EVENT ★ ZETA-12 WEEK 5

[futurologists]

ZETA-12: WEEK 5 As the journey wears on, the land underfoot dries out. Team Audiences has reached the highland desert… and of course, once again the squidges begin to transform. For each choice your character has made, select one squidge evolution. Please note, you must have submitted your choice to the threads in the previous logs in order for your squidge to evolve. For those who encountered the swamp creature: If they stood and fought, their squidge has taken on one of the following features: hardened pangolin-like plates of armor, higher tolerance of loud noises, sharp(er) teeth. If they outsmarted it, their squidge has one of these: slow color-changing to match the environment, catlike eyes with enhanced vision, long ears. Those who made someone else do the work, will have squidges with one of these attributes: small horns, spines along the back, mildly toxic skin. As for dealing with the tornado: Everyone who found shelter will find them with a greater tolerance for enclosed spaces as well as giving off their own very slight heat. For those who powered through, their squidges will no longer be afraid of heights and be able to float several feet off the ground, regardless of whether or not they previously received wings. THE DESERT (WEEK 5) The desert has a little more to look at than the grasslands offered, as the grass begins to yellow and thin. Some stretches are just wide, empty swaths of dust and dirt, with not much more than the occasional rock or low, desperate scrub brush to color the horizon. Here and there are impressive outcroppings of rock, thrust up from the parched ground. Plateaus and mesas make the scenery, and overhead the sky is a wide, clear blue. The sun is merciless. Hopefully you filled your canteens in the swamp and the grassland, because water is going to become a pretty valuable resource out here. There are a few helpful flora to be found, though. Those Beachwoods will be pretty handy if you run out of water, just so long as you keep an eye out for the Red Stellas that tend to grow nearby. The Scarlet Oasis can even send you on your way with a meal, if you play your cards right. Have a care if you’re gathering any bristlegrass, though. While scenic in its way, the view doesn’t offer much clue as to what progress has been made so far. Three days pass in this way. On the fourth day, however, the recruits encounter their first choice. The ground has cracked open in their path. It yawns into a wide and dark cave, wonderfully cool after the scorching sun and heat of the desert. A breeze can be felt in the mouth of the cave, and their maps will indicate that any exploration into it is sending them in the right direction. It provides an alternative route to walking over the surface of the ground, a much cooler route. There might even be hidden streams of groundwater down there, who knows? It could be a refreshing jaunt. Of course, recruits can also choose to play it safe, and continue overhead as they’d been doing so far, where they can trust they won't run into any dead ends or have to backtrack. The going goes well for those who chose the caves. The cave system is apparently pretty extensive, because they manage to walk along in generally the right direction for a good half a day. Around dusk, though, this little dwarf planet hits a run of bad luck. Meteoroids. Those who chose to walk above ground will find the darkening sky suddenly growing brighter again as a meteor shower begins to burn in the atmosphere. Some of them don’t burn up entirely, though — meteorites begin to pelt the desert not far from the procession. Some of them might even be scattering into the procession. Heads up! But while those above ground only have to worry about dodging, those below ground will have much more serious concerns. This planet isn’t quite as sturdy as recruits may be used to, and the impact of the meteorites is enough to trigger a small earthquake. An underground cave is really not where you want to be during an earthquake, because even this small one is enough to cause a cave-in. Players of recruits who choose to take the cave route can opt to be trapped by this cave in, or can have their characters in the right place at the right time, to have their way to the exit unimpeded. Characters trapped may be freed at whatever speed players find realistic, but to find and free everyone will take no less than three days. Hopefully you brought a flashlight. Communication between those trapped and those above may be difficult, as the meteorites will cause interference and make the jewelry flicker in and out. We ask that you indicate the length of time your character is trapped along with your sign up. After the cave in ordeal is passed, though, the recruits aren’t quite in the clear as they finally reach the end of the desert. It seems the impact of the meteorites and the resulting earthquake released a few gases that had been held under the surface of Zeta-12. They’re invisible and odorless, and harmless to the squidge’s caretakers. The squidges, however, may begin to react to them. Squidges exposed to the post cave-in gasses will begin to get aggressive toward their caretakers and other squidges alike. The level of aggression can range from grumpy to murderous and last from 10 minutes to a few hours, depending on the size of the dose. If anyone has been training their squidges to fight, they may regret it. OOC NOTES We decided to split things up a little! This log lasts ICly for one week, and OOCly for 1.5 weeks. Our next log will encompass the last biome and the final event, and will go up on August 11th. Characters may proceed at whatever pace they'd like, but going too quickly or too slowly will mean they travel alone. (And those going too quickly will probably have to contend with screaming squidges, who prefer to travel at the speed of an easy plod.) New characters will find one of the unbonded squidges toddling after the group takes a shine to them. A squidge will imprint on them very quickly, then refuse to leave their side or rejoin their unbonded friends. Direct questions about the Zeta-12 mission here. And don't forget about the bounty board! Please remember to select your choice in the thread below! Late choices will not be accepted. How you choose will determine how your squidge grows. Please choose before August 8th, 11:59 PM GMT!

Comments

INTO THE CAVE OR ABOVE IT?

[futurologists]

INTO THE CAVE

[futurologists]

Sign up here if your character takes the cave route, and indicate how long (if at all) they are trapped underground. The maximum time is 3 days. Please respond before August 8th, 11:59 PM GMT!

Sieglinde Sullivan ⚝ OTA

[grunehexe]

⚝ 01; CIVIL TWILIGHT (PRE-CAVE CHOICE)

[Sieglinde has seen a lot of things since she joined ALASTAIR- things she'd never thought she'd see beyond the confines of her own imagination, inspired as best it could be by words and illustrations in the tomes of her library. She's seen the ocean, when the largest body of water she'd ever seen had been a small forest pond... She's seen towering mountains when the highest thing she'd ever seen had been the pines of the Witch Forest...

And now she's seen a desert, with sand and rocks hot and dry for miles, and maybe it was dreadfully hot, but... the sunset was gorgeous. She's sitting on the sand, holding her half-asleep squidge in her lap, her skull-faced familiar panting heavily in the lingering heat about to dissipate when darkness came, eyes wide and the brilliant colors of the sunset reflecting over the emerald of her irises.

As if hypnotized, she reached over blindly to pat Isengrim without taking her gaze from the horizon, completely missing the sound of another approach despite the relative silence.]

⚝ 02; TOXIC ENCOUNTERS (PRE-CAVE CHOICE)

[It isn't actually the world's heat, Sieglinde doesn't think. The heat that seemed to suffuse her body slowly over time, no matter how much water she drank. Her stomach was roiling, but perhaps that could be blamed on the substandard travel rations... so she simply pulled herbs from her bag and made herself a dose of medicine to settle her nausea, subdue her fever, and tried to persevere.

Over time, though, her head began to slump forward, chin resting on her squidge's head, grip on the thing tightening, held close as they traveled at Isengrim's pace, lolling forward gradually as she battled the rising fever, cursing her misfortune for getting sick at a time like this...

Until she suddenly slipped off her familiar's back, falling limp onto the sand.]

⚝ 03; RAIN OF FIRE (METEOR SHOWER)

So soll es sein!

[As chunks of stone began to brighten the sky, slamming into the ground and sending pieces of meteorite and waves of sand into the air, Sieglinde ducked for cover, Isengrim scrambling over the sand and carrying her towards a dune, and another of their number...

Just in time to throw a hand out and shout the words. She found spellcasting far easier to learn with words and formula, like she'd been raised, even if it hadn't been true magic then... but it was true magic now, a near invisible shield springing up around the both of them just moments before a chunk of meteor slammed into it, the impact rippling over the wall of the shield.

And thankfully, not either of their brains.]

⚝ 04; WILDCARD

[Sieglinde will be taking the above-ground route! I'm game for pretty much anything, so hit me here or on plurk, let's do this.]

twilight!! i failed the last time i tagged you, let's try this again

[strictdiscipline]

[Even her year in Ishval couldn't have begun to prepare her for something as vast as the desert here on Zeta-12. Being stationed in the midst of the fighting where her skills would be put to best use meant she'd seen very little of the desolate climate there. For the best, it turns out - Riza finds quickly that trekking across kilometers upon kilometers of sand ill suits her disposition, her even temper quickly fraying the longer the unrelenting heat beats down upon her back.

But like Sieglinde, she finds respite as the sun begins to take its exit. It's then she coincides with Sieglinde, slowing and then stopping once she's next to the young girl. Hayate collapses in a heap next to Isengrim, tongue lolling out in sad pants, while a mopey-looking Remington oozes down into the sand next to him. (None of the three of them are particularly fond of the desert heat.)]

It's beautiful, isn't it?

[It's been a long time since she's had time to simply sit and watch the sunset. The sight's both mesmerizing and gloomy at the same time.]

anakin skywalker ( semi-open )

[apoptotic]

[ first prompt open to those who stick to the desert following separation. pm this journal or braavos for individual starters for any other days! ]

( open | all the desert sandchildren )

[apoptotic]

[ the cool darkness of the cave is enticing — for about two seconds. while many of the others move toward it, anakin has walked past the entrance. he has water enough for himself and ben, a clear direction to follow. better the hell he knows.

ben, previously often found climbing into and out of the backpack and testing the distances he could go from anakin, has decided he dislikes the heat and spends much of his time eyeing everyone from his comfortable perch on anakin's back. anakin rigged a canopy of sorts, which provides ben with shade. for those who asked, he fashioned similar ones, working the materials while they walked then clipping it onto straps.

anakin himself proves almost at home. nearly a decade spent in a desert is hard to forget despite his attempts to do just that. helps that he is slightly cooler inside his robes. they help to prevent the biggest killer out here: dehydration. regardless, dusk brings with it a measure of relief from the blistering sun. anakin doesn't relax. nights in a desert are no safer than the days. and there's something else, a feeling…

the first meteor is a pretty streak of light that burns up in the atmosphere. it's a beautiful light show, bright and close and illuminating the danger. he scoops up ben ( having hopped down to go "visit" other squidges ) and raises the alarm. ]

Meteorites! Keep a hold on your squidges and get ready to run!

[ the first strikes the earth with a sound like an explosion. red earth bursts in a crown splash. the force makes it easy to jump and dodge with ease; ben's unhappier, but it can't be helped. he keeps an eye on the group. for those who need a little extra to clear danger, he's quick to supply a push. ]


(( ooc: if you're ok with anakin using the force to help your characters out, please note it somewhere! feel free to wildcard the right after the meteor shower if you'd prefer :'> ))

Hanzo Shimada | Overwatch | OTA

[whatshimadayou]

the desert - pre-cave
[Funny how he'd spoken to Zenyatta not long ago about his brief venture into the Arizona deserts. He'd stated he didn't remember much from them; not from lack of trying, but he'd been far less than sober back then. At the very least, it was difficult to get lost in the area for what he'd been there for.

This? This is unmarked territory.

Hanzo opts to travel closer to when the sun is down or threatening to sink into the horizon. Walking while the sun is blaring down on anyone seems a poor choice.

He can be seen either waiting for the sun go down, or alternatively is working on peeling away stems from one of the local plants. There doesn't seem to be much of them, but he's carefully picking away where he can without getting prodded by thorns.]

Finding your resources where you can is important. [It is clear he's explaining to his squidge at his side; Suzume has changed again, plating covering its body, but somehow does not give off any less of a welcoming presence is has been growing into.] Remember that, Suzume.


the caves - post-cave in
I have had just enough of caves.

[They had to take shelter for the cruel weather last time. This time, he deferred to McCree's judgement, who very clearly had a better understanding of the terrain than Hanzo did.

Which meant going into the cooler caves. It made sense at the time, but since whatever happened above or below -- an earthquake? what was it? -- they among others are trapped.

Not the most thrilling.

Hanzo curses angrily under his breath, marching down the tunnel to the rocks that have collapsed, looking over the mess they're in. Might as well try to find if there's a safe way to get by.]


wildcard baby
[choose your own adventure!]

pre-cave!

[cachemoney]

[Pandora is a drought-afflicted desert half the time, so Fiona is quite accustomed to trudging around in stupidly hot and sandy conditions. It doesn't mean she enjoys it, and usually she's inside a vehicle when she's traveling this far over open desert, but she still figures she has a better idea of what to do than most of Audentes.

Her squidge is tucked in her hood and she's wearing her new, wider-brimmed hat low over her eyes to keep the sun and sand out as she plods forward while the sun begins to slip down over the horizon. There's only a small window where one can travel comfortably in the desert, and as she passes this dude working, she pushes the brim of her hat up to eye him.]

You might want to hurry up. It gets really cold at night.

rey | ota

[forcevisions]

[ reach me at protects or over discord if you'd like a specific, closed starter. ]

[ cave entrance | ota ]

[forcevisions]

[ The mouth of the cave trembled before her like a great, yawning maw of some terrible beast, plunging into a darkness that emanated an alluring cool that made the sweat beading on her face, neck, and chest more relieving. Rey shut her eyes as she came up on them, savoring the feeling without daring to step inside; even Squidge, sensing her discomfort, stopped up short in his flight beside her; he didn't dare flit past the line of the cave when Rey would not.

She cracked one eye and looked at him. ]

Well. At least you've learned to trust me. [ She couldn't decide if it was her way of voicing her reluctant acceptance that the squidge trusted her instincts, even if she struggled to trust her own, or if she was relieved to have earned at least that much trust. She shook her head as she looked back into the mouth of the cave, giving her canteen a shake. It was low enough to make the respite from the heat particularly enticing, but she pursed her lips into a line and shook her head. ]

I've got a bad feeling about this.

natasha romanoff | ota

[expatriates]

[ reach me at protects]

[ cave entrance | ota ]

[expatriates]

[ Three days in the heat took its toll.

Though Natasha managed to keep her squidge hydrated with the water from her canteen, the Black Widow herself turned to chewing beachwood stalks for hydration in the interest of saving the assured water access for her charge. It was that desperation that pushed her to think the best of the coolness that emanated from the mouth of the cavern network that ran below the dunes. ]

Finally. [ She set Bart down, and he immediately began hovering up near her waist, eyes wide as his skin flickered from bronze to a sandy tan to grey, matching the stone inside the caves. Natasha reached up and wiped sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, stepping into the shade of the caves. Yeah. In here, they'd need less water too; whatever they couldn't gather, they could survive without much easier than out in the beating sun. ]

rhys | ota

[dbag]

( going the cave-in route! starters going in the comments, pm me or pp at regnant if you want something in particular. )

desert | ota

[dbag]

[ Sand??? Sand, everywhere??? What is this place??? Rhys is an indoor cat who's been declawed, so nature isn't really his thing in the first place, but he especially hates deserts. They're gross, and he's had enough of trudging through them to last a lifetime. He's being a grumpy Gus about it, slogging through like it's the worst thing that's ever happened to him; it doesn't help that he's got his jacket and Peanut Butter Cup stuffed into his backpack and weighing him down.

He's thirsty and already running low on water after refusing to ration it like a smart person, basically walking through the desert like this. Not willing to lower himself to begging for hand-outs, he does the next best thing, making a Big Deal out of it until someone feels bad/annoyed enough to help out. ]

Uuuuuuugh, [ he groans. Then louder, ] Uuuuuuugh. [ It's all very performed. Dramatically: ] Waaater...

pidge | ota

[reverseengineer]

[reach me at antivillain for specific starters! going the cave-in route.]

desert, pre-cave in | ota

[reverseengineer]

[Pidge is late to the party, but it doesn't take long for her to bond with a squidge. Well, all of the squidges, actually. It's not uncommon to find her hanging out in the back with the unbonded squidges, Lovelace, the one she's really connected with, perched in a place of honor on her head while she plays with them.

Cute alien animals? How can she resist.]

jesse mccree | ota (mostly)

[flashbanging]

i. if you're riding a high horse,

[ Jesse McCree is a man raised in dust and dry heat. The desert is not a mild climate, but it's familiar to him, and it's a damn sight better than the wet, choking humidity of the swamp, besides. He knows the rules of the desert, how to survive, when to move and when to rest. He takes to the temperature, too; his blood's thin enough to tolerate it, and he was dressed for this biome from the get-go. Serape and all.

As such, he looks quite comfortable to anyone coming across him just after (high) noon, sitting near a cluster of Scarlet Oases he's found. He dips his canteen into the red nectar when he spots another person approach, waving at them with his metal hand. ]

Come on over here and set down for a spell. Have a drink. You gotta mind your hydration out here, you know.

ii. there ain't no way to get down off it gracefully; (locked to hanzo)

[ On reaching the cave entrance, Jesse had suggested to Hanzo that they head on in. It was generally wise to seek shelter while traveling through a desert whenever possible; heat stroke etc were very real possibilities, and the cooler air inside the cavern would provide relief. He felt even more confident in his choice when he heard the distant trickle of water--another precious resource in the extreme heat. Things go swimmingly until the meteorites hit, at which point they go straight to hell.

Rumbling, shaking, and suddenly the path forward and back is completely blocked by fallen rubble. McCree, kneeling beside a shallow pond full of blind fish, groans. He'd stumbled onto his knees during the initial dust-up, and his good arm still aches something fierce from his tussle with Achilles. And now he's stuck, in the dark, with no solid ETA on a rescue.

He mutters, rubbing the side of his face, glancing back at Hanzo. ]

Well, now. Ain't this a treat.

[ There is not one hint of sincerity in his tone. ]

iii. never slap a man who's chewing tobacco;

[ Ah, fresh air and blazing sunshine. Everything is good again. All's right with the world.

Jesse feels good enough to light a cigarillo, something he's abstained from for most of the mission. Enough so that he feels like he's earned it a little bit. He doesn't get more than a few puffs in before Eastwood's suddenly headbutting his calves and making a bunch of noises McCree's never heard before. A lot of aggrieved grumblings, like something's set it off. ]

Hey, fella, what's the deal?

[ He picks it up, trying to go for comfort.

Eastwood just starts slapping him with its flippers. Repeatedly, with abandon. ]

Ah--hey--hey!

[ And there goes the cigarillo, still burning, slapped right out of his mouth and onto the sand.

Damn. ]

ii.

[whatshimadayou]

[This is not something that he can really even hold against anyone; Hanzo had agreed with McCree that going this way was the smartest choice in order to avoid the topside.

Only, of course this has to happen. If not a storm, then something to cause a cave-in.

It's going to take time to work this all out.]

Such is the way of it. [Hanzo doesn't mask his annoyance, but does not direct it at McCree. Instead, he's wordlessly taking him by the upper arm and helping him back up to his feet after the stumble.]

In one piece otherwise?

koltira deathweaver | mostly open

[respired]

i. less of a respite than previously imagined (locked to bariyan);

[ Koltira is largely impervious to the elements, but that doesn't mean he enjoys the desert. The heat irritates him, if nothing else, and the light in particular grates on his senses. He had prevailed on Bariyan to accompany him into the cave, just to have someone with him, someone who would not agitate him too badly, someone who was, simply put, just as dead as he was. Bariyan had agreed, and so they went in together, and now--it seemed--they were a little bit trapped. ]

I will find a way out of this.

[ He sounds a little guilty, at least. ]

ii. he's not stuck in here with you, you're stuck in here with him;

[ Koltira separates from Bariyan from time to time, goes ranging about for exits, for new paths. But his efforts only lead to one conclusion: stuck. He paces along one such blocked corridor of the cavern, head throbbing, every nerve sharp with stabbing, continuous pain. It's getting worse by the day, he knows it is. Olivia had said she felt the mission would end soon, and maybe she was right, but what did soon mean? Especially now, with them buried like this? He curses in Thalassian and slams his fist into the rock wall, bloodying his knuckles.

Should anyone so much as glance his direction, he'll hiss. ]

What?

[ Kim'jael, his squidge, recoils fearfully from both Koltira and whoever might approach. ]

iii. bad parenting comes to fruition;

[ Once free of the cave, Koltira mistakenly assumes the journey will be a simple trek from here on out. But Kim'jael--sour even at the best of times, just as he learned from dad--is growling, spitting, and snarling at everybody. Koltira included. The squidge now boasts armor to go with its razor teeth, making it about as formidable as a small blob of jelly can possibly be, and it seems ready to pounce on the next person--or fellow squidge--that gets within melee range. ]

Best not to approach it.

[ Koltira frowns as Kim rages, arms folded over his chest. Look, he knows a frenzy when he sees one. ]

[sadsack]

Will you?

[ Bariyan sounds irritated. He hadn't wanted to go underground. Desert caves were generally not a cheerful place, back home. They'd inevitably been full of corpses.

Same here, it seems. Caves and corpses and some really bad luck.

Bariyan comes to a halt. He places both hands against the wall of fallen rock, leaning against it, hoping it might give a little. He gets nothing. The rubble doesn't budge. He puts his head against it and sighs. His squidge hovers behind him, chittering nervously.

Bariyan rolls his eyes upwards. ]

I mean, we could start chipping away at the ceiling. We're dead, it'll work. We'll get through eventually.

Keith | ota

[secondnature]

[Goo starts off this week looking pretty awesome with pinkish-red armored plating and a resistance to isolated spaces. The lengthened arms are armored as well, making Goo look a little like a mini tank.]

desert complaining

Anyone beginning to think that this is just a really ... really ... really unnecessarily long training exercise? Like, I don't know—for some reason they don't think we can walk? I don't see what good this does. [Oh, he read the mission dossier when he got here, and he doesn't mind walking everywhere. But the truth is this: all this walking everywhere is slow. If they can get dropped off on planets, can't they just be carted across the land to get their squidges to this spring of whatever?

So, something tells Keith that they want to make sure their recruits can walk a long way for ... some reason. No, he hasn't figured out what that reason is, but now that they're in the desert, he's pretty sure that it's a stupid reason.]

post-cave in: rescue paladin down under!

[The biggest problem with the whole cave-in experience wasn't Keith but Goo. Now less anxious about the cave and everything else, Goo had been pretty calm. Earlier in Goo's Keith-traveling experience, such things would have made it nervous, uneasy, and genuinely unhappy. But now? Eh, it's just a cave. Anxiety doesn't have a place. All that changes once the cave-in happens. Even though the space itself isn't a problem, Goo seems terribly frightened that something terrible is going to happen again.

So, although Keith figures out a way for him and Goo to get out quickly, it takes a day of groaning, moaning, and downright agitation for them to finally get out of where they are.

Once they're out, he is pulled in two directions mentally. On the one hand, he can just head on without thinking twice. The cynical part of him that thinks they need to keep trudging forward feels like this might not be a bad idea. Then again, there's that other part of him: he's a paladin. This is his purpose, even if he's stuck with some kind of organization that has stupid ideas like making people walk a really, really long way for no discernible reason.]

Stay behind me, Goo. We've gotta go see if we can get anyone else out.

[Given Goo's armor, it isn't a good idea to carry it anymore.

Either way, Keith begins to move on ahead, raising his voice just enough to be heard (but not enough to cause any potential additional cave-ins:] Hey, people! I'm free and I want to help. Let me know where you are, and I'll see what I can do!

[... Unfortunately, Keith doesn't really know how to sound "heroic," so. He doesn't sound like a terribly friendly rescuer.]

grumpy goo turns scary

[Goo doesn't look too happy with its lot in life. Keith doesn't know what he could have done this time to make Goo angry, but while they're walking toward the end of their current stretch of land, Goo starts making things difficult. This involves bumping into Keith's legs angrily, dropping down in the sand unhappily, and generally just being a nuisance. From a distance, anyone might notice Goo glaring at them ... with Keith standing over the squidge with a similar expression, only directed toward the alien blob itself. (Or rather: what was once a blob.)

The shift from a major pain in the behind to an actual dangerous squidge is sudden, right around when Keith sits down and pulls out his rations to share with Goo. After grabbing the bit in Keith's hand and throwing it across the desert (thankfully, Goo isn't that strong of a thrower, so it's not that far), Goo hatches a plan. Just as Keith makes a frustrated grunt and goes to get the rations, he finds himself barreled over by his squidge, and Goo starts pounding on the back of his helmet repeatedly, trying to bust in.]

Goo—Goo—get off of me! [And just as he starts to stand up, Goo wraps its large arms tight around Keith, trying to put him a fierce hold.]

What the—[Is someone close? Is someone seeing this embarrassing thing? Is saving his pride more important than asking for help?

Well, he already looks foolish.]

Somebody help.

when goo attacks

[whatshimadayou]

[For a moment, Hanzo had been distracted when his own squidge had suddenly been acting oddly. Suzume, who has become so sweet and affectionate, is suddenly very much not, making a garbled snarl, headbutting its plated head against Hanzo's armored leg.

It doesn't hurt, but the force causes him to stumble. He looks down, scowling.]

Suzume! Mind yourself!

[Suzume just growls in return, kicking sand aggressively at Hanzo, fussing.

That is the worst of it, though, for him. From what he can see, someone else is having it worse by far.

The archer is quick to approach, wordlessly reaching down to pinch Goo at the back of the neck and try to pry it off of Keith.]

Odd. Unless yours is always like this.

Keats | OTA

[headlining]

[Keats is going to be stuck in the cave-in, PM me or PP me at vampirize if you want me to write you up an individualized starter!]

desert, pre-cave-in | ota

[headlining]

[For the first time in a long time, Keats has actually done the unspeakable and has actually removed his characteristic purple overcoat for once. He's still a bit overdressed for the desert, what with his long-sleeved collared shirt and vest (at least he's had the sense to untie his tie and unbutton his shirt a tad), but he's managing with the heat, mostly. His coat is tied around his waste, and from time to time he has to stop and wipe his glasses to get the sand out of them.]

[His squidge, Joyce, is trudging along beside him, and Keats takes pity on the thing, pausing to gather him up in his arms and stepping forward to look out on the horizon.]

"What makes a desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well." [A pause. He lets out a scoff.] I wonder if that's true in this case...?

Motochika | OTA

[dokyuu]

i. so much sand

[They'd been hiking through the sand for two days, and while now considerably scalier, Motochika's squidge was no more amiable than it had ever been. He kept having to stop to let it down, where it seemed to mostly want to rampage around kicking at the sand in a distinctly grumpy manner. The pirate, meanwhile, took the opportunity to slump against a stray outcropping of rock, looking at the landscape rather balefully himself.]

This is bullshit. Give me a river or something...



ii. meteoroids

[While the cave had been tempting with it's general lack of baking sun, in the end, he'd decided he didn't like the prospect of having to double-back if he got lost or ran into a dead-end. He was a lot more confident navigating in wide-open spaces than he was underground.

He's thinking about setting up a camp for the night when the first streaks of light cross the darkening sky. He's seen shooting stars before, so it's not alarming until they begin to come closer, and then, finally, start crashing into the nearby desert, booming louder than any of his cannons and kicking up a cloud of dust. His squidge starts squalling its displeasure and he finds himself having to lean hard on his anchor as the ground rumbles.

When he recovers his footing, he's on the move, making his way through the caravan of recruits and squidges, looking for signs of trouble, for once looking less like a slacker pirate and more like someone with actual command experience.]

Oi! Everyone alright?

[This wasn't one of his boats, but the instinct to make sure no one was in immediate peril was still there.]



iii. Wildcard - before or after meteorite shenanigans.

i.

[adlantisag]

I am in complete agreement.

[ Kida rarely looks anything less tha composed. Even when she's furious she remains poised, a measure of grace holding her together. Now, beneath this pounding heat, that veneer has been stripped off, leaving her looking--frazzled.

Motochika has the advantage of having at least seen her in a state not unlike this before. She comes to halt beside him, staring balefully out into the wastes. They look like a pair of fish out of water. ]

A lake. A pond. [ A beat. ] I would accept a puddle.

Kida (ota/closed)

[adlantisag]

[ Contact me via PM if you'd like a specific starter! ]

desert // ota

[adlantisag]

[ Nothing could have prepared her for this. She has her ALASTAIR coat around her to shield her from the scorching heat, but even that isn't anywhere near enough when it feels as though the earth itself wishes to burnt her alive. Every pore of her complains, though she grits her teeth and bears it if only for Shom's sake. She's on the last quarter of her rations, which seems reasonable given all the traveling they've been doing to get here, but still sets her on edge. She doesn't like the scarcity.

Shom, fluffy and warm now, certainly doesn't help matters, snuggled up against her neck beneath her hood. Occasionally he peeps out when the damp darkness becomes too much, and it's on one such occasion that he taps the side of her face, pointing out dim shapes in the distance. Colourful and clustered; vegetation. ]

Ah-ha! Shom, moh yadluekik. [ She turns, eyes landing on the closest recruit. ] You. [ Yes, you. She's pointing. ] Come, I see plants! Let us harvest some before this insufferable heat defeats us.

[ She's not really giving her companion a choice; she crests the dune, obviously expecting to be followed. Be there or be square. ]

Ban | OTA | he who controls the salt

[perma_banned]

The Desert

[The desert had been a bit of a surprise to Ban, but not immensely so. It was a gigantic beach as far as he could see. There was no water to speak of, barring the flora that reminded him of the voracious plants elsewhere. Despite this, Ban wasn't ignorant of arid wastelands. He had wandered a number of them in his trade as a bandit--as even Albion had locations like that once in awhile, despite how tough they were to find. The wastelands were ruined places, dotted by broken kingdoms. While they were arid, though, they didn't quite match the desert Ban had walked into with the group of recruits ahead. Fortunately, of course, there was the rare grouping of plants a few of them had found which made it easier on their supplies. Ban had been a mule for holding onto water but it never hurt to have more of the stuff handy even if he didn't drink a bit of it. A bit of poison testing made him feel confident he could suck up some into his skins for Lump, later.

They had lingered at the mouth of the caves for awhile, considering the heat and weighing their options there but one glance made towards Papyrus made up Ban's mind for him. He remembered a story about a cave that convinced him that walking with his friend was the only available course of action.

He didn't need water for himself, so it made no difference at all. The entire time, Ban grunted in irritation, loathing the feeling of sand beneath his feet whenever their group was caught up on dunes. The sun above wasn't of immense heat to him, given he had spent plenty of time with the madman Escanor, but it was still enough to bother Lump and that was what made the difference. Ban eventually caved and pulled up a durable bush from its roots--shaking what few leaves it had off before draping a gigantic tarp over it. He held it over his head to act as a massive umbrella, as they walked. On occasion, the wind would threaten to steal it away, but Ban held on easily--adjusting it each time it lost its shape.

Which meant that anyone daring enough to walk with Ban would have plenty of shade to spare with him.]

Could it beee?

[He chimed in, grinning towards anyone unfortunate to be spending time with him only for the benefit of his shade--]

Is my company that desirable ♪?

-

Meteors

[The first few falling from the sky had come as a shock even to Ban--who was used to a great number of weird things as it was. He had been quietly enjoying the meteor shower with Lump, who was content to bask in Ban's warmth in the cool desert night.

When, only a dozen or so meters away, one of the meteors smashed into the sand and sent up a spray of hot sand in their direction. Ban covered Lump with his arms before standing up sharply, his eyes crawling around the sky to see if there were more. Meteors falling from the sky hadn't been a new concept to him. Even in his time, Ban knew those things were a rarity. Certain smiths would pay a pretty penny for rocks coming from the sky, but--

They were, apparently, incredibly dangerous. Impacts like those weren't a joke at all.

The next one, Ban heard. The sound of an incendiary created by nature all by itself rang in Ban's ears. He whirled around and shoved Lump to the ground, much to the shock and consternation of the little squidge. Ban felt fire and sharp, well-defined stabbing pain in his back and sides. He didn't dare hold Lump close to himself when he took that blast. The force of it would transfer through his body. Instead, he put Lump where none of the force would reach him. Terrified, Lump began crying as he saw that Ban had shoved him aside for.

Ban stood, breathing a sigh of relief upon seeing his squidge child had escaped unharmed. Smoke rose, billowing from his sides and back, where a meteor struck him directly. Shards of the stone had gone clean through him, smoking in the sand. Exposed flesh left a rather bloodied impression on the squidge, whose only reaction was to rush to cling to Ban, crying his eyes out. Ban huffed, his singed and broken flesh mending rapidly enough for it to be nothing less than magic. The burns and blood left him as all signs of harm vanished from him. Unfortunately, his shirt had been torn to shreds by the impact, leaving him only with tattered sleeves as remnants.]

There ain't any time for me to end your tears, braaat. More of those things are comin' down ♪.

[Despite himself, Ban couldn't decide if he was happy to have something interesting to do or if he was frustrated that the child had been disturbed by what he saw. It wasn't as if he had too much time to think it over. Fortunately, he was ready for the next one. Ban swung his hand aside in an arch, a rain of gravel raining down as he battered aside another meteor with his bare hand. Lump winced from the sharp, painful sound of it--forcing Ban to reconsider how he'd handle the next few.]

This might actually be a real problem, huh?

meteors;

[weatherscience]

EEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH??

[ A shout -- very loud, very sharp, very familiar to everyone who knows her -- was what alerted those nearby that Nami was, in fact, uncomfortably aware of the way the sky had suddenly decided to fall on them, like Admiral Fujitora was here, pulling meteors out of the sky, fast and unforgiving and, above all, dangerous.

She couldn't kick them like Sanji; she couldn't inflate and bounce them away or attack them with a fierce storm of punces like Luffy. She couldn't cut them in half like Torao-kun.

She definitely, definitely couldn't take them head-on and have her skin knit itself back together like what was, impossibly and yet unsurprisingly, happening right in front of her.

Maybe that surprised scream was less about the meteors, and more about Ban. ]

Ban-kun! [ Clutching the Clima-tact in one hand, Belle under the other, she ran to him-- and paused, leaning down, focusing a real, bright smile for Lump. ] It's okay, see? He's alright! Don't worry, nothing bad will happen, so don't cry, okay?

tracer / ota.

[zipped]

( I. THE CAVE IN; MINOR DIFFICULTIES )

[ It'd been surprising to say the least. The shake and quake of the cave- she had a chance to blink out in time, but she was worried about the last time she had blinked with Buddie in arms. Not to mention she had saw her friends here earlier- what of them? She only managed to barely escape the falling debris.

A sharp rock nicked her chronal accelerator which started to flicker in light before seeming to shut off. This... was bad. ] Oh no- No, no no no- not now.

[ Her breath is heavy, hands fumbling to touch at the device. She's also touching at her arms and face to make sure she's still here and not ghosting out. Okay.. she should be safe for a bit but, no blinking or recalling anytime soon. Little taps and the light continues to flicker once or not at all and she sighs out. She just has to hope it turns back on soon. ] Bollocks.

( II. FREEDOM GRUMPS; TALK ABOUT BAD MOOD )

Sorry lil' guy, didn't mean to get us trapped there for so long. Chin up, yeah?

[ The squidge seems to be throwing a tantrum of sorts. Small wings flaring out with long ears folded far back to express his agitation and he even goes as far as to take hold of the goggles on his face and fling it at Tracer. ]

Oi! What's gotten into you?! [ She's exasperated, confused by his sudden behavior. He'd never been like this before now! Could it be just him growing-? Now he's kicking at the sand and even emitting angry noises to anyone else nearest to them. Tracer shoots an apologetic look. ] Don't take it personally love, he doesn't mean it!

( III. WILDCARD; COME AT ME )

[ Feel free to ping me at burners or throw anything at me! ]

I. cave in shenanigans

[whatshimadayou]

[After working out a small enough passageway, there's not much else to do but go forward and hope that they can work out a way out of these damned tunnels. If it hadn't been for the storm above, this would have been a fine idea, and he can't really begrudge Jesse for thinking of going this way.

What catches his eye is the flickering light, and he hears the all too familiar accent.

With his squidge right behind him, Hanzo quickly approaches.]

Tracer?

fairy king harlequin | all prompts open to all

[agrizzlysin]

a; waiting on the world to change (pre-cave in)

[A petite, humanoid figure is visible perched atop one of the desert's first rocky formations. The figure sits cross-legged on the dusty rock, looking down at something semi-circular in its hands. While everyone else is on the move, intent to get out of the harsh desert sun, this person waits completely immobile. The only identifying factor visible from below is the floating silhouette of a pillow that seems to be providing cover for an unhappy squidge.

Anyone willing to climb partway up the roughly carved but stable rock will be able to see King's deadened expression as he stares into an old armored helmet. He's waiting for Diane, the girl he promised to complete this mission with. You can't miss her; she's thirty feet tall and wears the cutest pigtails in the world.

King can't feel her power anymore.]

b; this spear is not meant for digging (post-cave in)

[That had been quite the light show in the sky, but what matters now isn't the meteorites themselves. It's the people trapped within that blasted cave. He'd wanted to avoid this trouble, to ignore the cave-goers just as he had the idiots who'd tried to walk over the ice at the start of this mission. But maybe, in some perverse way, this is a good thing for him. It's giving him something to do besides pine for Diane.

What would Diane do in this situation? She'd make sure that every single person trapped in those caves was rescued, no matter who they were, no matter how injured she herself was. Then that's what King will have to do.

He presses his face to the scorching earth and listens for activity, shouting occasionally as he commands his spear like a lever in order to dislodge rubble.]

Hello?! You're still alive down there, right?

c; biting the hand that feeds (post-rescue)

[See King. See King dangling helplessly from his floating pillow, arms flailing. See Helbram the squidge holding onto one of those arms with his shiny new sharp teeth. See King bleed all over the sand. Maybe help him out too if you want.]

hurts myself aka A

[grunehexe]

[Sieglinde was nowhere near the front of the pack. Even with her feet "healed", she was still doing her best to keep her weight off them, and Isengrim was exhausted in this heat, plodding along slower, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. She felt so accursedly hot, even with the clothe she had wrapped about herself to ward off the heat.

Looking down, her gaze fell to the gold scaled bracelet sitting heavy on her wrist. A spell to cool down wasn't a waste of magic...

Her gaze rose next to the sun, but along the way... there was a person. Up there, on the rocks. Alarmed, thinking it might be some native creature, Sieglinde squinted up against the glare, only for the figure to slowly become recognizable.]

King... ?

[It was too quiet to be heard there, surely- She raised her voice instead, calling out.]

King?

Jason Todd | prompts are post cave-in but let me know if you want something before/after

[gutpunching]

[cave in prompts - ota. Considering Jason spent several formative years of his life hanging out in a (Bat)cave, you'd think he'd be having better luck with these things.

It'll be a little hard to make out in the dark, but sharp-eyed and adventrous recruits might catch sight of a blocky arrow drawn in charcoal on the wall when they come across a fork in the tunnels. Underneath is a brief message - a username (UN: red) followed by an approximation of the time he'd passed through. (measured against the quake as a benchmark, +2 hours, +4 hours... ballparked timekeeping is hard enough with you're not trapped underground on an alien world.) Coming across later forks in the path will reveal more of the same...some crossed out and amended into dead ends and later times. Not Google Maps, but it'll give a general idea of how long it's been since he passed through, and which way he was going. To anyone who might happen by, or to himself, if he winds up getting turned around. Seems more productive than trying to dig out of the unstable mess barehanded and setting off another cave-in. Or sitting back and hoping for a rescue. (That one doesn't tend to work out for him.)

Clever deduction and trying the username will ping him via the network, if one is so inclined. Dumb luck or following the breadcrumb trail will find him a little more directly, sooner or later.

tl;dr: lets go spelunking.]

[A. (the one where I godmod your squidge for a minute.)

After getting recently dropped back in with the rest of the crew midmission, one of the spare squidges had taken to following him around like a squirrely stray cat. In the time immediately following the collapse of the cave, it's nowhere to be found. (Probably on the other side of the Great Wall of Rubble, if you're an optimist. Beneath it if you're not.) Instead, the first living thing he finds after digging himself free of the rubble is...someone else's. Looking both alarmed and unfamiliar. Which means it probably belongs to someone on the crew. It cries and gestures at him, urgent and expectant in its own squidgey way.]

What? [Squidgelike, it does not answer. He raises a hand to shake debris out of his hair and grimaces vaguely when he can feel himself bleeding down his neck. Super.] Little Timmy go and fall down the well again?

[Yes? No? Help him out here, Lassie. But okay, these things rarely seem to travel alone. Odds are its keeper has got to be somewhere around here. (...probably on one side of the Great Wall of Rubble, if you're an optimist. Beneath it if you're not.)]

[B. (the silver lining option.)

Conventional wisdom tells you to use a flame to look for air currents if you're lost underground. Second to that, it says to listen for running water to keep you from keeling over from dehydration. Since ALASTAIR had seen fit to shore up his supplies before dumping him back with the crew midmission—which is a peculiarity of its own, considering what he'd been handed—he's got night vision to crutch on in a pinch. But for now he's just got a makeshift torch held up to light the way and watch the flame flicker. Eventually one leads him to the other.

You lose some, you win some. Here, the cramped and claustrophobic tunnels have opened up to a cavernous space filled with running groundwater, buried deep under the desert. Shin-deep at the shallows and surprisingly cold, running briskly across the way he'd come. Jason wedges his light between a few stones and drops into a crouch at the edge of the water, balanced on the balls of his feet while he stops to scrub off some of the dirt and the dried blood off his face from digging out of the cave-in before he reaches to refill his canteen.

On the upside, it's not a bad place for a breather. Cool air, fresh water, and it's a big room—he can't be the only one who'll stumble across it. (Crossing it is going to be another matter entirely—just because it looks shallow and safe at the edge doesn't mean it'll stay that way.)]

[C. (the "it can always get worse" option)

Even after the initial cave-in has settled, the earthquake has left the cave system rattled and unstable. His reflexes are good, so he manages to jump out of the way as the "floor" he's standing on creaks under his boots and then collapses, caving in on the tunnel beneath that it was acting as a ceiling for.

Which, incidentally, someone seems to have been traveling through. Whoops. Look out below.]

[D - (the wildcard option!) these are incredibly generic, and all I've got is screwing around in caves, so feel free to wildcard me for cave-in or not-cave in shenanigans, or tag in and let me know what kind of thread you want and I'll write you a custom wildcard instead! or feel free to ping me va pm or plurk if you want to hash it out first.]

closed to Sigma "12inches" Klim.

[gutpunching]

[There are pros and cons to taking the scenic route out of the underground. Nice and cool and shady. Fresh groundwater. Hell, peace and quiet. But also, y'know, no solid exit strategy. By the time a few days have passed, he's put a decent amount of distance between himself and the cave-in ground zero, which means things are a lot more stable around here. Enough that finding somewhere to force a way out as opposed to a proper mouth to the cave has gone from "asking for trouble" to "sure, why not." (Being buried alive once in your life is a good quota. He doesn't remember it very well, but he remembers enough.) Doing some searching pays off eventually with a shaft of watery sunlight cutting through the air.]

Bingo.

[Small, but looks promising. There's a sliver of sunlight coming from high up the wall, a collapsed thing made of several large slabs of stone instead of one huge surface. They're large, but don't look particularly structurally important. Jason studied demolitions for a while—and while his focus was a little more urban than this, it does help to judge what might bring the whole place down on top of you if you sneeze at it wrong. Long as he's careful, this should work.

He leans against the first one to test the weight of it.]

C'mon— [Muttered at the cracks as the slab of stone refuses to budge. Which is when he hears voices. He climbs up toward the sliver of light for a better look, braces against it and whistles sharply, loud enough to carry through the cracks and prompt the figure on the other side to come investigate. The shape on the other side is not too far off, and a little familiar. If Sigma didn't notice him before, he ought to, now. How about a hand, bud. Put those nice robo arms of yours to work.]

Serene Charlord (Original)

[sereneflame]

Lilac the squidge now has pointed teeth, feline eyes, the ability to climb and likes to wedge herself into small spaces. Serene is fully convinced this transformation into something resembling the most hated creatures on her home world to be a punishment for her failure to be an adequate mother.

Open Prompt

[sereneflame]

[Serene has dropped her back at the base of a Scarlet Oasis, eager to investigate the liquid inside to see if it is water. Unfortunately Lilac has had a very similar idea and is clambering up Serene to try climb inside the giant flower too, squealing whenever Serene plucks her off and drops her back on the floor.

Serene huffs and whirls, pointing at your character with her mug]

You! Can you either dip this cup in there or hold Lilac? I want to know if this is drinkable before she drowns herself in here!

Giovanni Rammsteiner | OTA

[ofobedience]

i. the desert

[It's too much. The sky is so big so open so intensely blue that he can't bear to look at it, the light hurts his eyes and the heat-- well. The heat is something else. His skin burns, the air so dry that he feels as though each breath evaporates before he's able to drag it in or push it out. It's like nothing he's ever known and yes it's true that everything about this world has proven difficult for him, but this is by far the worst environment yet. He's an underground creature, accustomed to stuttering electric lights and dark tunnels that twist and turn, an enclosed space. Something finite. Not this glaring burning vastness.

He keeps walking, Lily tottering at his side or clinging to his chest, but with every step something in him cracks open and he doesn't know if he can keep going. There's a feeling in him like his chest will burst apart and everything will come spilling out of him to shatter in the bright hot dessert air.

And finally he does stop. Just comes to a dead standstill exactly where he is and even Lily tugging and pulling at him, even the beginning of her sniffles and sounds of distress, aren't enough to get him moving again.

This construct has broken down. Someone urge him on again?]

ii. finding the cave (prior to the cave-in)

[When he reaches the place where the ground seems to split open and that wide, blank darkness opens up like a maw in the brightness and heat of the dessert, when he feels that faint beckoning breeze and a quick consultation of the map tells him that yes, this does indeed seem to lead in the right direction, a wave of relief crashes through him so hard that he almost drops to his knees.

Instead he just lets out a parched-sounding laugh, spirits somewhat lifted, and steps toward the cave. To anyone who happens to be near him at the time--]

Well doesn't this look like fun? Something to break up the monotony, if nothing else.

i!

[heavyhitter]

[ She's gotten used to the constant of recruits moving around her. Some of them slower, some faster, some she keeps pace with for a while. Once in a while there's one sitting, doing a lunch, resting. But come to a dead stop, standing? That sort of sticks out. Ramir slows as she comes up on Giovanni, eying him, trying to figure out what's up. It's not going very well. ]

Okay — what? [ She comes to a stop next to him, head dipping a little to get his face from this angle, while her own squidge trails warily behind. ] What're you looking at?

[heelies]

( open )

[heelies]

(I. plant gathering )

[a. Amid the monotonous desert landscape which unfurls endlessly around them, the sparse patches of plantlife mark their progress in their course as well as promise the water which is so precious in this climate wrung so dry. When Achilles spies the towering red flower he heads toward it that he may inspect it more closely. It is his head for medicines that urges him to seek the utility in these strange plants which he wishes he knew half so well as the plants that grow wild upon Mount Pelion or within the wooded areas of Dardanus' plain.

Any who happen to be nearby may hear his exclamation as he peers into the bowl formed by the red petals.]

It seems I have found here nectar such that the gods might eat!

[b. It is his alien charge Leukos who discovers this next plant - by running headlong into the bushes, thus gaining a number of the burr-like fruits as passengers. Achilles is quick to scoop the infant from the tangle of branches where it is caught, but in doing so he too falls victim to the hooks of the fruits, which stick in his hair and clothes, and upon his bare arms. The effect of its pheromones seeps in slowly and then all at once. Even after he has swatted the burrs from his skin, the drowsiness continues to deepen ever further - and so one might happen upon the unusual scene of this great man struggling to focus as he plucks the hooked fruits from the soft flesh of the squidge, which is already fast asleep.]

(II. wildcard )

[I am happy to roll with anything you throw my way! Find me on plurk or shoot me a pm to plot something!]

ana ramir / open + closed

[heavyhitter]

[ 1: closed to Sigma]

[ It’s been days of this stupid, boring, endless rock and dust, and even Ramir is losing a little energy. She’s got good company, true (even though it means walking with Vito too-warm and too-hairy in her arms so he and Delta don’t get into anything), but even walking with Sigma can’t completely alleviate the boredom of a trek through a desert.

She’s still gamely making an effort, though: ]

Is it… [ What has she guessed already? Living (no), previously living (no), green (born out of desert-based desperation) (and also no), what else can a person possibly be expected to come up with? She makes a face, searching her mind for a word, and eventually ends on: ] …Phallic?

[ When in doubt, apparently. ]

[ 2: fun happy caveland ]

[ It’s hours after the initial rumbling that caused the cave-in, and things seem to have quieted down. Ramir has also found a stream. She’s going to take a lot of convincing to ever move from where she sits with boots off and feet dangling into the water, although Vito is doing his damnedest. Unfortunately, but now Ramir is really used to wordless whines and tiny, ineffective little squidge arms shoving at her.

She’s set her phone a few feet away, the flashlight mode in it shining almost artistically up the cave wall to wring a little more illumination out of its little white beam. The dim light, the cool stone, the burble of water… god, it’s almost peaceful. If she ignores Vito, anyway.

She’ll notice any approaching footsteps pretty fast, and with a glance back to see who to is: ] Hey, welcome to the picnic! Did you bring any chips?

[ 3: network ]

[ It’s a few hours after the sun’s gone down (she thinks) on the first full day of being stuck down here that Ramir gets sick of wandering fruitlessly around and just settles down with her ALASTAIR-given bracelet. Her phone is starting to lose its charge, what with no solar recharging down here, so she probably shouldn’t be playing any games on it… so, to the network it is that she turns for her amusement. ]

are the stars out tonight? describe them for a poor caged soul, i don’t even remember what stars look like anymore. it’s been years, YEARS. a lifetime.

for real though if you never see any of us again wouldn’t that be a hilarious way to lose half your team? “oh yeah they went into a pit then we lost them, oh well”

i’m so tired of this planet

[ She can be reached on the network (sometimes, when it feels like working… the text function is at least still sort of reliable) or found settled in against one of the walls, wrapped in her jacket, mind-texting away. ]

[ 4: closed to Koltira ]

[ There’s someone ahead, thank god. She’s determined to grab this someone and never let them go again, she’s fucking sick of aftershocks juggling down still more rocks and cutting her off from anyone she catches up with. She’d rather be squished than alone down here anymore (Vito doesn’t count). ]

Hey! Hey, hey, c’mere! [ She doesn’t even know who it is, all she hears is footsteps around a corner. She waves her phone nonetheless, the bright glaring glow of it bouncing off the walls all around here. ] Come give me company!

[12inches]

[ Same with Sigma, it's not the heat that's doing him in, it's the unchanging scenery. It's the sheer flat sandy nothing stretching for miles upon miles. At least even in the grasslands there was like... a plant every now and then to break up the horizon. ]

[ At least he's relatively easy to keep entertained, though. Ramir's pretty good at breaking up the monotony, if not just visually than also with her road trip games (despite the lack of both car and road), and wrangling a discontented Delta is something to do with his hands. It's not so bad... ]

No- Ramir, I'm not gonna pick something that close to what I picked last time.

[ Which logically after her choices so far is looking like cucumber, but we'll never know, the past is behind us. ]

That's four down.

stiles stilinski ◐ ota

[figureitout]

no desert for you; pre-caves

[ God, this is the worst. Legitimately the worst. Actually-- ]

The worst. [ He heaves the words out with equal amounts of exhaustion and sharp force, like the horrible heat and the way all his movements feel sluggish like this doesn't matter in the face of his brightly-burning annoyance.

From inside his uniform (because, despite wanting nothing more than to wear as little clothes in this heat as he can, Stiles is literally just as bundled up as he was in the tundra -- it should help, in theory, with staying hydrated), a small noise seems to agree. A wing peeks out from between the buttons of his jacket. ]

Yeah, buddy, I hear you. It's probably not long now, we have to find some kind of shelter soon. Or, you know, the night. I'm game for anything without the sun. Right? [ He. seems to address whoever's walking close by without even looking at them. ]

cave in, cave out; outside the cave-in

[ It's a hard realization, standing in the mouth of the caves, looking back at the pile of rubble that was part of the caves and is now- well. Nothing. Stiles stares while Scooter floats in the air next to him, flapping his little wings, making soft sounds full of distress. My friend's in there, he seems to be saying, and hell if Stiles isn't already uncomfortably aware of that. ]

Okay, okay, we- we just, uh. Dig them out. There's a ton of caves in there, no way it's all collapsed, they'll be fine in there. They've got food, and air, and-

[ He swallows the rest of the words, because honestly, who is he trying to convince here? Himself? He sighs and walks to the edge of the rubble, reaching for a stone. ]

Right. Heigh ho, off to work we go.

[ In case someone decides to approach him while he's working to clear the broken pieces of stone, they'll get a raised eyebrow and a Are you gonna stand there or help? as a response; after long hours of work-rest-more work, it seems the rubble pile is finally on the way of being gone. ]

Hey, anyone in there? Can you hear me? C'mon... someone, answer. Just answer something.

wildcard; whatever your heart desires!

[ for specific stuff, hit me up at celen or surprise me c: ]

outside; waves hands and assumes they met in person already

[hellshaped]

[Stiles's efforts aren't in vain -- after he moves enough cracked pieces of stone, something explodes from within. A gigantic red fist made of stone itself busts through the rubble, then withdraws back inside the cave-in.

Shortly after, a black squidge with hooves and scales gets shoved through the hole. It rolls down the mound of rubble, apparently not too bothered by what's going on.]

Zenyatta | OTA

[iomnic]

1. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHERE THAT'S BEEN (pre-cave in)

[Omnics cannot sweat. This is fortunate, because Zenyatta feels like he would be, if he were human. He doesn't need to have skin to be able to tell the air here is dry, and the temperature is very hot.

The benefits, at least, are that he doesn't require water at all. Sometimes it's even something he neglects to remember humans and other organic-based lifeforms need, if not for the complaints of his squidge. But it still slips his mind, even then, which is why it seems particularly odd to see someone cracking open a plant- a Beachwood to be exact- and appearing to drink something out of it.

Approaching out of curiosity, Zenyatta gives a small wave as he nears.]

Greetings. If I may ask... are you... eating that?

2. A BAD PLAN (post cave-in)

[The sun continues to beat down. It's enough that he's once again worried- will his metal become too hot to touch? Will he accidentally burn his squidge? Fortunately, there seems to be yet another cave nearby. Getting his squidge out of the sun for a while seems like the best plan, and so Zenyatta floats inward. Perhaps not the best decision he's made, but surely not the worst either.

At least it doesn't seem like it's not the worst, until the earthquake, and then it seems like it's a very, very poor choice. Rocks fall, everyone dies closing the exit path Zenyatta had been taking... and then soon, closing the entrance he had come from. Blocked on both side, it seems. There is, however, a thin-looking gap between two other cave walls, that might be big enough for him to sidle through. Might. Maybe there's someone on the other side, who can tell him if their way has remain unimpeded.

Raising his voice-box volume higher than normal, he yells down through the gap.]

Hello! Is anyone there?

1

[flashbanging]

[ Slurp. He pauses in his noisy drinking to glance over at Zenyatta and nod; he's got several beachwood stalks in hand at present, and just the one cracked enough to allow for draining. It's like a big straw full of water; kind of fun for him. ]

Yeah. Gotta stay hydrated, partner.

[ He pauses; shrugs. ]

Well, most of us do.

Sougo Okita | Gintama

[sadistfaction]

the desert - pre-cave
[What a sight to see. It looks like this place wasn't gonna be any fun - Things in Edo may have sucked at times but at least there were always convenience stores, water and, you know, civilization. That and who the hell decided he would make a good babysitter?!

Sougo runs a hand through his hair with a sigh.]

Oiiii. Get this thing away from me. Oiiiiiiii. I don't like kids.

[Well the squidges may not be actual children, but they probably count as one, don't they?! Only kids are this clingy and annoying! As if the sun wasn't annoying him enough!]

This is it. This is the end for me... Sadists can't take the heat...

[We got a drama king over here.]

the caves - post-cave in
[Sougo will absolutely offer to help in this situation. Absolutely, positively... be awful help in this situation.

He sits on the ground, watching those around him in a panic while he relaxes himself.]

Somebody get me out of here.

[Only him. No one else. Everyone else can die here for all he cares.]

Don't anyone got any explosives they can use? Why can't you terrorists actually be useful at a time like this?

rip mayo monster (locked to hijikata)
[Well, well, well, who do we have here? If this isn't a sign that he is clearly still meant to cause trouble in Hijikata's life... or at least he'll pretend it is!]

Glad to see that you're still alive... so that I can be the one to kill you, Hijikata!

the caves;

[agrizzlysin]

[King has been searching for victims of the cave-in grudgingly but dutifully. While not in the most heroic mood himself, he knows his good friend Diane would have been doing everything she could to save people if she were here right now, and he does his best to emulate her.

So when he hears a voice through cracks in a pile of rubble, he can't help but sigh in relief. He calls through the earth, hoping this stranger can hear him too.]

I'm not a terrorist, but I do have a spear. Stand back.