epidemiology | EVENT ★ GONE FISHIN'

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EVENT ★ GONE FISHIN'

Thanks to your help, repairs to the flood wall are complete. The Nalawi are still largely without their Gifts, so they are thankful -- without the aid of ALASTAIR recruits, they would have surely drowned or been eaten by sea monsters.

Despite the barely averted disaster, the residents of Komo have decided to go along with their lives as planned, perhaps to bolster morale instead of giving into despair. By chance, their annual fishing contest is scheduled for today! As honored guests, recruits are invited to participate.

FISHING CONTEST

Dugout canoes are provided for all participants, patterns that suggest fish scales burned into the wooden sides. Curiously, no fishing rods are offered; if a recruit requests one, they will be given a strange look, but the harbormaster will acquiesce.

Due to the rough seas, the passage between Komo and the other islands is still inaccessible. Contestants are reminded to stay behind the reefs or venture east toward open ocean for their quarry. It’s only when the contest begins that the quarry in question is actually announced . . .

Sharks.

You are fishing sharks. And, judging by the lack of equipment (or the puny fishing rod you requested), you’re expected to do this by hand.

The tiny deer people don’t seem bothered by this predicament at all: the goal is to catch the biggest shark, by length and poundage. Better not embarrass yourself in front of the locals.

GET PUMPED

Mettaton has announced over the jewelry that he will be hosting a celebration in tandem with the fishing contest, in order to help the native Nalawi and the ALASTAIR recruits get to know each other better. This includes singing, dancing, and all sorts of different performances -- and, of course, reporting on the actual fishing.

If you aren’t the fishing type or maybe you just need a break from chasing sharks around, this is a good chance to bust a move and show your teammates how you can get down -- or just sit back and watch! It’s bound to be entertaining one way or another.

Plot for the stage here!

Olivia will be the final performer in the showcase. Anyone who witnesses her dancing may feel themselves super-charged by the spectacle . . . with possibly unexpected results! Characters may feel even more determined to win the fishing contest, or perhaps they’ll take this surge of optimism to help rebuild some of Komo’s destroyed buildings before the day winds down into night.

THE FEAST

After the fishing contest, the sharks will be collected and prepared. Grilled shark, fried shark, shark caviar, and shark jerky from the results of last year’s contest. There are fruits and vegetables and breads available as well, but if you want some protein, you’d better go native.

During the feast, some of the Nalawi perform dances and song. The subjects range from their goddess Nalanni to love songs. Want to show off your talents again? Now’s the time! Or, if you’d prefer to step away from the excitement, the beach is quiet and empty, and the baths are unoccupied since the whole of Komo is at the gathering.

As the feast winds down, the Nalawi will pass around their very potent alcohol for a toast to Komo’s health. Someone shouts, interrupting, wondering what good that will do if Nalanni has abandoned them. Concerned murmuring fills the gathering, spoiling the mood. ALASTAIR recruits may attempt to put them at ease -- otherwise, the feast will disperse on a sour note.

OOC INFO

If you would like your character to win the fishing contest, please sign up below. You must thread out fishing in order to participate in the drawing. There will be only one winner, decided by RNG. The winner will be contacted on April 1st. The prize is a necklace of shark’s teeth, which has a one-use spell that will make all sharks in a one mile radius sleep for 30 seconds.

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a. THE SHIP SONG

[Hellboy had been all for a fishing contest, mostly because sitting around on the beach was making him go a little stir-crazy. He doesn't like thinking about being stranded on an island (not after what happened the last time --) so he jumped at the chance to take a canoe out to sea, even if it wasn't very far.

Sharks, though. Now that's interesting.

He's caught some smaller fish and is using them to chum the water, no longer rowing but just sitting out in his little dugout canoe (which, as it's made for a four-foot-tall deer, is sitting precariously low in the water, considering his bulk) and waiting. The sun doesn't bother him; he's taken a little of the deers' alcohol out with him and is just set on relaxing for a bit.

But then something rams his boat, hard, and sends him flying out into the water. He lands with a splash that would put the biggest cannonball in the world to shame, sputtering and treading water as he tries to figure out what the hell just hit him. It could be another contestant, but it just as easily could be a shark.] Jeez! What the --?

b. ALL TOMORROW'S PARTIES

i. [Parties are another good way to get your mind off things, Hellboy has found. The Nalawi weren't kidding when they said their drink was strong -- Hellboy finds himself looking for coconuts to split open so he can cut the liquor with milk. It's awful, and wrestling with the coconuts is a little embarrassing when one of your hands is pretty much the opposite of nimble, but for the most part, people seem to be too busy enjoying themselves to notice.]

ii. [It's very rare that different types of food give Hellboy pause, and though he has no problem with shark on the whole, seeing so much of it makes him the tiniest bit queasy. He's looking at the spread, rubbing at the side of his face.] You'd think there'd be a little more variety. Maybe a nice tuna fish.

c. DIG, LAZARUS, DIG!!!
[ limited to one thread, please! ]

[Hellboy doesn't stay for the whole of the feast. In his younger days, he was happy to see a party through to the end, but as he gets older, he finds that he can only handle that sort of thing for so long. The revelry and the excitement. The happiness.

He slips out early, ignoring the temptation to take a drink with him, and trudges out for a walk through the trees. He doesn't get far before he realizes he's stumbled upon the Nalawi graveyard. The morbidity of the situation doesn't really escape him; he's feeling somber, so of course he would just accidentally walk into a field of death. This is how his life works. He turns to go back to where he came from, not really feeling like dealing with this tonight, when he hears a rustle in the bushes and glances up sharply.]

Hello?

d. BABE, I'M ON FIRE

[The night -- no, the day -- has been filled with a little too much excitement for Hellboy. He's tromping back up to the inn where they're all staying now, away from jungles and graves and sharks and parties. Bad moods come easily to him, not to say that he's in a bad mood, but he can feel his temper growing dangerously short.

He thinks, briefly, that standing on the beach and looking out at the ocean will calm him. But then he remembers he hates the ocean, so that doesn't work.

Sighing, he turns away from the beach and continues. The party seems to be over by now, so at least it'll be quiet. Still, he's keeping an eye out for anyone who may need a little guidance toward the inn. That liquor really was a lot.]

[ From the brush jumps out... a horrible monster!! Just kidding, it's only a giant crab. It's also dead, because Lancer killed it, and he's here. He waves (unlike HB, he is prepared with a bottle, nearing on empty), one brow cocked up. ]

Kind of a morbid place to be hanging around. [ Lancer unceremoniously dumps the crab onto the grass from where he's had it lofted it on his shoulder like so much firewood, if firewood were made of crustaceans. Hand freed up, he points behind him in some vague direction. ] Party's back there.

[ Which doesn't explain what Lancer's doing skulking about either. But that's not the real mystery: he's more curious as to why he's got company in so dreary a place when there's dancing and revelry to be had elsewhere. ]

[Hellboy could just as easily question why Lancer is hanging around here (and hunting giant crabs, apparently), but he doesn't. He doesn't know him very well -- or at all, really; he still hasn't figured out his identity -- but he gets the feeling that Lancer just kind of winds up in this sort of situation all the time, too. It's common in a certain type of person. A natural gravitation toward graveyards.

He shrugs, gesturing at the crab.] I went for a walk and got a little lost, I guess. Is this for the party?

[ A natural inclination towards death and dying, nice. It might be true, given how at-ease Lancer appears in the middle of a spooky graveyard, toeing at the crab like it might come back to life. Haunted crabs. ]

Nope. [ He smiles, though his tone's more wry. ] Thought I'd pay the celebrations forward.

[ Taking revenge on a big, dumb predator seemed like enough to balance out the copius amount of booze he'd lifted today, the lives taken earlier. Though Lancer's all for partying, this much is a necessity in return. But now he's done!! So he can bug Hellboy freely, and he does. Sliding in beside him, ]

Anyway—that means you're just wasting time, right? [ and/or being antisocial, he knows how this goes ] Let's take a look around. [ If you're gonna wander aimlessly, may as well do it with some company. ]

[Look, Hellboy is included in that certain type of person; he always seems to just wind up surrounded by dead people in one way or another. It's a little tiring, to be honest.

Hellboy keeps an eye on the crab even as Lancer comes up closer, because it's still a little weird to him. Crabs are creepy enough when they're regular sized, but when they're extra-big they just look like aliens. Which, he supposes, is true enough -- isn't this another planet? Everything here is technically an alien.]

Around a graveyard? [He has heard worse ideas, to be fair.] What are you hoping to find?

[ Sorry that Lancer is also a dead person. Double dead. Between him and Hellboy, soon there will be at least triple dead, if not more. Which is clearly all the more reason to be traipsing through a graveyard together, though he raises a brow. ]

Hopefully we won't find shit. Nothing good to stumble on in a place like this. [ Corpses, graverobbers, the grieving. And all the other, less natural stuff. ] But who knows? [ He hops around Hellboy's tail, takes the lead, despite being completely aimless. ] Maybe we'll find the Holy Grail? Or Dagda's cauldron. Or... a zombie. Guess that'd be kinda exciting.

[ just hang out with him, loser ]

[Hellboy probably counts as dead, too. Undead. He is the zombie in this scenario, maybe.

But oh, okay, they're walking. That's fine. Hellboy briefly considers just turning around and continuing back up to whatever remains of the party, but he doesn't feel much like partying. It's why he came out here in the first place.

So he has no real choice but to follow, fishing out cigarettes and lighting two of them, since Lancer had expressed interest in them before. Hellboy silently holds one out over Lancer's shoulder.]

I've met Roman zombies before. Raised from the dead by Boudicca's hag. Can't say I dealt that much with Holy Grails, though. [Not yet anyway, dramatic music sting.]

[ No choice but to hang out with him, this is the sort of hostage situation that Lancer's okay with. He has his mood swings where he prefers quietude, the sort of days that drive him to go get revenge for a bunch of deer he never knew instead of hamming it up at a party. But these times evaporate with good company. He happily takes the cigarette with a quip of thanks, a click of the tongue. ]

They're a pain, don't bother.

[ Which he leaves at that. Not to be enigmatic—that's all there is to that story, mostly. More curiously, ]

Boudicca's been dead a while, hasn't she? [ To say the least. Same ballpark as him, about the same neighborhood. ] No one like that has any business raising corpses. Resurrection's for the living. [ If anyone... ]

[A pain, huh. Well, it's not like Hellboy isn't prone to the same kind of vagueness, so he doesn't have much room to talk. He lets that go.]

Right. The story goes that as she was dying, she crawled into a witch's cave. She gave the witch her soul in return for a promise that the Romans would be driven out of Britain.

[Hellboy takes a drag off the cigarette, watching the smoke curl up into the sky as he breathes it out the corner of his mouth.]

She terrorized them with all sorts of natural disasters. Earthquakes, plagues. They found the witch and hanged her, and everything stopped. That was one of my first jobs -- dealing with the hag when she came back.

[ Ah, that's no good. Terrorizing the good folk of Britain. Though with his background, it's still a bit sobering—the nicotine isn't fast enough to make up the difference. ]

That's all that survived of Boudicca's kingdom, huh...

[ He sounds more pensive than bitter, tapping away a dusting of ash. That's how most of these tales end. He's stuck in his 20s for all of time and still too old to be surprised. One thing his wealth of mythological knowledge won't grant him, though: ]

Since you obviously made out okay—how'd you get rid of her?

[Hellboy notes that, which lends a bit more credence to Lancer's claim that he's some Irish (or Scots) folk hero. Either that or he's so nuts that he's convinced himself of the fact. But more and more, Hellboy is becoming convinced it's the former.]

I was there with my father. [He pauses, then thinks to clarify in case Lancer decides to ask.] Adopted father. It was his idea: convince the dead Romans to kill the hag instead. He was always better at thinking on his feet than me. I probably would have just kept punching until they were all dead.

This was a long time ago, though. More than fifty years, now.

[ It's rare for him to allude to often to his past, even in the brief snippets that he has. Not only because it was a bad habit—heroic spirits have plenty of weaknesses to exploit from their stories—but because it doesn't interest him. Hellboy makes it just entertaining enough to merit swapping accounts of the 'good' ol' days.

Granted, he prefers listening, laughing out a cloud of smoke. ]

I like your strategy better. [ if it works, it works... ] So was your old man the brains to your brawn?

[Punching isn't strictly a strategy, but he'll take it. Hellboy laughs a little, because that's certainly how it started. Hellboy kicking down doors while the professor tried to rein him in.]

More or less. I guess I smartened up eventually though, since he let me go without... [Hellboy stops. Stops talking, stops moving -- he turns his head to the side, getting a weird feeling like something's over there. The air is cold.

He lowers his voice, his hand instinctively seeking out the revolver at his hip.]

Do you feel that?

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riastraid - 2016-05-15 08:09 (UTC) - Expand

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hellshaped - 2016-05-30 23:31 (UTC) - Expand

[ Alcohol was a bad idea; it makes her ruminate, makes her overly pensive in a way that only mires her deeper into the wrong state of mind. She should feel better, she should be pushing past this. No?

Kida is on her back on the sand, knees drawn up, right at the point where the ocean meets the coast. Her white hair blends with the white beach, her dark skin with the dark night. She lets the waves roll over her, tickling her chin and receding. She watches the stars.

To think. Six months ago the stars made her uncomfortable. Now she can stare into the vast infinite and say: I am here, too.

Hellboy's hooves are dampened by the sand, but she hears the waves break against something irregular, and so turns her head. The moonlight washes him out, but his silhouette is unmistakable. She takes her pendant in her hand, lets it flare to life just as he turns away. ]

Hellboy?

[ It's half-question, half-greeting. What is he doing out here? ]

[Hellboy assumed he'd be safely alone out here by this point, so he's surprised to hear that he's not, breathing in a little sharply when he hears his name. He sees the blue light out the corner of his eye and turns back; he figured everyone else would be back at the inn by now, sleeping it off, but there's Kida.

She always seems to be there lately. He doesn't know what to think about that. Should he think anything about it in the first place?

He stays where he is, watching her for a second or two, listening to the water and hating it. He'd almost forgotten about the island in the middle of nowhere, the blood, the monster. He should have had more to drink tonight.]

What are you still doing up? [His tone is as friendly as ever, but it feels too loud for how silent the beach is right now.]

[ She watches him come up, pulling herself higher until she's half-sitting, damp sand flaking from her back and hair. She'll need a shower later. ]

The same thing you are. [ Amusement, as if the answer isn't obvious. ] I was watching the stars.

[ She looks up at them again, feeling like she could just count them all and perhaps fall asleep right here with the warm water lapping at her. It's a terrible idea, but then, alcohol was never a prelude to a sound judgement.

She opens her mouth as if to say something else, forgets, closes it, tries again, fails, then simply says: ]

The Nalawi drink is strong.

[ Said with some self-deprecation. Mostly she's just tired, and very sad still--but getting better--and the drink doesn't help. ]

In Atlantis, we had...[ she makes a vague little gesture like she's holding a cup, or swirling it. ] ...a kind of wine, made from algae.

[ It tasted terrible, she thinks, in comparison to actual wine. A beat. ]

Sit with me?

[Watching the stars. He doesn't correct her, because it doesn't really matter. The stars are important to Kida -- even these weird, foreign stars that mean nothing to someone from Earth -- so it follows she'd make that assumption. He stands there and watches her struggling for words, waiting, then makes a low, amused sound at her explanation. The drink is strong, there's no doubt about that, and Hellboy is probably handling it better than her, besides. He has more experience with such things.

At her invitation, he comes down the beach to sit beside her, though a little further away from the water: sleeping in wet clothes doesn't sound very appealing. He curls his tail carefully next to him, absently watching the foam of the water curve up around Kida and then recede again.]

That sure sounds like something, alright. [To put it delicately.] They know what they're doing here, though. I had to walk it off a little.

[ He's a giant, so if even he was affected, she feels a little less silly for the haziness that overwhelms her. The seawater tears at it in increments, parts the shroud just long enough that she can roll onto her hip, watching him. He's far; with her, but not the way she'd wanted.

Pushing herself up on the stand, she half-crawls over to him, dropping her wet, sandy body against his front, pressing up against his warmth. He continues to be like a hearth fire, warm and cozy.

She says nothing for a long moment, watching the reflection of the stars on the sea. She could sleep here, she thinks. ]

ALASTAIR let me see Atlantis--I was able to go back. Barely an hour.

[ Her voices rises up into the silent night, barely more than a whisper now that they're close. She draws up her knees. ]

I was able to see the end of it.

[Well, alright, so much for keeping dry. Not that Hellboy can complain too much: Kida flops against him and he can feel the electricity between them, the energy he associates with her flowing into him just by their close proximity. Except she's a little inebriated so it's a warmer energy now, more rough. His tail curls a little at the end.

He loops his arms around her, adjusting her position against him so he can rest his chin on top of her head. They don't really have to talk. He'd been nearing a bad mood but he can feel it melting away just sitting with her.]

They... what? [He didn't even know that was possible, and moves his head so he can peer down at her.] Jesus. Are you... what was it like? Are you okay?

[ In the circle of his arms, she is protected and safe. He has strong shoulders to carry the burdens of others. ]

No. I am not 'okay'. [ How could she be? She'll never go back to who she was before she knew. ] But--I was ignorant before. [ She huffs out a breath. ] That is always the way with me, is it not? Being here, working for ALASTAIR, meeting all of you...I shed my ignorance.

[ And her innocence, in a way, though Kida wouldn't call herself such, not after eight thousand years. How difficult are the lives of men, and all this suffering she's never seen.

She turns so that her shoulder presses against his chest, so she can better tuck her head into his neck, nosing the softer skin of his throat. She needs the warmth more than she can express. She wants to be held, to be touched, to feel real. ]

Atlantis was so beautiful, Hellboy...surrounded by forest, and build of pale stone. The sun made all of it shine gold. [ She makes a sweeping gesture, as if to convey its grandeur. Then her tone darkens. ] But we were rich and fat and spoiled. We had such power...a great crystal we harnessed for energy. Like our own small star.

[ She takes her pendant, holds it out. ] Imagine this--a hundred thousand times again. Energy for the entire city, for water and light...and an armada of warships to lay down all who opposed us. [ She drops the pendant, and it swings back to her collarbone. ] My father sank us, Hellboy. He used the crystal as a weapon--and it bit him back, and all his people.

[ She remembers the great barrier over the city-center, her mother gone to protect Atlantis' children. A shield is not a sword. ]

[Hellboy is quiet, listening, not sure what to say. He's never sure what to say to this sort of thing, so he just lets Kida move in closer to him, slipping his flesh hand down to hold her at the waist, pressing her closer. He's left blinking in surprise when she presses her face to his throat, feeling her breath against his skin, but he just swallows and stays focused.

My father sank us. He can't imagine how much that's shattered her worldview. More than meeting people from the surface, more than meeting people from other worlds, more than meeting people who are literally not human beings. Her own father, the cause of her people's suffering.

Bruttenholm did some things that shook Hellboy's view of him. Parents are not infallible, and it's a hard lesson when children find this out, no matter what the gravity.

He's quiet when he answers her, during a lull in her story.] The term the professor used for Atlanteans was the Golden People. Gorinium, Atlantis, all of Hyperborea. It all shone brighter than the civilization on the surface now. [The higher something flies, the further it has to fall, but he doesn't say that. Instead, he brushes his fingers along the curve of her waist.] Your father probably regrets what he did.

Edited (phrasing???? again) 2016-04-08 21:42 (UTC)

[ Her eyes screw shut, pain curdling in her heart. ]

I know he regrets, Hellboy. [ That isn't in question. Her father's actions aren't those of a man with an innocent conscience. His wife is dead, his empire in ruins, his health fails. He has little left. ] But his regrets do not harm me--his lies have. Seven thousand years he has lied to us, lied to me! Kept our history from us, our language from us, all for what? To assuage his own fear.

[ She hasn't been a child in a long time, even by the standards of her own people. All the years she's grown, not knowing anything about her people's history, living a savage life...he silenced their elders, forbade teaching, closed them to any outside influence. Because he was afraid! Kida can hardly stomach it.

His embrace is appreciated. She surrenders to it, curls up in his arms, tucking her arms against herself. ]

[Hellboy's never met Kida's father, obviously, so he can't even pretend to know his motivations in the matter. But he can't imagine he raised a person like Kida and be that cowardly himself. Still, she's hurting. It's not really appropriate to play devil's advocate.]

It must be hard for you, not being able to talk to him about it. [This is probably an understatement, but Hellboy is not one for adverbs. His hand stills at her side, and he loops that arm around her tighter.

He's quiet for a moment, thinking. He knows Kida doesn't like to be treated as weak, and she isn't -- she's the strongest person Hellboy knows in ALASTAIR; after everything she's been through, she's still going -- but he worries. He doesn't want to overstep his bounds, but he worries.]

Kida... you've been through a lot lately. If you keep pushing this hard...

[ She thinks Professor Bruttenholm would be proud to have raised a man so compassionate; that no matter what his origins are or were, Hellboy's true nature has always been demonstrably good. It's why she doesn't dismiss his words, hearing the genuine concern he doesn't quite voice. ]

What would you have me do, Hellboy? I can only continue. My people depend on me. If I stop, I...

[ Her voice trails off, and she goes quiet again. I won't be able to get back up again, she doesn't say, but her tone conveys a mixture of determination and resignation. She's all the hope they have left. She remembers sitting by the fire with Koltira, embarrassed that her body, her tears were beyond her control. She hadn't wanted to show anyone. She'd been so exhausted...but time will heal her wound, she knows. It won't help all the lives that count on her.

It isn't that she can't see why he's worried, but she isn't sure he understands--or if he even can, or wants to. ]

[Intellectually, he understands. He does. He's read stories about people like Kida; the last beacon of hope for their people, the champion of the lost, the brave hero who's the chosen one. But they never have happy endings, not in the real stories -- the stories Bruttenholm collected and the files the research department kept, not the sanitized versions they made into children's movies.

So he still worries. He doesn't think he has that much conviction in his own soul, and is sure he'd have cracked under the pressure by now, were he Kida. He's already basically cracked under the pressure of a responsibility he doesn't even have.

Hellboy is quiet as Kida trails off, thinking. He knows he can't tell her to take a breather and let it sit on the back burner for awhile. That's not Kida. Her conviction is what attracts him to her; she's so sure in herself and in her goals that he feels better about his own life being perpetually adrift and without meaning.

He takes a breath.] I want you to let me share this. [He pauses, because it's hard to make this not just sound like empty compassion.] You're the only one of your people here. It's too much to carry by yourself. Anything I can do to make this easier for you...

Hellboy / ota

c, writing on planes is an adventure

not bad

i try

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