epidemiology | EVENT ★ BACK TO THE FUTURE

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EVENT ★ BACK TO THE FUTURE

BENDED TIME

As outlined in the OOC post, things start to slow down and grow quiet in Oska for a few days as the bugs crawl away and slowly disappear. But then the cocoons hatch. Fully grown temporal insects claw their way out of them, each about the size and temperament of raging bulls.

They come out far more aggressive and eager to fight, are are willing to take on anything that moves with jaws and claws alike. Except, of course, another insect — when two of them encounter each other, they enter into a mating dance and then slip away into another dimension, leaving behind only the temporary ghosts of years gone by. If you can’t find a way to pierce that thick shell to take one down, better find another one to pair it off with instead. Just try not to get bit while leading them around and find yourself suddenly 5 years old again.

The insects aren’t the only thing going on in Oska, though. As it turns out, unicorns really hate this adult form of the temporal insects, and will start kicking their way out of their stalls in the stables to get at the insects in an attempt to impale or trample them. According to Uruz they’re gallant warriors, but not always quite cut out to take on a bug, and can easily get themselves hurt or killed. She would really appreciate recruits taking a moment to recapture any stray unicorns they may come across and leading them back to the stables. Try to avoid any insects on the way, or you’ll find yourself suddenly fighting insect and irate unicorn, which is no one’s idea of a good time.

The lake is getting more active, too. All the fighting has woken up something in the depths of it. Dark red tentacles sometimes creep up onto shore — and don’t worry, this time they don’t belong to a sea goddess. The tentacles don’t attack unless attacked, and can in fact be quite agreeable. Nodes along the length of them act as primitive eyes, which see well enough to interact with anyone nearby. They’re also all a little peckish. Toss a tentacle a bit of food and watch it curl around and ingest it using tiny mouths on the underside. It might even be willing to play a few rounds of fetch or slap a bug into the sky for you if you put it in a good mood with a morsel of food.

The senior ALASTAIR members can be seen out and about and doing their part, too. Uruz and Dagny fight as a team, centaur and elf, sometimes fighting back to back and sometimes as mount and rider. They’ll stop and lend a hand, but the cats are a little less generous. Cherenkov and Crowley fight inseparably and use magic and science in deadly combination to ward off and destroy the bugs, but can usually only be seen darting on their way from one place to another. They have a lot of magitek to repair in the destructive wake of the insects. Pomarr, neither as senior nor as invested in actively picking off the bugs, offers shelter near a tentacle-free portion of the lake, calling down storms to toss away bugs for her and anyone in the vicinity.

OOC NOTES

This log spans a week ICly. Characters will find themselves beginning to understand each other again as the bugs first vanish, as the effects of the cats’ work on the magitek pays off. The translation problem will be completely fixed by the time the cocoons hatch. All of the bugs will have been killed or shipped off by the sixth day, leaving the last day before their departure to the next mission blissfully relaxing. Any temporally misplaced recruits will be back to normal by the last day, as well.

A reminder to anyone still texting: the texting feature of magitek jewelry operates based on thought! There are no physical keyboards, recruits merely think the message that they’d like to send to another recruit.

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[Urahara's attention is diverted, which would probably make a less seasoned practitioner of kido lose their focus, but this is only a 33, and he's a master. what it does do is give the unicorn a little bit of room to jerk away, nearly causing him to fall geta over hat, but good reflexes prevail.]

Ahahaha... Sakura-san. Good afternoon. As you can see, I think it's more in danger of hurting me than anyone.

[not likely, but he's trying to assuage her fears some.]

Sa--huh? You know my name?

[Maybe, some part of the back of her head seems to feel some vague familiarity. And yet she still questions it, unsure. But it would not be the first time things have been confused. She's well aware her memories aren't exactly the most reliable as they continue their search for more feathers of hers. More memories. Memories that still seem to have holes in them. Like there were something missing - or someone.]

[he cants his head at her and the unicorn rears up, nearly taking Urahara and his bakudo with it. he tuts at the beast gingerly.] Don't be mean.

[that said, he turns back to Sakura.] Of course I do. We've met before... Or do you not recall?

[that would be strange... how much exactly is going on here?]

We did? I'm sorry. I don't remember....but there's a lot of things I've apparently forgotten. That's why we've been traveling to so many different worlds and dimensions, to find my feathers. I thought maybe one might be here, if I'm here. But I can't find any of the others.

[She really does look apologetic, all but clasping her hands in front of her and bowing her head to him. It's nothing new. But it still confuses and saddens her. Makes her feel guilty. Remembering that look on Syaoran's face when she first woke and asked who he was.]

[That doesn't... sound anything like what he heard from Sakura, actually. All her talk of Clow cards and nothing about feathers. rather than further press or confuse her, however, he changes tactic.] Forgive me, actually, because I might have had you mistaken for another Sakura-san. I'm Urahara Kisuke and this- [the unicorn shakes its head] - well, this is a very unhappy animal, you see. Would you mind-

[he nods towards it, hoping maybe the appearance of a young maiden will calm the damn thing down a bit and he can try to understand this situation a bit more. curious.]

Oh, I guess that could be it. I know back home, in the other worlds we traveled to, we saw other...other versions of people we knew. My brother, for one.

[So she seems satisfied with that answer and explanation, even if part of it still nags at her. It's pushed aside when she turns her focus to the unicorn, giving a determined nod as she approaches, hesitant.]

I'll try.

Just try to calm it down, and I'll lead it. [He shifts a bit, giving the creature a little more room as it shakes its head and whinnies, clearly not comfortable confined to this spell.] I'm afraid it doesn't like this much, but I didn't know any other way to keep it from running away.

[all the while he's watching her carefully. that sounds peculiar.. and fascinating. once he gets this stupid unicorn to cooperate, he can work towards questioning all of that.]

Lead it to the stables. Okay....

[She does seem a bit upset and worried, but tries to reassure the unicorn this was only temporary, that they just want to help. She tries to soothe the creature as she begins to lead the way to the stables, ensuring that Urahara is close at hand. Just in case they might come across one of those huge bugs again.]

[dear God, he hopes not. he's had just about enough of that, but he also knows he's had no luck at all.

the comfortable silence between them is broken within just a few moments, as Urahara's curiosity gets the better of him.] So dimensional travel! This must seem like little more than another brief stop on your journey then.

Something like that? Or, I'm not unused to this sort of thing, being somewhere unfamiliar. It's just usually I'm also with Kurogane-san and Fai-san and Moko-chan. And...and Syaoran-kun. So this is still a little different.

[Part of her still kind of assumes and figures they are around somewhere too. She just hasn't found them yet. But she does her best as she coaxes the creature along with them easily enough.]

They might just be detained. [or they're not here and this is the Sakura he spoke to before- just from an alternate reality. he saw timelines being fussed with in action, but never this.

curious.] As you can see, we are having a bit of a problem right now.

Detained? You think so? Where? Should we look for them?

[She honestly hadn't considered that. But now he brings up the possibility, she is of course rather worried. But this luckily doesn't seem to worry the unicorn too much as the unicorn keeps following and goes obediently in to the stalls.]

Y-yes. I did think there seemed to be some children around. Which, with all of this....

It's very dangerous, indeed. [The stables are mercifully coming into sight and no bugs to be seen. they may well get out of this without it being a big deal.]

Once we get this one settled, however, we'll see what we can do to find your friends, hmm?

[it gives him an opportunity to keep an eye on her without it being seen as coddling and will answer a question on his mind. plus it's not like he's doing anything better right now.]

You'd help me try look for them? I've been here a little already and haven't found them but I guess that doesn't necessarily mean they aren't here. If you don't mind. Were there any friends of yours we could keep an eye out for too?

[They are close to the stables, finally, making it more or less without incident thanks to Sakura's assistance and presence helping calm the creature. But of course she turns it back to Urahara, wanting to help somehow in exchange for his offer.]

[he laughs awkwardly, and once he gets the horse safely into the stables where it won't bolt immediately, he releases the kido spell.] Ah... No, they're not here. It's been awhile since I first arrived, and I would know if they were here.

[he'd know their reiatsu anywhere, and Oska isn't that big in the grand scheme of things.]

Oh. So I can't help you look?

[Hey she has no clue about this reiatsu, maybe they are around and he just hasn't found them or something. It's....possible? Or maybe not depending on just how long since he showed up.]

I guess if we look for Syaoran-kun and the others at least then.

There's no reason why you can't. [he adjusts his hat a bit, still delightfully casual about this whole affair.] I just think we'll have more luck with yours.

[he places a hand on her shoulder and guides her back out of the stable.] Now these friends of yours.. What do they look like?

Hm. Well, Syaoran-kun is about my age and has darker brown hair and eyes, Fai-san is blonde with blue eyes and really tall! He's a magician but he doesn't use his magic much. And Kurogane-san is tall too but he's...hm, more muscular? He has shorter black hair and usually looks kind of grumpy. Moko-chan is small and white with long ears.

[Hilariously, that base description of Syaoran will also apply to the younger alternate as well.]

Their clothes might be a little different, since we often change when we come to other worlds.

A magician who doesn't use magic and a small, white creature with long ears. [on top of the other things.] You travel with quite the party, Sakura-san.

[like his giant man-friend with dreadlocks and his tiny dark-skinned ninja warrior who can turn into a cat.]

Y-yes, well. They've been helping me. So I owe them a lot, and...we care about each other. Things may have been a little unsure at first, but. I want to be sure they are okay, if they are here with me.

[They've almost developed something of a family dynamic. Kurogane and Fai as the 'parents', Sakura and Syaoran as the 'children' and Mokona as the 'weird family pet'. Or something.]

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EVENT ★ BACK TO THE FUTURE

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