epidemiology | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She frowns at that]

If you have arrived only this week then there is a chance that the you who are here now will not be here for long. Those bugs that you saw are time-travellers and they have been biting people, cursing them to reappear at different points of their life. Sakura, yes? Do you have a family name? I will come to find you once these bug's effects have worn off among our population.

[As her thoughts turn to her sister her voice grows sweeter, her snapping tone softening to fondness]

Celeste is not here and I hope she does not come. I enjoy this adventure but she is a shy and coddled girl. She would not fare well on any of our missions, nor would I want her to face the danger. [She smiles, so very fond] I like to coddle her too.

Will not be here long....? Oh. Um, with the jewel things, it had my name there as 'sakurakinomoto'. So maybe that's it?

[Her full name. There's still a lot, bits and pieces, that she doesn't yet recall without all of her feathers, all of her own memories of home and all. But she is doing her best all the same. Giving a nod in understanding.]

I don't like it when the others put themselves at risk for me either. For my feathers. I wish I could help more.

[They're approaching the stables now. There are more people, some leading unicorns calmly and some leading them by force. Serene's eyes narrow and she gestures for Sakura to follow her on a loop to avoid the more agitated animals]

Your feathers? Do you have feathers? [The girl looks like a fellow human but Serene has learnt that it's dangerous to assume in this place]

The feathers are my memories. They're....they're very powerful. And some people who found them abused that. I'm not sure if there's one here though.

[Sakura tries to explain as she follows, obediently trying to avoid the more agitated creatures.]

[Now that makes her stare over her shoulder]

Your memories have been made into feathers? How? I have never heard of magic such as that, even in legends. What do they look like?

[The detour has lead them to the back of the stables. The unicorn snorts its displeasure at the prospect of being locked up again]

I'm....still not sure how. But yes, that's what Syaoran-kun and the others said. That they were helping me travel to find them. I don't have any on me right now, but they're white, with a red pattern on them.

[It's kind of obvious they aren't bird feathers, at least. So it should rather stand out if there is one around. Sakura coos, rubbing at the creature's nose.]

I know. But you have to go back, okay? It's much safer, with these bugs around.

[Serene pauses to let Sakura settle the unicorn before pushing open the door to the stable. The door is splintered where the creatures had obviously kicked their way out and she grimaces, sure that in half an hour their unicorn will be charging round free again]

Were your memories always feathers? Is that a trait of your kind? [Sakura looks human, but so do many people around here. Serene's learning not to judge by appearances]

No, I don't think so. It's....complicated. But that's why, Syaoran-kun and Fai-san and Kurogane-sane, they're all traveling with me to help me find them. Helping me. With Moko-chan, who takes us to other worlds to look for them.

[It is rather complicated. A plot long in the works and making, which Sakura isn't necessarily yet privy to herself. But she explains as she leads the unicorn back in, pursing her lips a little at the state of the stall.]

Maybe we should fix it?

We should definitely fix it, but given how well kicked in this door is we'd be better off bolting on a steel plate than wasting our time on more wood.

[The stables smell like mammal, but after spending her year with the camels it's almost a homely scent. Serene leads them through past the more ordinary creatures, looking for the unicorn's section... and of course the doors to the stalls have been kicked in as well. She huffs and then gestures for Sakura to at least attempt to shove her beast inside.]

I don't suppose you have any feathers that have taught you metal work.

Steel....we might find some. But I'm not sure how to do it myself. Maybe if we asked?

[Or. Well. The basic theory probably isn't too difficult at least. Replacing the wood with the steel. It's attaching it once they did manage to find said steel that Sakura isn't as sure on.]

Better yet, we should tell whoever has the skill to perform the repair on our behalf. You and I in our ignorance are unlikely to do as good a job as .

[The unicorn has spotted feed another recruit has poured to try keep the animals indoors and trots right into his stall to eat. Serene rests her hand on Sakura's shoulder and smiles down at her.]

We've done as well as we can here. Shall we go and round up more unicorns?

Oh, that would be even better!

[If someone else hadn't beat her to it, Sakura probably would have wanted to help. Still, it's already sorted in ensuring the unicorns have food so it isn't an issue.]

Sure! And if we find someone that might help with the stall along the way too.

EVENT ★ BACK TO THE FUTURE

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