowing the emotions that bubble in the bottom of her throat, she wanders in search of food and water, and contact with another person if she is not the only person present.

The sun’s rays weigh heavy on her drooping shoulders. One might think a monster with power over fire could resist heat, but the heat exacerbates Toriel’s mood, driving her to hopelessness. She pauses ten minutes into her so far fruitless search to stand at rest between two decayed walls. Her hands clutch at themselves in the middle of the Delta Rune so lovingly embroidered into her robe front. If she is alone, well and truly, then she is all the better for it, and yet she craves the grounding a connection might give her. If only she were to meet someone…!

Something behind the wall to her left clicks once, then twice, drawing Toriel from her thoughts. Curious and concerned, she approaches the wall and peers over what remains of it to spy a stone quaking between similar stones, causing their hides to clack together. Toriel wavers in the face of something seemingly harmless and so small. She knows better now.

It is as Toriel worries herself with what might happen to her if she does not flee that the stone’s hull cracks in the middle. The cracks are long and jagged and grow as if something behind the cracks must escape. With a second thought as to what she is witnessing, Toriel suddenly understands that this is not a stone at all, but the egg of some monster hatchling. Her heart lightens at the witnessing of such a beautiful event. Toriel makes herself as comfortable as one can among debris and watches a piece of egg fall from the rest of its shell to reveal a little emerald wyvern. Once it reveals its head to the world, it gathers the strength to drag itself from its shell and bask in the warmth of the sun.

“How darling,” Toriel murmurs, her heart aflutter. The hatchling, for being only minutes old, twists its neck to peer at her. Then, with a noisy chirp, it begins to climb over other eggs to reach her. Toriel does not initially react in fear she will attract the attention of an attentive parent, but no great dragon comes for her, not even when the wyvern scrapes its still soft wing claws against the wall separating them. Its chirps snap at her heartstrings. It is with an eager smile that Toriel leans over the wall and scoops the little creature up with both hands.

The wyvern, chittering calmly, appears appreciative. It is all too happy to clutch at her with its wings and talons. Toriel pays no mind to any tears that might appear in her robe. She can mend her robe. This little creature, this dragon, is what matters most.

“Oh, dear,” she quietly says to her dragon, “You must be hungry. We will feed you at once. Some water, too, would do you well, would it not? Such a sweet little one.”

i will gladly rp with you /grabby hands

[kindashy]

And no sooner then Toriel has the twittering dragon in hand does something else seem to approach. The clip-clop o what could only be assumed to be hooves accompanies the gentle rustle of feathers. It's very obviously approaching, and with a bit of haste at that. In but mere minutes does something--no...somepony emerge from the bushes, breathing a little hard and shaking out her mane.

"Goodness, I didn't expect another one of your brothers or sisters to hatch so soon... Why, I barely left to find you something to eat. Now, who's the lucky one to take their first step into--...o-oh."

The creature appears equine in posture, though she's a lovely golden color - like a field of wheat...or flowers. Not only that, but the little pony also sports a pair of feathery wings, and another dragon is lazing on her back, clawed wings gripping what appears to be some sort of fruit that it's shoving its snout into. This dragon is equal in color, but also has lines o creamy white, and speckles of a darker, more forest green. It looks almost akin to a gourd, if one were to make the comparison. It barely turns its head from its meal, only giving a quiet screech of disapproval when Fluttershy stops so suddenly, and its position on her back is jostled.

"H-Hello...?" her voice is meek, quiet, and extremely timid. She does not approach this large minotaur-like creature, keeping her distance and pawing the ground with one hoof. "Um...I-I hadn't known anypo--exuse me...anycreature else was here, you see and--"

She clears her throat, but it does little for how mousy her voice is becoming, and how she seems to shrink. Oh...if she wasn't the only other one here, this would be easier...she's become less shy over the years, but...o-one or one interactions are still...oof. Big oof.

[orcnorris]

The small commotion of a dragon hatching may not have attracted its parent, but it did catch Varok's attention. Unlike Toriel, he's armed himself, but he holds the bit of old lumber at his side when he sees what's going on. A tauren(...?) and a little whelpling. Judging by the state of the ruined building, he'll assume that she's a stranger here like him, just happened to stumble upon the creatures before him.

He doesn't say anything for several moments, preferring to take everything in. The woman appears unarmed and unarmored. He casts his gaze about for a larger dragon, but even after scanning the entire building, he can't find one. Still, there's more than one egg, isn't there...?

A grunt. “How many more?”

welp

[journalname]

[Unfortunately, Asgore.

He's more than familiar with these dreams by now. They are not exactly his favorite thing in the world; whatever happens here tends to be unpleasant, and more than once before he's run into people who had no desire to spend their sleeping hours in his company. Case in point. But railing against it will do nothing, so when he wakes here he just sighs and resigns himself to it.

The ruins are disturbingly reminiscent of those on Nastrandir. Not familiar to him, but close enough to hurt somewhat. He knows other people went back and explored more of the island after the false war ended, but he has not been able to force himself to return. It wouldn't do any good, anyway. There's every chance that this is some dream-creation, and knowing his way around in the waking world wouldn't help him here at all.]

There we are, little one...

[He hadn't sought it out, but Asgore was there when another dragonet hatched, and of course he couldn't just leave it all alone.

The little creature is riding along on his shoulder now, tiny claws digging into the fabric of his shirt for balance. Its scales are a faded teal, and its eyes are bright red. It reminds him of someone. He suspects it's hungry, which presents something of a problem; those sharp teeth suggest a carnivore, but Asgore hasn't hunted or fished at all since coming here. The idea is discomfiting. Maybe if he finds some berries, that would be alright?

His thoughts running along those lines, he does not hear Toriel's voice, and the first inkling he has of her presence comes when he turns around one of the crumbling stone walls and is suddenly upon her. He stops up short, reaching up to the dragonet as it squeaks at the abrupt jerk.]

Oh. Ah. [....] Good evening.

["Good evening"? Internally, he winces a little.

He has no idea if this is the same Toriel he last met here. There's really no way to tell simply by looking. On his part, though, he doesn't look quite the same. There's no trace of his royal garb left, just a plain shirt and pants. More glaringly, one of his horns has been broken off near the base. The stump has a soft, almost chalky look to it; though it's not common to see a monster survive any part of them dusting away, that's pretty clearly what's happened.]

The Goose | Untitled Goose Game

[press_y_to_honk]

[Echoes of the Past]

It's a wonderful day on Mu, and you are a horrible goose.

...actually, you're not the goose. The goose is itself. It is also not a terribly great day--the goose has already had to run flapping and squawking from a cacophony of loud noises and definitely some big predators that it really does not want to be noticed by. At some point the storm stopped and it found itself in something that sort of resembles its stomping grounds. The big square things are different, and much more open than usual, but the goose does not care about the state of things. Geese, you see, do not have any grasp of civilization.

They do, however, understand food. And it's in the middle of tearing up an old garden and devouring what edibles it deems worthy that the goose finds a large...something. The goose pecks at it and attempts to nudge it around, but the orb is far too heavy for a bird to move on its own. It doesn't take long for the 'solution' to come about, and in short order the goose has found itself with a hatchling.

But more importantly, a pupil.

It's an odd sight, should one come across the pair without either noticing their presence. A water bird slowly plodding along, head kept low to the ground as it sneaks through ruined streets and running between bushes, broken walls, and other small bits of cover, while an over-eager and rather clumsy baby dragon doing it's best to follow suit. The dragon trips over its claws in a rush to keep up and takes a tumble, croaking out a cry of surprise. The goose, for its part, turns and raises its head to watch the baby push itself up, expectantly waiting for it to catch up.

[onegreeneye]

...Ginko would have thought he'd have noticed by now if this island had, of all things, solid white geese wandering around. Then again, maybe they just stick out less when they're not being followed by baby dragons.

Speaking of which, he'd better keep his distance, assuming that hatchling has anything close to the fire-producing abilities of the adults the islanders had run into just recently. Which... might be easier said than done, when pushing away from the bit of broken wall he'd been crouching behind sends loose stone and dust clattering to the ground. Whoops.

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Echoes of the Past ]

[ Well. This is a thing.

Waking up in one of these buildings is not the worst thing in the world. It's the part where he's waking up and in an unknown location that gets to him, and for a good couple of moments, he's simply staring out at the room, just trying to piece it together. Reality, maybe? Some sort of sense? Both. Probably.

He can easily be found wandering around for most of the day, inspecting the houses and the area. There is a mild touch of anxiety when he first registers the level of ruin of this place, but there's far too many questions to answer, and it wouldn't be as simple as somehow having fallen asleep through the actual Armaggedon, right?...right??

But things take a turn for the really interesting when the large "stones" catch his eye and he inspects them for a minute...




And not 15 minutes later, he's nervously facing to a small winged creature, crying up at him very very loudly from near his feet. ]

Oh, dear--I do apologize, but, I'm not your-- [ Someone please help. ]



[ The Sound of Sirens ]

[ You know, he made it very clear that he was done with war and fighting and whatnot.

When he finds himself in a middle of a battlefield, he's mostly just kind of clueless on how to proceed. These...creatures? Seem to faze right through him, and talking with them seems to have no effect. It's all rather loud and violent and he's trying to find a way out of there, when--

When one of them lunges at him and, with a spot of luck, happens to slice through part of the sleeve of his coat.

That's when things get a little too real and maybe he should get a wiggle on and get the right hell out of here.

He's trying, when someone shoves a sword in his direction and he recoils, not out of fear, but because he's having a sword shoved in his face.]

I'm--no!

Echoes of the Past

[agathokakological]

[There's a brief consideration that he'd gotten plastered the night before and forgotten to sober up. Crowley doesn't make a habit of waking up in strange buildings post-blackout, so the thought is fleeting. Instead, he's feeling very overwhelmed and very alone. Not something that sits well with him.

He'd begun his tour of the buildings, inspecting it with the curiosity of someone who thought they'd seen everything, but for the first time was stumped. Something felt very disconnected, and for an even longer moment than his first hunch, he'd thought it was a dream. Curious, indeed.

He'd been following the echoes of the only sound he could hear, a cracking and breaking sound resounding off the walls of the stone and sending Crowley reeling. It had taken him a moment to get his bearings and pinpoint exactly where the sound was coming from. He was getting close, but heard an all-too-familiar voice and the cry of something distinctly not human, causing him to pick up his pace.]

Aziraphale?!

[He called out, bouncing room to room.]

Is that you angel? Where are you?