TEST DRIVE 02

[pluviosamods]

TEST DRIVE

Hello, and welcome to the second Pluviosa Test Drive!

This Test Drive corresponds to Days 4-12 in the ship calendar, and will run until around the game's next major event. You can get a better idea what's going on in the most recent Game Update which covers Days 5-8. Currently, character IC housing is not in operation yet; it is expected to open on Day 9 (part of the way through the Test Drive period). Otherwise, the ship is largely in the state described on the Setting page and in other game information.

Test Drive threads involving characters who are accepted are considered canon to the events of the game unless otherwise agreed by players/mods. Pluviosa does not do welcome mingle logs nor does it have any kind of in-character welcome information, making your test drive threads your character's arrival to the game setting. That said, mod-run interactions such as formal exploration and/or interactions with the Ship as an NPC are not available on the Test Drive.

It is advised that potential players familiarize themselves with the Premise page, the Rules/Session Zero page, and at least the first few paragraphs of the Setting page. As Pluviosa is a horror game, we especially encourage players to be aware of the content warnings that will be major themes of the game. If you have any further questions, you can ask them on the QUESTIONS header in the comments!

If you're test driving a character, you're welcome to join the game Discord and hang out and meet your fellow players!

ARRIVAL - LIKE THE RAIN

You wake up. You remember waking up, right? In another place, another time...

There's blood running down your fingers. Outside, the rain isn't pounding, yet, just a gentle patter...

Or is it?

As characters gain fuller awareness of their surroundings, they will realize that there is, in fact, no blood on their hands (save any that might have already been there). It feels as though they lost focus for a moment and hallucinated, but the hallucination ended with them somewhere else entirely.

There is not actually the sound of rain. If characters are near enough to a window, balcony, or even a hole in the ceiling, they will find that it is cloudless, beaming sunlight outside. The emptiness in the distance rolls on and on, completely absent any signs of life.

That being, of course, because the signs of life are all in here. Characters might wake up on any of the decks on the upper side of the ship - anywhere that isn't the cafeteria or lounge where previous arrivals spend most of their time is free game. This also means, of course, that they have the jungle of plants to contend with...

LIGHTS ON, SHOW START

Most areas in the ship are dark when characters arrive. That doesn't mean that they stay dark. Occasionally, lights overhead flicker on and off for a few minutes at a time.

The problem with this isn't the lights themselves (cool white and kind of industrial). It's the reaction that the addition of the extra light causes the plants in the dark areas of the ship that's cause for alarm. To describe the growth as explosive isn't an understatement - vines, saplings, and even thicker branches surge with growth, pushing outwards towards the distant sunlight and upwards towards the flickering bulbs.

The growth is sudden enough to take all but the most aware characters by surprise, and if they're in the wrong corner of the room, it's very easy to get tangled up, wedged in by a tree trunk, or otherwise trapped against some corner or wall. If you're lucky and skilled, you might be able to cut yourself out from there (or break down the wall you're shoved up against), but otherwise, there's only one solution left.

Yell like your life depends on it, and hope somebody out there can hear you. And that whoever hears is someone who is inclined to help, rather than leaving you there. Or worse.

Oh, and the lights flicker back off after a few minutes, of course. Hopefully you're not waiting for rescue in the dark (with the smell of mold and the general faint dampness of the forest) for too long.

TILT-A-WORLD

Occasionally, the whole ship tilts.

This is not simply the side to side motion of a ship on the water (or the equivalent motion brought on by the way this particular ship moves); it's an extremely forward or backward tilt that sends things sliding across the floor if they aren't secured by roots or something else. Unlike storm-tossed ships, the tilt is somewhat prolonged - rather than everything sliding back and forth a couple times a minute, the tilt lasts for five, ten, maybe as much as twenty minutes.

Although it's not enough to knock a well-balanced character off their feet, it's quite likely that new arrivals will not be particularly on-balance. And attempting to traverse the ship with the tilt is a tall order... especially when the ship's angle does unexpectedly change... to the exact opposite direction. All that goes up the mountain must go back down, and a glance out the windows reveals that that's exactly what's going on, as the ship progresses across a mountainous landscape without real regard for the concept of mountain passes.

And for characters who have managed to make their way to the "civilized" parts of the ship, namely the cafeteria and the lounge above it... None of the furniture in these areas is secured. The cafeteria carts under the direct control of the Ship don't seem as inclined to go anywhere, but the tables and chairs in the cafeteria and the couches and armchairs upstairs... Well, it's a good thing both spaces are surrounded by railings. Large chunks of tree trunk also still littler the lounge, sliding back and forth and occasionally rolling with great force across the floor.

Better hold on tight.

SOMETHING WHISTLING

While wandering around the ship's interior, characters might occasionally hear a person whistling.

The sound always seems to be coming from just around the corner, but it sounds alive in a way that other sounds don't. Maybe more alive, even, than the rustle of leaves, the occasional drip of water, and the sounds of things sliding back and forth across the grimy, leaf-covered floors. The whistler, whoever they are, doesn't actively respond if called out to - but the whistling does pause, as though indicating that the call was heard, before starting up again.

If characters choose to follow the whistling, they're inevitably led to the same place - somewhere overlooking the great gap down the middle of the ship, whether an internal suite's balcony, one of the bridges crossing between the two halves, or one of the hallways that runs alongside it. Once they're there, there's no whistler in sight; however, characters will be filled with the overwhelming urge to look over the edge of the railing and down into the lower parts of the ship.

Exactly what they experience after looking down varies. Some will hallucinate that they've fallen over the side, feeling their balance go haywire and seeing the floor rushing up to them right up until the moment of "impact," at which everything returns to normal. Some will feel a stranger's hands on their shoulders, threatening to push them over with a great shove that goes through them with incorporeal fingers. Some will just hear unidentifiable laughter right up close to their ears, and experience the distinct sensation that there's someone laughing at them, in a haha-made-you-look kind of way.

But whatever happens, when they look up, there's no one there - or at least not anyone that physically close to them. The one good thing about being drawn to the middle section of the ship by whatever prankster this is is that it makes it a lot easier to run into people if you're all drawn to the same, highly visible place.

And at least the other person is flesh and blood, right? Probably.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[pluviosamods]

Fridtjof Djt-bidit | Final Fantasy XIV

[paladinforhire]

Arrival

He shouldn't have blood running down his fingers. He should be able to feel his gloves on his hands and he does, but there's still blood -

Fridtjof wakes up, blinking in surprise. He squares his shoulders and lifts himself from the... well. It's the remnants of a bed at the very least. He's slept on worse. He doesn't really care that he's dirty either, his armor still shining white and blue. He picks up his sword and shield and fastens them onto his back, heading out of what ends up being the cabins.

Maybe someone can help him out here? He's usually pretty good at figuring out where he is, but he's pretty lost right now.


Lights On, Show Start

There's the sound of yelling from down the corridor, but it's not distressed at least. The Rava is just frustrated by the suddenly growing plants. He's strong enough and fast enough to cut through the mess, but there's probably other people around who need assistance. And that's what a paladin is for - to help the weak and needy.

"Is anyone there?" Shout if you need help, people!

... And maybe avoid the sword if you can.


Something Whistling

Fridtjof's hearing is good, and so the whistle is annoying him enough that he heads out to find what's going on. He makes his way to the edge of the balcony and looking down. ... He's annoyed when he doesn't see anyone, and shoves back against whoever it is that's trying to shove him. He growls and draws his sword and shield - nothing.

... This is annoying. This is frustrating, and he's really tempted to start hitting things. Still, he pulls his temper into check and looks around, trying to figure out what to do. Fortunately for him, there's a lot of people here who are likely just as annoyed! Either they have answers or they're eager to spar too.

Hopefully.


Wildcard

[Want to do something else? Let me know on Discord at artematthew<.]

Lights On, Show Start

[featheradrift]

It's the yelling that draws the Wanderer over in the Rava's direction. The intermittent bursts of plant growth had been an impediment to his traversal of the ship, but it hadn't an obstruction.

The unfamiliar voice though... with so few in numbers on the ship, it's easy to get a headcount, and no one had been missing. This is ultimately what draws him over. The yelling was nothing like the hallucinatory whispers that were almost like background noise at this point.

Fridtjof might be alerted to the presence of another person beyond the tangle of plants and branches when the drifter starts unleashing wind blades at the obstruction between them, but it'll be far more apparent when said person calls out to him over the noise.

"Back away if you don't want to be cut!"

Arrival

[luciacorina]

Lucia Corina is making a considerably more cautious expedition into the higher residential decks, sticking to areas that were somewhat cleared out in the aftermath of the Incident, but still hoping she might find something interesting in one of the rooms... and, frankly, too used to being constantly on the move to just sit in the cafeteria or lounge all day. Even when she's playing for her meals, which she isn't here, she doesn't like to do it all day--staying indefinitely on display tends to bring back echoes of her swing.

She hears a loud clatter in a room farther down the hall, and nervously retreats out of the room she was in, in case it heralded the lights flicking on and another explosion of growth, but the lights stay off, and a person comes out of the room.

A new person. She definitely would have remembered if she had seen anyone yet with ears like that. His armor glints in the low light of the red strips on the wall, and the flickering of the candle she has with her, in her battered but mostly intact lantern. (It's not like it had glass to break, she isn't rich, it's mostly just dented.)

"Hello, ser," she ventures, hoping not to surprise him too much. She isn't sure what she'll look like to him, in her sturdy but worn (and more tattered than she notices) black and white dress, with her hair a mess from catching on trees and vines (even more than usual), holding a flickering iron lantern. He could be from any kind of world. "Have you just arrived?"

Wriothesley | Genshin Impact

[chainedcerberus]

Arrival / Lights On, Show Start (pool deck)

It probably says something that the sound of pattering rain sparks more concern than the brief feeling of blood on Wriothesley's skin - but just for that moment of disorientation, before he realizes he's not in Meropide and his fortress hasn't sprung a leak. He shakes his head and by the time he's done, both the rain and the blood have vanished and he's still not in his office.

It's as dark as it gets, but just for a moment before the lights flicker on with a buzz and he sees something reaching. The reflex is instantaneous, swinging to block it with a surge of ice from his gauntlet and as the lights flicker again he sees that what was reaching for him was - some kind of vine? He's not a botanist but he's pretty sure those shouldn't be moving at all. Some kind of whopperflower mutation? Again, not a botanist.

He steps backward, his heel dropping into some kind of water that's deeper than it should be. He freezes it before he tumbles backward and steps out onto the surface, because at least the large pool of stagnant water he's found isn't full of vines that are - again - trying to grab him. It buys him some breathing room at least.

"Okay..." He mutters to himself. Time to assess the situation and make a plan to get the hell out of whatever this is. It's hard to see through the flickering overhead lights, but there's a dim rectangle of steadier light beyond the thick overgrowth that might be an exit. He can see the withered vine on the 'shore', still frosted over. If he can punch his way through... hah, good one. Of course he can punch his way through. No problem, even if those rustles in the foliage are something scarier than a few overly-eager floral arrangements.

[featheradrift]

The Wanderer's taken to hovering high in the sky lately. Up in the air, there's no need to fear a sudden burst of plant growth entangling him, and it's easier to observe people's movement and changes on the deck. So the burst of ice blowing open a passage that was quickly getting overrun easily draws his attention. And when an unfamiliar face emerges, he can't help but be curious.

But he doesn't call out to the new face. Not just yet. Instead, he lowers himself slightly and shifts his position to remain out of the man's sight. He would observe the man's actions first. Was he trapped like them, or perhaps...?

Laios | Dungeon Meshi | SPOILER FREE!!!

[dungeonluncheon]

CONTAINS NO SPOILERS Laios is taken from around episode 10-ish - before they fight the Red Dragon - and I will NOT discuss anything that happens after so no worries if you're an anime newcomer :)!!!

(Note: "Kensuke" is the name of his sword, which is also a mollusk.)

plants.

"I've never seen a vine move like this on its own before - is it a plant? If it's a tentacle..."

He pauses, watching them closely for a second.

"No, no, they only move towards the light. And Kensuke isn't scared at all. They must be plants, not monsters. They're like no plant I've seen, though... They move so fast!"

He's clearly confused, but also delighted. He uses his sword to cut off a piece of vine, which he nibbles on tentatively - and then immediately spits back out! The disappointment on his face is palpable.

"Bluh! It's like eating grass..."


worms...?

Laios keeps talking to himself, used to filling a silence that is otherwise filled by his party - he's aware that they're gone, sure, but he keeps getting distracted by other things to really worry about it.

"What a weird dungeon... I've never seen metal walls before... And I haven't seen a single monster, either... Man, that makes me worry about -- oh!!"

No matter where you are, worms are always worms. Laios dives to grab a fistful from the nearby soil.

"Great! Now I don't have to worry about food at all!"


dungeon food.

An adventurer sits by a fire, which he made himself in the middle of the ship, still partly surrounded by plants. He's tending to some kind of ... meal? It smells... er... okay....

"Hmm... I wish Senshi was here... But I think I sort of remember how this goes... I'm roasting the worms over the fire... and the vines too... Maybe they'll taste better cooked... At least this fruit is delicious... Mm!"

He looks up, fruit juice dripping down his chin, purplish in color. "Oh, hello fellow adventurer! Would you like to join me for a meal? It's not much, but..."

dungeon food

[astraldownpour]

Childe is nearly all set to explore the deeper areas of the ship alone, but something catches his attention-- the smell of fire? Smoke? The Harbinger is unsure if that was a good sign-- He knew Mario at the very least had flame powers.

And probably a few others on the ship, but he hadn't quite asked.

But there being smoke in the air, and more than just little puffs, or the slight scent, seemed to reveal that the fire was more sustained. Could they not have a disaster every two minutes, maybe? He wasn't complaining, not actively, but he had plans! Childe ends up following the smoke, and the scent quickly changes from that of just fire and ash to something... Cooking? He's unsure if that was cause for more or less concern: they had a whole cafeteria. And a kitchen area. Unless...

Childe's pace picks up as he gets closer, sees the light of the fire in the distance. The Harbinger basically ran towards the warm, flickering light. A new person? Was someone still trapped?

What he stumbles on is.... A blond guy in mostly armor, talking to himself. Not someone he recognized, but he seemed like a pretty respectable guy. Cooking what seemed to be plants and a few of those worms over the fire. He'd bit into a fruit, the juice of it staining his face. The other man... inviting him to a meal? Very kind of him, really.

"Oh, yeah, sure."

The fatuus had no real qualms about it-- Sure they had normal food available for most hours of the day, but. Well. Anything could be food, he thinks. And this guy is not one he recognizes, why not have a meal together?

"Name's Childe. I've been here a bit. I see you've made do pretty well with what you could find!"

He's impressed, actually. He'd considered eating the worms too, but the texture seemed a bit slimy to try raw. Roasting them was a great idea. Thankfully the storm was long over. Childe happily takes a seat next to him, crossing his legs.

"There's a bunch of us here. I haven't seen you around though-- Just arrived?"

The redhead might as well ask, in case the poor guy's been scrounging around in the belly of the ship this whole time all on his own.

Ragnarr Skymender - Forgotten Realms OC

[ragnarr]

ARRIVAL.

It's not Ragnarr's first time waking up in an unfamiliar place like this. It's not even the first time waking up having travelled through dimensions without intent nor warning.

Eydis is there, his familiar (currently in the form of a falcon) nipping at his arm with her beek. Was that what he felt? No, he feels certain it was blood, though how exactly he could tell, he doesn't know. Connecting with her mind, he soothes her, letting him know he's alright and for her to stop fussing.

His surroundings are dark, but he can immediately tell he's in a heavily forested area. Unwilling to move immediately, he takes a few seconds to listen. It's eerily quiet. He focuses and looks through Eydis's eyes, far more suited to the darkness than his. It's undoubtedly a forest, but more of a jungle than he's used to. He catches sight of smooth surfaces too, some sort of construction. But no apparent danger.

He sighs and gets to his feet, taking stock of himself. No injuries, and his belongings seem to still be on him, as best he can tell without unpacking his backpack. Where exactly he is, that's another matter entirely.

Deciding he's rather spend some of his magic than risk lighting a fire in this unfamiliar place, his raises his staff, touches his hand to his bare chest, and murmurs the word "Náttsýn." Immediately his surroundings become clear, grey as ash, but sharp.

He could use magic to track his friends... But honestly, there's no saying they'll be within range. He's better off finding out where he is, and so he starts quietly making his way through the forest. His full attention on hearing and seeing, without himself being seen or heard, his footsteps almost soundless against the soft ground.

It's not too long after that he hears movement not that far ahead...


LIGHTS ON, SHOW START.

Realising that this was not in fact a normal forest, but almost a contained garden on some sort of advanced, metallic ship? Well, it certainly didn't do anything to calm Ragnarr. Yet he hasn't encountered any dangers as of yet.

That is, until lights flicker on above (in itself a disturbing thing), and the entire forest comes to life.

A thick branch rushes at him, so unexpectedly that he's slammed against another tree. His breath is knocked out of him for a second, but as the bark squeezes against him, his recovers enough to gasp the word "Þokafet," vanishing in a puff of smoke and appearing in a smaller clearing just ahead.

His falcon, who had been riding on his shoulder, is flapping around above him, screeching in distress for a moment before Ragnarr tells her to quiet.

He manages to avoid further attacks from the growth, and soon enough the lights disappear, the colourful greenery dulling to shades of grey, and the creaking of the wood and rustling of leaves stilling. At last it's quiet again.

Or is that someone else he hears?


TILT-A-WORLD.

As if everything else wasn't enough, navigating through this place, he suddenly can't even trust gravity.

It's not too difficult when everything becomes downhill, but when it shifts to being a steep uphill climb, Ragnarr's starting to feel fed up. He grabs the small pelt of spotted fur tied to the back of his belt, donning the hame. In the blink of an eye, his body shifts, his clothes and belongings merge into his body, shrinking into a shape much more suited to this environment.

If someone particularly keen-eyed crosses his path, they'll see a margay: a spotted wild cat, roughly the size of a large but slim housecat. At least in this shape, he can navigate the jungle smoothly and quickly.


SOMETHING WHISTLING

He knows better than to think there is a natural explanation for the whistling. His instincts tell him it's a spirit, by the way it feels more real than reality.

Of course he follows it. Spirits are familiar to him, though he knows not to trust them. Whatever this is, it might not be intentionally helpful, but it might help him understand more of where he is and what's going on.

It leans him to the most open area he's seen yet, and suddenly the structure is so much more obvious and present. He's up on a taller balcony, and he can see light, barely visible among the treetops.

And down...

There's a surge in the pit of his stomach. Like vertigo, he feels as if he's fallen, but also not falling. Like he's floating weightless, back in the Astral Plane, where time has no meaning and there's nothing but the endless expanse - except dark and earthy, dangers lurking in the shadows, beyond what his magical sight can reveal to him...

It passes quickly, his feet still firmly on the ground.

TILT-A-WORLD

[airplaneskyward]

Shang Qinghua sees something moving in the plants, and... it's grey? Wait a second... "Holy shit, a cat?" The cat is clearly on its way somewhere, and without thinking, he scrambles after it. "Wait, hello what, there aren't any animals on here, did whatever brought us here bring a cat on its own or are you with someone? You're not the cat that was with that kid! Uh, here kitty? 猫真好? I know where food is!"

Genevieve | Original

[jennyvieve]

i.
Jenny has no idea how she got here. That's not unprecedented, but it's still fucking weird. Her holo's got no connection, so she's clearly not anywhere with a signal. It's an abandoned ship of some kind, and everything feels off and wiggly and unfamiliar. It tries to burrow into her skull, making her hair stand on end.

Nature isn't really something she's used to either. Not like this. She's trudging through the jungle with determination, but not exactly efficiency. She's also swearing to herself the entire way, in her own language - not this one that suddenly appeared in her brain. Though that one probably has its uses. Like calling out.

"Hello?! Anyone there?"

She wishes her words would echo, but they get swallowed by the foliage. The darkness is fine, the plants are fine, whatever is fine, but she can't stand this Aloneness.

"Any of you shitgoblins wanna say hi? Huh? Any dirtclowns listening?"

Aggressive insults is sure to work, right? Even if she's not sure how well they work when translated.


ii.
She underestimated the dangers of this place. After a few unexpected tilts and one particularly violent growth-spurt, she's a little bit banged up.

Specifically, a head wound that wasn't particularly deep, but sure did bleed a lot. There's some other scratches too, mostly on her arms. But it's mostly from slamming the top of her head against a corner of a wall that there's now blood that stains her face, hands and clothes.

She's probably quite the sight as she reaches the top deck containing the cafeteria.

ii

[airplaneskyward]

"Oh, shit, are you okay?" is the first thing that comes out of Shang Qinghua's mouth when he sees an unfamiliar girl exit the staircase. There's blood all over her face, and... a fair bit of the rest of her as well. "Do you want help? I have-- bandages and medicine and shit? And I can show you where the showers are? Did you just get here?"

Lucy MacLean | Fallout (series)

[regularfolk]

ARIVAL & LIGHTS ON
[ ooc: I also enjoy brackets, so feel free to switch it up! I haven't RP'd in a minute, so please excuse the rust~ ]

"Please don't... tell me... I lost another fing..."

The words barely mumble out of Lucy as she dizzily comes to. For a fleeting moment, the distant sound of rain has her perking up slightly, only for the beautiful patter to disappear as quickly as it came. She sits up to cautiously inspect her hands for injury, only to be fooled by her senses a second time—though, this particular deception comes as a relief. Still, she opens and closes her fingers to ensure everything is in working order. Just in case.

She rises to her feet and instinctively checks her Pip-Boy. The device is not functional, and she is truly alone.

A corner light begins to flicker, drawing life to it. Lucy spins on her heel at the sound of plant growth behind her, and a fascinated smile tugs lopsidedly at the sight. It's unlike anything she's ever seen before, and after all the death and despair she'd been trudging through, this is a welcome change of sight.

At that instant, she feels a push at her feet, and she's back on the ground before she has time to process what's happening. Roots surge toward the flickering light, dragging Lucy along with them. The force is undeniable, and she's quickly ensared in thick root.

"A-anybody there?!" She screams as a root curls over her mouth, her limbs now wrapped by the strength of the plant.

Any attempts at speaking come out garbled and mispronounced as she is gagged by a soft, dirty root.

"Helf ee!"

[fauxcalors]

When Furina first hears the noise, she nervously tells herself that it's just more of the same--the Ship settling, or something aboard it trying to lure her into the darkness. But the sounds of struggle continue in the close distance, with a distinct note of human pleading to them, and her heart can only waver on this matter for so long.

She follows the noise, and finds herself incredibly glad she's kept a hold of the rusted hoe the Ship had given her some days back, when the plant growth had gotten truly...unruly, for the first time. It's dull, but it's a far sight better at getting through the plant matter than her bare hands would be. Some of the larger roots and vines withdraw on their own power if she gives them a solid enough whack, which is nice.

"Hold on!" she calls to the person she can now see clearly, trussed up tight. "I'll have you freed momentarily!"

Aventurine | Honkai Star Rail: Arrival/Something Whistling

[doomed_gambler]

Arrival:

“Your gamble… is not over yet.”

His awareness filters in bit by bit, drop by drop, like an eyedropper attempting to fill a riverbed.

“But before the end, there are many things that humans can do while on their journey. And because of this, the “end” will thus reveal a completely different meaning.”

His body aches. The ground is hard and cold against his back. Not the watery surface he’d been treading for…he’s not…sure…

“Good luck.”

How long ago did he hear these words…? His head pounds trying to piece it together, and the steady patter of the rain does nothing to help.

“Do stay alive. I wish you the best of luck.”

It is raining somewhere…right? He groans softly, dreading the possibility of his clothes getting drenched…

“May your journey be forever peaceful, and your schemes forever concealed…”

He raises a hand to massage at his temple. Warm blood drips down his fingers, and would trickle down his arm if it weren’t stopped by the iron shackle on his wrist, bloodied chains clinking with the movement-

“Farewell, Kakavasha.”

!!!!!!??

He sucks in a startled gasp, lurching up into a sitting position (when did he even lie down?) and turning his head to and fro to take in his strange surroundings.

Which is…difficult to do, since it is rather dark here. Wherever here is. There’s a faint teal glow from the broken cornerstone shards tucked in his coat pocket. Those shards buzz with latent energy, but they don't help much.

The only other source of light comes in through little cracks in the roof, tiny beams of sunlight striving to break through the darkness, revealing creaking metal walls and twisting, strangely colored vines. Ah so…not raining. Looking down, he sees no blood, no shackle, only water dripping off his gloved hand. Even so, he grimaces at the overall baffling situation.

“Huh…what an interesting turn of events.”



Something Whistling

Someone is whistling nearby. This ship –and the way it rocks to and fro, it must be a ship of some sort, right?-- has been empty and mostly quiet as he’d been wandering around. He’d been absently flipping a coin to fill the silence, training himself to keep his balance in the process. He'd only stumbled and dropped it twice.

This…place has strange plants, and furniture that slides around, but not much else. And yet, he knows there are people here. He’s not sure how he knows…he just does. And now he’s hearing someone whistling a jaunty tune he feels like he’s heard…somewhere before.

This could be one of those people. He puts on his best smile.

“Well hello there! I’d started to think I was the only one here~” he calls out, aiming for a disarming tone. The whistling pauses, so he continues. “Why don’t you come on out for a chat? I promise I won't bite.”

There’s a beat of silence, then the whistling continues. It seems to be retreating. Aventurine raises an eyebrow, then grins. It seems he’s being played with…well. He does like games.

So he follows the whistling tune, weaving through rooms filled with vines and flowers he’d never seen, traveling through flickering corridors. He tries to construct a rough mental map of these rooms for later use. The song never goes too far. If he catches this enigmatic whistler, perhaps he could win some valuable information…

Except the little game of tag ends abruptly as the floor he’d been walking on suddenly runs out. He blinks, glancing around for any living soul.

Nothing. No Whistler.

“How strange…” he mutters. He’s standing on the ledge, overlooking the great expanse of darkness below. Something about the pit tugs at him, and he finds himself peering over the ledge–

Someone laughs behind him–

There are hands at his back, shoving him forward over and down down down–

Aventurine yelps as he drops into the dark expanse below, screaming and desperately grasping for something-anything- anything at all to grab onto, to stop this fall– maybe if he manifested a shield he could survive–

A hysterical part of his mind can't help thinking how funny it is to have made it this far only to die by being pushed off a ledge–

The ground rushes up to meet him, the gold blue emblem of imaginary energy shimmering in front of him too little too late too late too late-

–he’s standing on the ledge, overlooking the great expanse of darkness below. He gasps, scrambling back from the edge and landing in a sprawled, seated position, his heart pounding a mile a minute. He’d- he’d tried that and more to test mortality in Penacony, but that was– that felt so real–

Laughter rings in his ears, a bubbling, malicious giggle that distinctly reminds him of Sparkle, even if the voice itself is nothing like her. He shudders, scrubbing at his face. His shields remain solid around him.

“Well then, aren’t you a sore winner,” he chuckles mirthlessly.

Something Whistling

[featheradrift]

Like Aventurine, the Wanderer has been hearing that whistling as he explores the interior of the ship. The only difference between his experience and the drifter's, however, is that the Wanderer can fly, and thus, the whistling poltergeist's pranks are far from effective and only serve to annoy him.

Though the ship is large, its interior is mostly the same throughout, so he's been spending his time trying to figure out the aim of the whistling poltergeist instead, which is why he has been hanging out by the great gap, attempting to determine if there's a pattern to the way it lures its unsuspecting victims.

He watches from a distance above the gap as Aventurine falls for the poltergeist's tricks. Hm. Another new face. A barrier shimmers around the man as he attempts to settle his heart. Huh. No Vision from what he can see... nor does his outfit fit with Teyvat's style. From another world then, he decides.

He gives Aventurine another moment to calm down before he deigns to lower himself into the man's view, casually floating over the ledge the gambler had envisioned himself falling off.

"A rude greeting to your new home, wouldn't you agree?" he says with a lazy smirk on his face, not at all sympathetic to the fright Aventurine just experienced.

Veritas Ratio | HSR | Lights On, Show Starts

[alabaster_erudite]

It would be a lie to say that dark, industrial, and frighteningly overgrown were unfamiliar sights to him. Research and development can come in all shapes and forms, reaching places undiscovered and heights unheard of until then. This however far exceeds his expectations. In a way that would make his students blanche upon seeing the severe expression on his face.

The smell of mildew and mold rises to his nose, causing his face to scrunch up into a sour look as the sudden stench of rot and humidity after just exiting the light ozone of the corridor lined with exposed, sparking wires quickly overwhelm him. He shuts his eyes and instinctively covers his nose with his sleeve. As much as he wants to dive headfirst into his alabaster headpiece to rid himself of this assault to the senses, it would be a moronic move to do so in the dark like this. So venture forth he must.

Just as he curses at whatever irresponsible experiments one of the Genius Society members must have enacted to have caused such hazardous environment — even the secluded zone in Herta's Space Station stored its high risk experiments properly until Ruan Mei borrowed the space under everyones' noses and — the lights above flickers on and off on his path just ahead. And the floor beneath rumbles in response.

He immediately moves backwards as he witnesses the most extreme display of phototropism he's seen to date. Vines, roots, and branches leap towards the flickering fluorescent light source like starving animals. Dodging the thick of it, he hears the creaking ropes straining against the groaning hull. Unfortunately, it seems that he leaped in the wrong direction as now a collection of flora tangling itself around the light fixture sputtering under the creeping foliage, blocking the way forward with prickly stems and thorns.

Unbelievable, he swears under his breath. The light is partially obscured, so its movement slows to a crawl. Thankfully, the blockage isn't as dense as it could be. Veritas hums. Perhaps with enough shear force he can cut his way through. All he needs is some distance... He walks backwards, running the calculations through his head almost absentmindedly until he reaches the optimal distance he needs.

Lights On, Show Starts

[undisturbedfreedom]

Waking up in an empty, dark hallway that smelled like the worst parts of the Sumeru City sewers had been disorienting for a moment. There were no doors in the metal walls, and it seemed like either end of the space he was in was blocked off by a tangle of vines and branches that didn't give when he pressed on it. He did get the sense that there was more space behind them, and the muffled sound of movement - someone on the other side?

Well, hopefully they're not moving toward the wall at a rapid pace because the next step in Alhaitham's process is summoning his sword - the one created from Dendro energy, his real one seems to be absent - and stabbing into the mass of greenery to slice upward, trying to cut a hole.

Argenti |~ Honkai Star Rail~| Tilt-a-World/Lights On, Show start

[beautyyearningknight]

The sound of metal against metal meets Argenti's ears as his boots met the floor, treading cautiously down the strange halls he has found himself estranged in. Despite the decay of his environment he observes it with open fascination. He's been on many worlds and seen many unique sights, but the sensation never becomes old. The strange vines surrounding him he treats with a sense of caution, but also awe and wonder, admiring how much they have claimed of the metal interior around him.

They flourished quite well for having such a contradictory environment for their needs.

The only thing he knew for certain was that he had not been here long. Or at least his recollection of being here was not lengthy. Of primary concern was that he hadn't the slightest clue how he'd arrived here.

As he walked the floor shifted, as it had been for his current duration of being aboard whatever vessel this was- but he stalled in his pace when he realized the floor didn't sway back as it normally did. Instead it kept tilting further.

Before he could completely gather his bearings it'd become so steep he was sliding and stumbling backward, metal screeching against metal, and he was entirely unbalanced and falling backward.

Gasping he reached for the vines, but his hands didn't grasp anything and he kept falling backward, completely tripping into a free fall when his heels collided with unseen vines at his feet.

With a yelp he lost all sense of direction, blindly throwing his arms out trying to grasp anything that would stop his fall.

Somehow he managed to desperately grab hold of a thick vine and retain his grip. For a second he merely hung by one hand, catching his breath and bearings, glad he hadn't collided with anything more substantial than vegetation on his way down.

He pulled himself up so he could rest his elbows on the surprisingly robust vegetation. Visibility was poor...

Pulling on the powers granted to him by Idrila, he braced himself for the brief amount of light he would be able to summon, hoping it would give him at least a clue.

He felt the energy surge from inwards, outwards and disperse into his surroundings, opening his narrowed eyes to hungrily look for details in the now more illuminated hallway-

He saw movement rapidly heading in his direction.

Before he could attempt to dodge, block, or defend himself in anyway, something collided with his chest-plate, completely dislodging him from the vines he'd been hanging from, and sending him once again into free fall.

He shouted in surprise and panic more than any kind of pain, now on high alert for whatever his attacker had been-

He gasped and choked as he collided violently against a surface and all of his breath escaped him in a strangled shout. A large CLANG that sounded foreign in the relative silence of the ship, the sound of metal colliding against metal.

He grit his teeth containing a groan. That. Might have been the wall he just ran into. He was very grateful to his armor for all the trials it had gotten him through so far in his journeys, but this was a key moment when he might've been better off without it.

He didn't move for a second, potential attacker forgotten as he caught his breath. A sense of relief washed over him as he felt the vessel tilt back to what he was at least assuming was its normal trajectory. He let the general tilt carry him back to his feet. Resting his hand against the wall he continued to pant. That had truly knocked the wind out of him.

Re: Argenti |~ Honkai Star Rail~| Tilt-a-World/Lights On, Show start

[doomed_gambler]

Aventurine treads lightly through the halls of the ship, tiredly taking in everything he can, anything interesting, any threat. Thanks to Shang, he'd had a nice meal earlier (he didn't quite realize how hungry he'd been until he started eating food) but he just couldn't manage to sleep at the moment. Energy buzzed as if under his skin, making his thoughts and heart race every time he laid down, turning to nightmares- (a grand stage, a fissure in the sky, a child shivering alone in the void, a woman crying blood overlaying his sister's figure who lunges forward to embed a sword in his chest through his heart--).

So here he is, exploring. Risky enough to engage his brain, but quiet enough to not be a true danger.

Until the ship started tilting.

"What the...oh. Going up I guess..." he mutters, moving his leg to the side to avoid a decaying desk zooming by. Never a dull moment on this ship, truly.

The ship...keeps tilting. Oh. Great, okay. He's weary of the vines, but he latches onto one to not be sent flying down the corridor.

It's when he looks up to check for falling furniture that he sees-light? Really BRIGHT light-

"Stars above and sands below what is that--"

The plants in his grip rumble and shift ominously, little branches sprouting as if reaching for the light. He winces. Too bright...as soon as he has to cover his eyes, the light disappears. He looks up in confusion, only to see--

Aventurine yelps an Avgin swear as a very big something goes whizzing past him, having to duck against the plants to avoid getting his head taken off. That something lands with an incredibly loud CLANG, making him cringe fully.

"OW???? So much for being quiet..." he hisses. If he were to cover his ears, he'd have to let go, so he just grits his teeth. The Ship starts to ease back into a more neutral angle, and he peers down the corridor, catching a glint of metal amongst the debris and vines. One of the droids?? No, he's pretty sure he saw hair...bright red, a shade he'd not seen yet here. Someone new?

Tired as he is, he puts on a sympathetic smile. He can hear labored breathing.

"Wooow, quite the fall you took," he calls playfully, the floor leveling and righting his balance. "Are you alright back there?"

Hatsune Miku (Nightcord at 25:00 Variant) | Project SEKAI

[composingthefuture]

i. a real girl (arrival)

Miku startles, staring down at the hands that have no blood on them--hands that of course don't have blood on them, should never have blood on them, because no one should bleed inside a SEKAI. It's a blanket impossibility; a SEKAI is a safe place, where the only wounds that can bleed are the kind that heal over to emotional scars that will hopefully, eventually, fade.

And wherever this is, it has to be a SEKAI--because Miku is a real, physical presence within it, and there's only one kind of space where that's possible (the memory of seeing her first snowfall, even as a hologram who could neither feel the cold of the snowflake nor the warmth of Mafuyu's hands, is both precious and haunting. She knows all too well the limitations of her existence outside of the SEKAI that had birthed her).

So. Where is she?

She doesn't recognise her surroundings; this isn't her Empty SEKAI. Nor is it a SEKAI she's familiar with--not the School, not the Street, not the Stage, and not Wonderland. It's not even that unique aberration of a SEKAI that had popped into existence without a Song that called out to them--the Miku of that SEKAI hadn't even been called Miku, but Margarita. Miku wonders if this place is something similar to that, somehow...because it doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel safe, in the way a SEKAI is supposed to.

(She thinks about Mafuyu, and waking up to existing--waking up to a realm devoid of anything but a girl certain that she wanted to die. Maybe...whoever this SEKAI was made for...maybe they're like Mafuyu. Too hurt and too trapped to see a way out, with what is meant to heal them reflecting that?)

It's not completely dark, she notes--there's just enough dim light to see by. She's indoors, though that isn't immediately clear at first, given how overgrown her surroundings are. The rotting leaves beneath her bare foot feel like an omen; she briefly wishes she had more than one sock.

Humming to herself, she sets out to see if she can't find the Heart of this SEKAI.

ii. cat's cradle (lights on, show start)

"Ah," Miku says, when the lights overhead flicker back to life, blinding and brilliant after the constant dimness--when the plants around her surge back to life with it, winding around her like she isn't there at all. A vine around her middle lifts her feet off the ground--sharp tugging at her skull lets her know her hair is equally tangled with the growth.

And then, the light dies down again, and the plants grow still.

And she...is still stuck.

The slight stinging she feels everytime she moves is concerning; even though it's just her hair being pulled, it shouldn't hurt, but it does--it's baffling. Hatsune Miku has never experienced pain a day in her life, but if this SEKAI allows for such a thing to happen, she is deeply concerned about the wellbeing of the person it sprouted for. She isn't the Miku that's meant to help them--she knows this, even if she doesn't know how she got here or where there Miku is, because she's for Mafuyu--but that doesn't mean she doesn't want to, at least while she's here, because she's still Miku.

...she can't do anything until she's free of these plants, though.

Certain that eventually someone will come along--either one of this SEKAI'S VIRTUAL SINGERS or one of the humans that can enter it--she unravels the cord she has wrapped around one wrist and starts playing cat's cradle, singing to herself all the while.

iii. call and response (something whistling)

The first sign of life Miku stumbles across in this baffling, unfamiliar SEKAI is, perhaps, the first appropriate thing she's found in it: a sound.

Ringing out, somewhere in the distance--a sound.

It's not that heart-tune that she used to sing, that incomplete, Untitled song that forms a SEKAI in the first place. From how natural it sounds, she's fairly certain it's not a VIRTUAL SINGER whistling in the first place.

But that just means it's a person. And that's just as good.

Except...no matter where she turns, or how far she chases, she never catches a glimpse of that person. Only the sound of that whistle, growing ever louder...but somehow never closer. Stumbling to a pause, Miku calls out a high, clear note.

The whistling pauses for a moment, before picking up once more, shriller--as if excited to get a response. She follows the sound, and when it pauses once more, she signals it back. Playing this game of vocal hot-and-cold, Miku eventually finds herself...

...staring down into a void.

Uncertainty creeps into her mind. Surely the whistler isn't down there? Somehow, even though this is a SEKAI, where danger shouldn't exist...that doesn't feel safe.

"I should...check," she says aloud, not sure of what she's saying, hugging her clasped hands to her chest. Getting down there...wouldn't be easy. But it's not like a fall would hurt her, if she slipped.

A tugging on her hair--Miku looks over her shoulder, but sees no-one behind her. "The breeze...I think," she says, even though that had sure felt a lot like fingers running through her pigtails. A sound like laughter fills her ears. The breeze, she tells herself again, and swings one leg over the railing.

iv. wildcard

hmu on discord (lyrecho) or plurk (dominionflower) to plot out something specific!

cat's cradle

[mamamias]

Mario's doing his best to make sure there's no one else stuck by the plants, which thankfully Ship seems plenty aware of whether or not more people are trapped - it's just a little nuts, Mario thinks, that more people keep showing up!!! Just to instantly get got by the plants!!!

He's shaking with adrenaline, mind narrowed down to a single point, idly flipping the small axe in his hand as he makes his way through Ship's lower levels. He cuts and burns away plants as he needs to make paths, but otherwise he's just calling, calling, listening. Is someone there? Can he help them?

And then... singing. Singing? He doesn't know the song, but he knows that voice, how could he not know that voice!.

He follows it to its source, disbelieving, but; he finds her.

"M- Miku?! H- Hatsune Miku????????"

He's robbed of all other words. But - it must be her! Her hair is the same, even if its paler - a different costume, a different look, it doesn't matter. It would be impossible to mistake her voice. That's her.

Kaeya (Genshin Impact)| Arrival/Tilt-A-Whirl

[frostwindknight]

Arrival / Tilt-A-Whirl
(OOC: For clarity, Kaeya's Canon point is game time aka after Archon Quest Prologue, but hallucination references another point in time.)

It’s like being trapped in an impossible dream. Like being stuck in two places at once.

Kaeya can hear the light pattering of rain surrounding him, outpacing his own heartbeat. The small river of blood gently cascading down the right side of his face. He instinctively presses his hand against the wound, tainting the palm of his hand a deep red.

His other hand clasps another impossibility, a large light blue gem surrounded by an elegant gold casing; a vision. Its chill still ebbs, flexing its strength like he is still in combat. It brings a sort of grounding into his mind, as if trying to prove it is really real. To many, it would be a positive sign even from the most dire circumstances, for Kaeya.... that answer was much more complicated.

All he can do is force himself to move, forcing one foot in front of the other as quickly as he can. The expanse of the hills of Mondstadt feel like an endless void of dull, dark green. The beauty of the landscape being muddled by the oncoming rain. Even in with all the rolling hills, it feels like there’s there is only one path to take left.

Perhaps he hit his head as well because the world is shifting and rocking for some reason.

Air catches in his throat, possibly from the exertion of everything that had happened. The Cavalry Captain slows to a stop, leaning against a tree to stop the feeling of the world shifting. He pulled his hand away from his face seeing the coat of red. He freezes seeing the fingerless gloves on his hand. Had he been wearing those that night? When did-?

Confusion lapses into his mind, as if his brain was trying to keep pace with whatever was happening.

His mind tries to claw for something to make purchase in his memories, something to make it make sense. His heart lurches at the possibilities, particularly concerning a decision that had been rattling in his mind for many years.

The world seems to continue to tilt and send him stumbling as he pushes off the tree and further forward with no real sense of where he is even going.

What day was it? Everything felt like nightmare spinning around and round like a pinwheel, at the mercy of the wind to finally cease its spinning.

Until the world lurches harshly to the side.

He doesn’t even have time to cry out before he finds himself crashing into a wall. He grips onto what he can find, a large vine, to steady himself. He notices the lack of blood on his hands that certainly places more questions than answers. The juxtaposition throws his mind in disarray as he glanced around.

His mind is whirling at the look of a strange hallway he has never seen in his life. Plants and roots cling to the sides, almost like the plants are hanging onto the walls just as hard as he is to the root.

He grits his teeth from the dizzying feeling still lurking in his mind from whatever happened a few minutes ago. There was no time to worry about whatever that was. Despite it being quite the concern, the first question he would like answered was where he exactly was.

Vegetation littered the floor, snaking across the hallway to threaten to trip him up. Kaeya is at least able to adjust slightly to the strange terrain, gritting his teeth as he finds himself stumbling much more than he’d like to. He manages to at least stay on his feet and make his way down the hallway.

He takes a moment to find his footing and pushes off the root. He tries to make his way to the end of the hallway. Was he on some Fontainian ship? The distant squealing of metal on metal would be fantastic evidence on his point if not for the fact the ship hadn’t righted itself like it should.

Maybe there was a particularly big wave? When did he get on a boat of all things?

Suddenly, the entire structure shifted up and down like some kind of domain platform. The entire motion threw Kaeya to the ground. He tries to grip onto the roots on the floor to quickly get back on his feet. This thing could turn upside down for all he knows-

Then the world tilts forwards. Where he was heading.

He sucks in breath and prepares for the ride. The root, he learns quickly, aren’t as tightly rooted as he’d like them to be. He slides right alongside the roots, gripping on tightly as he’s thrown forwards. Another jostle wrenches his hand free of the vine, sending him down the hallway with reckless abandon.

He crashes into the other side of the wall with a yelp and a groan.

His back prickles from the rough landing but forces himself to push upright.

He catches a glimpse of the window. All theories shattered in his mind seeing a literal mountainside. It was easy to see it wasn’t Dragonspine. Did Fontaine have a rocky patch of islands?

Just where in Teyvat was he?

A sinking feeling slithers into the pit of his stomach. He feels he may have a theory or two at least partially the answer to that question.

Re: Kaeya (Genshin Impact)| Arrival/Tilt-A-Whirl

[doomed_gambler]

Aventurine hums softly as he walks through the ship's corridors, cautious and tired yes, but pretty content all things considered. He can't manage to sleep without nightmares lately, which is frustrating, but the idea of going to get food picks up his spirits. Shang said it was okay to take. Aventurine is hungry, and for once it's just. Food is just available. So while he still doesn't fully understand how it works, it's a good bet to try out, a good goal to pursue instead of the ever elusive rest. So he makes his way to the cafeteria, stepping carefully where needed.

Except he must have taken a wrong turn, because he's in the darker hallways again. His eyes help him see fine, but he's pretty sure this isn't the right way...

The room tilts, furniture and wreckage rolling down past him. He braces himself.

"Going up again, Ship...?" he mutters. He'll hold on to a ridge on the wall or something; the plants aren't as reliable-

There's a thump, a yelp and a groan in the room up ahead. His eyes widen. Maybe this is why he took a wrong turn...his luck liked to put him in the right place at the right time after all.

"Hello? Is someone up there? Are you alright?" The halls creak and groan. He gives a wry smirk. "I'd go to check on you myself, but as I'm sure you're aware, traversing steep floors like this is....difficult. Give it a moment, it'll even out. It's just the ship climbing a mountain."

Aurelia sharr - Arrival

[aureliasharr]

You wake up. You remember waking up, right? In another place, another time...

There's blood running down your fingers. Outside, the rain isn't pounding, yet, just a gentle patter...

Or is it?

One breath. (arrival) Aurelia's eyes snap up to take in her surroundings, a fluttering echo of panic taking over her thoughts, the red pulse of her heritage pushing at carefully constructed walls of ice in her thoughts. She's not had that fantasy in years, not since she graduated, not since she left for ... she bites her reactions down. Emotions fading rapidly as she stills her thoughts and pushes herself up. Where is she?

This isn't her lab. This isn't Drezen. This isn't the worldwound. None of those places have the air itself stained gold and blue, none of them have this much green. Under her feet a plush carpet of moss and rotting leaves, and all around her a tangled growth of vines and trees. A flick of the wrist, a careful incantation, a spell to tell her where she is and how much time she's lost. A spark of light at her fingertips, than nothing. A failure. A mystery.

Problematic.

There's light here, a source somewhere. Plant growth means that there's a source of water. The tunnel here leads in two directions, the plants are growing in one direction. One of the two is in that direction.

Carefully, she begins to advance. And spares a single thought to hope her companions are okay without her.

Without it, what am I? (lights on, show start)

The lights shine, just as she's begin to grow lax in her investigations, drifting through one hallway nearly identical to all the others. The sudden illumination blinds her light-sensitive eyes and startles a screech out of her, echoing across the rooms around her before even that is swallowed by the growth of vines. Surging around her and binding her in place, clinging here and there such that movement only tightens their grip on her.

The lights fall again, and in the gloom Aurelia's eyes slowly adjust back to normal, still half blind as she tests her restraints. The sharp thorns scraping at the thick cloth of her robes, pricking exposed skin. She knows a dozen spells to release her from this predicament. Spells to rot and decay, to burn and slash, to teleport or command.

Without them, with the way things are, does she dare even try? The only safe thing to do is wait and hope the gods are kind enough to guide another lost soul to her.

But when has that ever happened?

The void is home to her kind (something whistling) The whistling on the wind carries with it a color she should be familiar with. A blend of gold and pink that catches her eyes before her ears. A trail that leads her around a corner. A good adventurer should know better than to follow so obvious a hint, for that way always leads to traps, monsters, danger.

Aurelia is not a good adventurer, sadly. And curiosity might kill her, but a necromancer always comes back.

She chases it around the corner, following it's guiding song in silence. Eyes peeled for any hint of a trap, for the flicker of the lights. Checking every corner twice for an ambush. She finds none, and this odder to her than the idea that there's a mysterious disembodied whistling in the first place. What sort of being builds what is clearly a dungeon with only one trap?

Stepping out of the hallways, she finds a bridge stretching across a void. The trail ends here, but still she intends to simply hurry across. And yet. The void calls to her, just over the edge. Stepping up to the railing, she peers over the edge, red eyes glowing in the dim lights.

She should be able to see through the darkness, she's always been able to, shadows have never hidden their secrets. But her gaze can not pierce the darkness beneath her, which seems to rush towards her. To stretch out to grab her and swallow her whole, drag her into the depths. Hands pressed to her shoulder, a sudden inexplicable feeling since no one is there. She knows this, doesn't she?

Someone is laughing at her.

She whirls, to see just who would dare.

Re: Aurelia sharr - Arrival

[frostwindknight]

The entire place may remind him of some kind of overgrown domain, so other than the rather lively plants, it wasn’t much different to some sights he’s seen. Well... a boat that can travel through a mountain range was rather... novel so to speak. It’s not like he had much choice but to accept these circumstances.

Hearing the whistling though... was the opposite of a comforting feeling. He had met up with a few “passengers”, that was most likely the best phrasing for it. He still kept up his guard as he got his barrings around the place, following it but carefully assessing the area just in case.

It was times like this that reminded him of how uncomplicated Mondstadt was, perhaps simply because he lived there for so long. This place felt like a maze and a half.

As he slipping through the hallways up to the higher decks, he spied another guest peering over the railing. He glanced down into the dark, not exactly sure what she was looking at. He takes a moment to at least ensure there’s nothing down there before slowly approaching.

Before he has time to speak, she beats him to it by whirling around. He grins and says, “Anything interesting down there? Perhaps the owner of that odd whistling?”

Sunday | Honkai: Star Rail (No direct spoilers for 2.2)

[harmoniousconsecration]

Arrival
Rain outside. (The Dreamscape didn't rain. It was nearly perfect.) Blood on his fingers. The sensation makes his skin crawl-- Was it his own? How was he alive? Shouldn't he have...

Sunday's brain wracks through his most recent memories for meaning, for explanation and finds none. He takes off his gloves to inspect them, it hadn't yet soaked through the fabric, maybe there was still time--- Only to find his fingers free of any blood, and the feeling dissipating.

Had he been removed from his Dreampool? Had something happened? Where was he? Why was he here? The amount of questions lingering in his mind were beginning to make his head pound. Sunday finally takes a moment to actually look at his surroundings, and it only brings him further confusion.

Long, sprawling halls, taken over by plantlife. Dark, almost oppressively. A prison of sorts? One of his own making? The halovian grits his teeth, closing his eyes, as if to will it away, as if this were still a dream.

When he opens them, he is met with the same predicament: A nightmare with him and only him in mind. Dark and foreboding, with dirt and soil and plantlife and insects abound. The juxtaposition of his near-perfect Dreamscape, its refined and pristine urban sprawl, compared to this... living, imperfect jungle... It's enough to make Sunday's skin crawl.

He was going to end up absolutely filthy. Was this another lie? Another trick? A game played on his own behalf? Perhaps that damned Fool was behind it, or that drunken beast of a man.

He might be without his servants here, but he was not going to lie here and take it.


Tilt-A-World
Having arrived at a location he could not immediately recognize (Moving, enormous, yet claustrophobic in the way that the Dreamscape was not.) brings the halovian some pause. Hushed whispers lingered at the edges of his memory, but only barely. Traitor. Incident. Robin---

His heart flutters into his throat, as the world around him starts to tilt. He doesn't have time for this. If this was another trick, another lie woven by the traitor in his midst, he was going to find out. And they would be paying for their transgressions against him and his sister in spades. He was not a man who took pride in invoking wrath, he was not a man without piety, without understanding, without virtue, but he hoped THEY would not judge him for this silent, selfish wish.

What he finds, curiously, is that the world around him does not stop tilting, and he begins to lose his footing. Golden eyes widen, as Sunday reaches fruitlessly for a branch, a vine, anything, before slipping, and then tumbling backwards, his stomach lurching with the sudden loss of footing, agency. He slips every further, crashing heavily into a wall not too far off.

He hisses in pain, gnashing his teeth together as he struggles to collect himself, to understand the world around him. Was this some sort of ship? What thoughtless moron was piloting this thing?

With a groan, the winged fellow tries to pulls himself back up onto his feet, wings pulled tightly to his frame, in a bid to protect them from any further bruising. His clothes were a mess, and roots and plant matter seeped into the fabric. Disgust and revulsion fire through his mind, his fears of being anything less than pristine and pure only barely held at bay, but until he could get some answers, that pulsing, hammering need to change his clothes, to wash them and scrub them until his hands were raw was just going to linger there, at the forefront of his mind, permeating all reason.

Sunday tried not to think of it too much, but his hands still trembled. He eventually finds his way to his feet, wringing his hands together. Decidedly keeping his gloves on.

His eyes catch movement, not far from him, and then the sound of another poor soul getting trapped in the same situation by gravity itself. It sounded like it hurt, too. He spares a moment of sympathy for them, hedged by his frustration with the current state of affairs.

"Is someone else there? Are you alright?"

Something Whistling
Whoever was making that noise was driving him mad. Between the deep, unsteady rocking of the world around him, the plants that grew exponentially when exposed to even the vaguest light, and the filth that littered this place quite literally getting all over him, the whistling was quite possibly the worst.

Always just around the corner, almost so close yet not close enough, leading him in circles through the various hallways. It even stopped for a few moments, when he called out, when he attempted to pacify it, when he begged for clarity, threatened it, nothing he could say or do would truly reach it.

Eventually, he is lead to an empty suite, with a balcony that overlooked some sort of great gap within the structure. Urged by a feeling that he should gaze down into that abyss, his breath catches in his throat as he feels two hands upon his shoulders, firm. Familiar. He freezes, eyes widening, the wings behind his ears becoming rigid. Few dared ever touch him, he knows the name behind these hands, he's sure.

He turns to look, expecting to see a certain face behind him. (Kindly, with scarred wings. A smile that chastised him, a lost lamb that needed only to be led.)

Sunday finds nothing there. He's not sure what unsettles him more. He crosses his arms over his chest as he stands on the balcony, looking quietly out over the strange buildings he'd found himself in.

Arrival

[alabaster_erudite]

No matter how long he has attempted to familiarize himself with the area, it seems that he could never get used to oppressive chill and damp atmosphere of the boat. Not that he'd want to normally. But this situation was far from normal. And the sooner he get a sense for the space, the better. Maybe he can help drag some poor lout to safety too along the way. Aeons know he has already had a few cases of that already.

So imagine his surprise when he finds something or rather someone pristine with a pressed off-white suit midst the moss green flora overtaking the hallway in front of him. He's surprised he recognized the figure so quickly. But the telltale halo and wings are distinctive enough that he doesn't have to think for long before he's engaging with the individual ahead.

My, what a surprise. I never imagine a man as esteemed as yourself would be here. Not a pleasant area to visit in comparison to your beloved Penacony now, is it? Veritas calls out to the frustrated looking halovian ahead in a measured but condescending tone, making himself known as he approaches. To be fair, he himself finds this place an utterly atrocious location to find oneself as well especially in a dazed and confused state as he's sure the man in front of him must be in, but that's not something he's going to share aloud.

Shall I offer my assistance once more, Mr. Sunday?

Malos | Xenoblade Chronicles 2

[unihilism]

feel free to interrupt him in the middle of any of these tags or actions!!

content warning: mild suicidal ideation, chronic pain episode

--

(0) ARRIVAL

( You wake up. You remember waking up, right? In another place, another time... ) Sure, but that doesn't mean it should be happening again. By all accounts you should be--

( There's blood running down your fingers. ) Blood? Blades don't bleed.

( Outside, the rain isn't pounding, yet, just a gentle patter... ) It was raining that day, too. Is this Jin's blood, then? No, no, don't be ridiculous. You didn't even watch Jin die, you bastard. You were too busy doing - It doesn't matter.

You should be dead. But you aren't.

--

(1) WAKEY WAKEY, ASSHOLE

Malos wakes up. He didn't think he would be waking up again.

He pushes himself to his feet. He aches all over. He - he doesn't even bother touching his core, he doesn't want to know. He hurts like it's cracked. But that doesn't mean anything. He's still glowing, isn't he? Purple casting off of flooring, illuminating the dark--

Dammit. Damn it all.

"Is this one of your jokes, Father? That the afterlife is this - this trash bucket?"

No connection to any of his gargoyles. Functionally blind, in a way that even an un-cracked core crystal wouldn't fix. He knows he's on something metal, and he knows he's surrounded by plants, and it's fucking damp.

"I thought hell was supposed to be all fire and torment!!" he shouts up at the ceiling. "I don't see any hellfire, and if you wanted to torment me - Hah. The hell am I saying, anyway? As if Father is listening. As if I don't already know Father is dead, too."

He laughs to himself. Bitter. Goes out on a limb.

"Maybe I'm not dead...? Hey, Mythra!! What kind of trick is this?! Brat! Nia? ...Jin?"

--

(2) TILT-A-OW-FUCK-YOU

Malos collapses into the first couch he finds when he finds it. Who cares about all the brats on the boat, who cares about anything. He's in pain, alright? Fuck off.

He takes up the whole couch, being near 7 feet tall and all, but he curls up on himself a little - pathetic looking, probably, but who cares! Why shouldn't he look pathetic! He clutches a fist to his core - the crack pressed against his knuckles. Damn brat. Damn - boat for bringing him back to -

Everything shifts, suddenly, sending the couch and Malos sliding down down down into the back wall. That itself is fine - being jarred by the impact is whatever, really. He's a blade. But the god damn log that rolls after and rolls on top of him? Are you fucking serious??

Not that he bothers getting up, or trying to move it. Whatever. Who cares.

"Yeah, fuck you too, boat."

--

(3) SOMETHING WHISTLING

Malos stumbles back from looking over the edge, startled, shaking vertigo out of his head. He hasn't felt vertigo this bad in his life, except maybe for when he fell out of Aion--

"The hell is wrong with this ship?! The hell is wrong with any of you??!" he shouts to whoever was whistling, to whoever might be listening. "You think I'd fucking fall for that? I'm the Aegis!"

He grabs the edge of the railing again, too short to do much to stop him from tipping over, his grip knuckles-white. What's it matter? He's a blade. He'd probably survive a fall like that, anyway.

(But the fall out of Aion is what cracked his fucking core - or, no. Maybe it just never...)

He looks like he's considering it, for a genuine moment.

And then he throws himself back from the edge with a frustrated yell, a burst of purple energy - like fire, almost - thrown off the edge. It catches nothing, lights nothing aflame. It doesn't even make him feel better.

Tilt (when they say to rest under a tree, I don't think this is what the saying meant)

[doomed_gambler]

Aventurine wanders into the area, curious and bored. He'd heard a voice around here, right? The boat tilting tended to shake alot of new people out into the open, and newbies were always interesting. He sweeps his feet around rolling debris, stepping about with grace. I'm getting the hang of this, he thinks with a spark of pride.

"Yeah, fuck you too, boat."

He blinks, looking around. He can't see anyone standing nearby, so he looks down...oh. Huh. Speaking of new people...

"That's a rather rude thing to say to our host, isn't it?" Aventurine laughs, stepping a little closer to the man stuck under a tree log. Not too close...he knows first hand how dangerous one could get when cornered. Even if he looked...strangely ubbothered? By an entire tree trunk crushing his back? Might as well match the energy.

"I've been told the ship has its own goals, and I doubt squashing one of its passengers like a bug is one of them." He raises an eyebrow."Would you like some help?"

X | Megaman X

[unyieldinghope]

i. Arrival - Like the Rain

When isn't blood on his hands? That had been the entire problem, clawing at the threads, empathy and related elements throwing warnings pulling errors in cognitive processes, jarring to a halt and leaving him panicked, grasping for any shred of stability. But even now, even when he's made his peace with his own internal conflicts...

There will always be blood.

Whose is it this time? Not even the rain could wash it away, soothing as it sounds. Not where it stains beneath the gloves and the armour, not where it seeps into sensory networks or the ceratanium plates beneath. He wouldn't be surprised if, on the day he's finally retired, someone finds it clinging to the cables around his core and between his joints.

Maybe... Ferham's.

But X wakes to the pristine white of his gloves, active processes kicking him out of whatever hibernated state he'd been in previously as retinal lenses adjust focus to let him see the room around him. Full waking leaves him confused, though: he doesn't recognize this place. The last thing he remembers is... No, the last thing he remembers is preparing for atmospheric re-entry, the hatch sealing behind him. So then this... doesn't make any sense. Scans don't reveal anything familiar, even as X walks up to one of the walls, sets a hand on it. He's pretty sure this isn't even the right composition, but as he slips out of the room—a side room, looks like a few floors deep if he's estimating correctly—he's given extensive reason to pause.

"Is that...?" Living plant-life? So sorry to anyone trying to pass in this area, there is a very immobile android in the way.

ii. Lights On, Show Start

It's not the first time X is glad to be outfitted with combat capability in non-combat situations, but this is ridiculous. The sudden growth makes him think more of the integrated mechanobio plant-life he's used to than standard, offensive modes and he's honestly expecting small-scale shots or bullet sprays, but there's still no sign of photovoltaic panels or threads of metal, so this is just... an organic reaction to light. To interior, electric lighting, at that. He's not a botanist or anything, but he's reasonably sure that's not normal. Still, they're plants, so he's not sure he wants to be firing off buster shots in an enclosed space like this one.

Which means a lot of reliance on his Auto Balance to accommodate the way he has to dash and move between lunging branches when the lights flick on, red "scarf" flaring to life and trailing behind him with the rapid movement even if there are no scanners to worry about tracking him.

When the lights dim flicker off, X just... lets himself drop. It isn't tiring, his energy reserves are fine, but it's just strange. Especially because he's... fairly sure based on trajectory that he should be in the middle of the ocean with his partners and not wherever this is. For any who approach or come in passive scan range, give him a minute to recover.

iii. Tilt-A-World

The tilting, X decides, is not the biggest nuisance. It could be worse. Auto Balancer is really showing its value here, though, and he makes a mental note to thank his creator's AI the next time he stumbles on a capsule.

The problem is once he finally makes it above deck, X is so incredibly far from prepared for the couch. He might have highly advanced engineering, he might be an experienced Hunter, he might be any number of things, but he is still on the shorter side and light enough weight that a couch careening towards him knocks him flat when he simply isn't expecting it. And who would!

At least being bowled over by a log wouldn't be so... injurious to his pride. Now that sounds like a Zero thing to say. X still pushes himself smoothly back onto his feet as one such log does roll and skid a ways down a newly-established incline. And it... it occurs to him to wonder:

"Where did these all... come from?"

He's still not over that this is all living plant-matter. Or, well. In the case of the tree chunks: formerly living.

iv. Something Whistling

Something is strange about the whistling he keeps hearing up here, but he can't identify what; the lack of active response when he calls after it sits strangely, too. Passive acknowledgement before resuming. He's being led. Where, he isn't sure, but for the sake of answers X chooses to follow.

As he does, he tries to analyze the waveform the whistling produces and run the sound in general against known frequencies for different voices (he presumes human, in this case, as it has all the hallmarks—trying to account for distortion), but it doesn't tell him much. Whatever's... he hesitates to think "wrong", but the word's there all the same—whatever's wrong with it isn't something he can pull on standard data assessment for, and he isn't specialized enough to try to go deeper.

When his tracking leads him in what feels like a giant circle (and mapping agrees), X frowns. A balcony? Alarm is a familiar feeling but what runs through him now is loud, and X braces against the railing to scan for... scan for...?

(there's a weight on the backs of his shoulders, a force, and he tips forward, grip lost on the banister as it bends and squeals and X can feel the ground come rushing up towards him, velocity screaming by, and his systems will not comply, will not let him re-calibrate, correct his angle to land as safely as possible in the circumstances—how can this be so high up? and there's the—)

Sensors slam him with error reports, cognition arguing with tactile sensory arguing with spatial awareness and his stabilizers and a host of other branching senses, as X starts out of that unreal feeling. Internal temps read too high, and it's difficult to pinpoint what just happened. Hand pressing against his face, X takes a step back from the balcony, breathing heavily to try and disperse that heat.

The banister's fine.

He's still on his feet. Hasn't moved an inch until now.

"What on earth..."

v. Wildcard!

Come poke a weird android.

Something Whistling

[alabaster_erudite]

Veritas is surprisingly decisive when he moves towards the strange whistling he detected on his way to his own room. While at this point he is well aware of the dangers of approaching a sound he can't 100% confirm is real, he prefers to have his experiences observed first hand rather than told to him. He's a skeptic by nature, and second hand sources of information must always be analyzed for potential biases and outside influences. So he follows the sound to its source towards a balcony where he finds a mechanical, no, bionic? Android?

His first thought was he was looking at an Intellitron. But the bulk and color of the frame looked different from the usual gold coloration characteristic to them. Though he can chalk it up to design choices or... perhaps someone from another world entirely unfamiliar to the universe he knew of had arrived once more to the vessel.

"Are you quite alright?" He calls out to the figure, approaching the balcony. He ignores the piercing laughter pressing up against his ear, frowning at the mockery in the sound as he presses a finger to his temple. "I don't suggest leaning over the banister too far. Nothing but tangled mess of roots and overgrowth with festering mold and mildew down there."

Sparkle | Honkai Star Rail

[thelifeofafaker]

Tilt-a-world

Sparkle has decided to treat the tilting ship like it’s a carnival ride. As it starts up a mountain, she lines herself up in the center of a corridor, and as it tilts, she goes sliding increasingly rapidly down, knocking bits of plant into the air and giggling.

This may go poorly if anyone else is in the corridor.

Something Whistling

Hide and seek! She’s happy enough to play, not to mention that it might lead her to someone—what’s the point in acting without an audience, after all?

When she gets to the balcony, she laughs the whole way down to her simulated death. Passersby may find her with her eyes glowing and a grin a little bit too feral to trust.

The whistler is fun. She likes their sense of humor. “Come play again sometime, my whistling friend!” She bounces on her toes, giggling. She hasn’t found a person yet, but something found her!

Wildcard

[Go nuts! Rosebriars on discord if you wanna plot something. Do you want her to be mean to your blorbo.]

Local Sankta Operator cannot comprehend someone doing this fun-

[sanktawithashotgun]

Executor is unused to a structure having so much movement. Even landships were so large you hardly felt the movements personally. The floors start to incline at higher and higher angles-

He hears laughter. Unexpected in a place such as this, but then he'd been hard pressed to find other living souls in the area. He turns and-

There's a girl, sliding rapidly down the inclined floor, laughing. It seems he'd found the origin. However...at her velocity, she has a high risk of serious, if not fatal injury.

For some reason, he briefly thinks of Vermeil.

He lurches forward before he can finish analyzing the situation. With a grunt, he uses his body to absorb the impact of the girl's landing against the adjoining wall. She is light and small, but her feet strike against his ribcage, likely leaving deep bruises in the near future. That consequence is irrelevant if it means she is safe.

"You. Are you hurt?" he asks, likely still holding onto her, eyes scanning her for damage.

Fou-Lu || Breath of Fire IV

[nightmareofdivinity]

Arrival - Under Pressure

Blood. Blood and rubble, dust choking the air. Screams choking the air as well as the mortals scurried and scattered before him and A-tur. The destruction of the empire that he had so lovingly built by his hand at their command... but there was no room left in his heart for sadness. Only anger and vengeance and -

... Blood on his hands. Of course there's blood on his hands. It's hers, after all. If he hadn't -

He blinks and sits up, looking around. He quickly checks himself over and heads out of the room. The plants in his way don't seem to bother him - in fact he seems to make a beam of pure energy and start hacking at the plants in his way. It doesn't seem to make him expend much effort, but he might be headed the wrong way.

Then again, sneaking up behind him might also be a bad idea...


Tilt-A-World - Watch Your Step!

Fou-Lu is not particularly experienced with sea (or whatever this is) travel, but he's got excellent balance. The issue is that he's in the lounge. There's an armchair headed straight for him, and he doesn't so much as blink before -

Smash! The armchair is now a sad pile of wood on the floor. It's not unfixable, but he's got some pretty jumpy instincts...


Wildcard - Endings and Beginnings

[Other things go here!]

Under Pressure

[airplaneskyward]

Shang Beida is totally not patrolling the halls looking for people to help, he's just, exploring, in a very normal and non-altruistic way. And then someone slashes their way through a completely blocked off hallway, straight at him, with a beam of some kind of energy, and he squeaks and falls over backwards trying to dodge away in a very dignified manner.

"...Ah?" He does not recognize this guy. New guy. Angry new guy? "Ah, um, greetings, honorable master?" Is this his fault for not sticking with Casper? Help.

Executor| Arknights (Something Whistling)

[sanktawithashotgun]

Executor had been following the whistling for approximately thirty-three minutes now. The sound remains distant and ethereal, and if he listens closely, he can just make out the rasp of a bow over cello strings...

Arturia is here. This must be a herald of her presence. He needs to apprehend her before she can use her arts on any civilians in this strange place.

He pursues the noise quietly, sidestepping plants and wreckage alike. Calling for it to halt and explain itself only produced a brief pause before whistling continued, so he proceeds silently.

Seven minutes later and he finds himself at an abrupt end in walk space. The whistling and whispers of music have stopped. He steps out onto a balcony, overlooking a large open space, and more balconies along the walls. He sees no sign of the fugitive...

Executor does not act upon feeling. There is no logic to this, and yet...something prompts him to look down into the darkness below.

The darkness seems to reach for him, encompasing his sight, his senses-

Someone laughs behind him. Petite hands push against his back, followed by a sharp cello sting-

He falls. The Ex Fodere had carried out many last wills in his service, but at this very moment, his mind seems to scramble for something to cling to to try and understand what is happening, what the meaning is to this- death, this failure--what his last will would be, to who he'd send it to, how-he thinks of Vermeil, of Ezell, the Doctor, of--

Consciousness slams back into his body, and he stands over the balcony railing, gasping for breath. His hands clench tightly over metal, his heart thundering in his chest. A strange malfunction; he still feels like he is falling, but not. His expression remains much the same, except his eyes a little wider as his mind races to process many questions at once- was that a form of arts? How did it affect his vitals in such a way?? Are they still in effect?? What--why--

What just happened???

A burst of laughter erupts behind him. Executor whirls around, and immediately fires a warning shot with his patron firearm.

"State your business."

His hands have never shaken like this before. He's unsure why they are now. He is sure that they will be a hindrance to his aim, but if he acts quickly he should be able to compensate.

oh good random gunfire that's what the boat needed :D

[chainedcerberus]

Wriothesley was following his own whistler, his own twisting path through the ship until he approached the same balcony. Someone was there - the person who'd been whistling? And then the man jerks and gasps and twists around and fires a gun at him. He doesn't have to dodge, it buries itself in the metal wall, but that was too close.

Wriothesley's response - firing up his gauntlets, causing them to crackle with sudden frost from the Cryo energy coursing through them - is automatic. As is the stance he takes, ready to push off and lunge forward in a second. "Lower your weapon. I won't ask twice." His is the voice of command, accustomed to being obeyed and brooking no quarrel. It's not louder than it needs to be, but it is clear and sharp and freezing cold.

Noah | Xenoblade Chronicles 3

[oftseen]

ARRIVAL

Noah wakes up, a weary buzz between him and true awareness. The blood on his hands is the first thing he feels, and combined with the headache, it leads to only one conclusion. The escape... The escape from the Castle had gone wrong, then, surely, and his friends, Eunie, Lanz, Mio-

He can't think. He almost doesn't want to.

The rain keeps pouring, somewhere overhead. It wears away at the fog and headache, until Noah remembers, very slowly-

Keves Castle is in the Syra Floating Reefs. Rain is very rare there, despite being so close to Maktha.

Then, where is he?

Noah sits up out of the mouldering leaves and water, glancing around. Is he... back in Maktha? (The blood, if it ever existed, is gone from his hand.) The area around him is a familiar mix of broken down, rusty metal and plantlife everywhere It's a little cool for Maktha, though, it was never this temperature when they were hiking and climbing through the region.

Opening up his Iris, the map shows... a no signal message. Black fog?

Standing up, Noah narrows his eyes as he peers through a gaping crack in the wall; there's sunshine.

Cloudless, just like when he was in Syra, but clearer, brighter. No fog in sight.

Noah shakes his head, and tries again to think back to the moments before he ended up here. But they're blurred by the headache that Consul caused.

Just where is he? What happened?

...where's Mio?

TILT-A-WORLD

It's not even five minutes before Noah stumbles.

It didn't take long for Noah to realize he was on a Ferronis of some sort, if massive. The swaying motion of a Ferronis in motion is familiar and easy to recognize if you've experienced it before.

So, Noah's no First Termer to this sort of thing.

When the world rotates 50 degrees and stays there though, Noah falls to his knees and scrabbles for purchase on the mud. Its. It doesn't work well, probably since mud isn't exactly known for its traction.

Noah slides fast, before finally gripping onto a tree on the wall.

He sighs, bitter and long. "Just who the spark is driving this thing?!"

And then some branches finish rattling their way down the hallway and smack his arm. Lovely.

SOMETHING WHISTLING

Noah has just passed a staircase leading further down when he hears it: music.

His steps slow, and Noah closes his eyes, focusing. Its quiet, the music, maybe a couple halls away? No, closer. Around the next corner? And its... its not quite a flute, but a whistling.

(He's a little disappointed, but sets it aside.)

Instead, eyes still shut, Noah pulls out his flute (Mio's flute), and begins to play the Kevesi off-seeing tune.

The whistling... pauses, listens and then starts whistling it back, right in tune, before going back to the song it was whistling before after another pause.

His heart squeezes at the sounds. Its not Mio then for sure. It was the best signal he had, and rather than whistle it back, she would have played her own song. Its... too bad.

But maybe a Keves soldier? Or someone else he knows?

He's alone here, wherever this is.

Noah follows the song, wherever its heading.


(Feel free to have the whistling prompt start at the big gap's edge, or on the way!)

Whistling intervention

[doomed_gambler]

There it is. The whistling again. Aventurine shudders, pushing back unwelcome memories. This is a big reason to avoid this area.

Except—

An instrument…responds, somewhere. And that’s new. He blinks, listening. There’s…a weight to the song. Something…forlorn. Searching. It’s hard to put his finger on it. And the whistles echo it…

“Is this a new trick?” He mutters. Well…he knows what to look out for. Might as well check it out.

So he goes to where the flute was, and goes from there. Again he follows the sounds through many halls and rooms, inevitably coming to one of the balconies overlooking the gap in the ship.

Except unlike last time, there’s someone here, walking towards the overlook. He’s not seen this one before; strange clothes and dark hair in a ponytail. He should…probably save this poor sap the trouble he’s about to go through. The little scare he himself experienced early on.

“I wouldn’t look down there, if I were you,” he calls out, affecting an easy smile and a tone that’s light yet loud enough to be heard. Hopefully not startling.”The ghost leading you is going to play a nasty trick on you if you follow through. Trust me, it’s not worth it.”

Boothill | Honk It's Star Rail

[screwubbaboo]

Arrival

The feeling of blood on Boothill's hands is so familiar it's almost not worth marking - whether it's his own or someone else's, those these days he's more liable to leak lubricant - and the sound of rain is... nice. Soothing.

Of course he wakes up too fast to sunlight bright enough it leaves him blinking, looking around him, confusion setting in as he tries to figure out what the fuck he drank last night that ended up with him on some kinda... moving vessel that seemed to be travelling across - once he makes it to a railing to look out - an unfamiliar desert (and he knows deserts, been to a lot of 'em). The deck he's on, in contrast, seems to be covered in massive trees, reaching up toward the sky like they're in a stickup.

He's not in cuffs or rope so it's not some kind of kidnapping, and he doesn't see anyone else in sight. The height of the view from the railing means that this vehicle must be massive, big as a small space station or thereabouts. It seems unlikely he's the only unfortunate soul scooped up while possibly a little less than sober and dropped off wherever they are.

He keeps a hand on his gun because it never hurts to be careful and turns toward the trees, since there doesn't seem to be anywhere to go that ain't off the side of the deck or into the woods. He lifts his voice. "If anyone's around, sing out if'n you can hear me. I don't want any fudgin' surprises."

Tilt-a-World

Boothill's explorations have reached the cafeteria and he opens the door just in time for the ship to pitch forward, sending him skidding down the sudden slope with a holler. "Whoo! Now that's a forkin' ride!"

He catches himself with one arm on one of those strangely stable cafeteria carts, swinging up a leg to slam his spur into a large log tumbling down towards him from the lounge, sending it splintering apart just before it's about to bowl him over. He grins over at whoever's in the lounge with him, showing a set of sharp teeth. "Hot dog! This thing's buckin' harder than a fudgin' rodeo bronco!"

Happy birth (tilt- in front of my SALAD???)

[doomed_gambler]

Aventurine’s been gathering up food and snacks for the day before searching for more newcomers when the boat…tips. Again.

“Great. Here we go…” he grumbles, scooping up his salad plate and holding it close as furniture goes sideways, logs rolling down the deck, followed by something very heavy and metal sounding what is THAT-

It’s a person. Hooting and hollering the whole way skidding down the deck. At least he’s having fun??

But then a log starts barreling toward the guy, and Aventurine’s eyes widen. “Hey, look out!” He shouts, going to reach forward for some emergency shields-

With a resounding CRACK, the tree log splits in half, sending wood chips flying everywhere. Including into Aventurine’s salad. He sighs, loathe to waste it. Maybe he can pick them out…impressive trick, nonetheless. What is this guy?

He chuckles at the man’s enthusiasm. “That it is. The ship likes to tip like this when it decides it’s time to climb a mountain or two,” he explains, propping up an elbow on the table. Doesn’t seem to be moving too much… “It’ll go the other way in a bit. Want some food in the meantime? We got a big selection,” he offers with a grin.

Gojo Satoru | Jujutsu Kaisen

[infinitelyhollow]

Arrival

Waking to find himself intact makes what he remembered feel like a nightmare, his gaze focusing on the ceiling as he lies where he's awakened, gathering his thoughts, checking his own before he's finally moving to find his feet. Not anywhere he recognizes which is enough to have him moving, Infinity in place out of habit before he leaves what turns out to be a cabin, blue eyes sweeping his surroundings.

Definitely not alone on this weird ship, he hopes anyway, deciding to start checking doors until he finds someone else or some dry clothes.


Lights on Show start
The darkness doesn't bother him, Gojo ducking into a room to check if there's anything useful, although he figures out that's a mistake as soon as the lights flare to life. He blinks a couple of times behind his sunglasses, the vines all but trapping him in a corner even with infinity active. Which is honestly the only reason he's not trussed up in the vines.

He's trying not to blow up the ship at the moment so he does release infinity to try and start tearing the vines. Except it backfires, his arms ending up trapped against the wall.

"Well, that could have gone better." But it's not as if he had a destination in mind.

"Anyone out there?"

Something whistling.

Following the whistling is a bad idea, probably, but he also can't quite keep himself from doing so, footsteps bringing him to the bridge, Satoru turning his back to the railing, gaze sweeping his surrroundings.

"Of course it's a trick, but usually at least the thing responsible is easily dealt with." There's no cursed energy though so tracking it is all but impossible when it goes quiet.

Lights on show start (Executor | Arknights)

[sanktawithashotgun]

Executor had seen lights flickering in a room down the hallway, which, alone is not too much of a concern. The plants can reclaim what they will as long as no passengers are in danger.

Except he hears additional movement. And later, a query. He approaches swiftly.

"I am present. I will be with you shortly," he says, voice monotone and focused. Upon reaching the entry, Executor finds a man he'd not met before on this landship. Short white hair, and eyes obscured by dark lenses. He seems to be trapped against the wall.

"I am Executor Federico of the Laterano Notarial Hall. Do you require assistance?" he asks, his hand settling on one of his holstered guns.

Queen Sphene | Final Fantasy XIV

[rhymeofreason]

Reminder: this post is formatted like this due to Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail Spoilers. I am going to be cautious like this until we're six weeks out. This is a threat. (joke)

1. Arrival

Sphere picks the Key up in her (Guide Unit M-0009's) hand, with a hard edged smile. This was it; now she could guarentee her people's happiness.

All it would cost is her-




The world blooms in senseless light, and darkness. Both shattered like she looked into a lightning strike at night with mortal eyes.

The sensations don't make sense, at first, and her head swims. Maybe this is it, maybe this is just what's left of 'her' after the memories are purged. She didn't expect to remember, or feel it all. Maybe this is death, that thing she has denied for so long.

Slowly the pieces are something she can pick apart. Liquid, blood, running down her fingers. Maybe this body had been used to fight her people recently. Or, no. Its too fresh for that. The sound of rain; standard Alexandria weather, if not what she remembered from the forecast. Lost time from the wipe then.

If its the wipe, then the plan must be under way. Sphene must have their blood on her hands then.

Its fine. Its still worth it.

The idea that Wuk Lamat's blood is literally on her hands lingers and lingers as slowly, too slowly, Sphene fully wakes up.

Her eyes open.

The sky is blue.

Its not blood, after all, but Sphene doesn't know where she is. She. She doesn't understand what's going on.

2. Tilt-a-world

Sphene has gotten used to, perhaps, the idea of being alive at this point. If nothing else, it is undeniable that she is no longer the Endless she remembers being. There's no inherent sense for her Electrope or illusion to turn off and on.

Technically, walking was nothing new to her. She has walked plenty with her people, the mechanics are well worn information.

She hasn't walked with her own legs in generations. And worse, she's so over aware of her legs, each step a little tentitive and careful.

Each time the ship sways it near takes her off her feet. And even without that....

Sphene clings onto the railing, wet metal cutting into her hands. Right now, the angle of the ship is so high it feels like she's at 50 degrees. And the floor is a little slick, if not the worst.

Sphene takes one tentitive step forward, another. And then squeeks, clutching the railing as the ship suddenly sways the other way.

Sphene looks up at the sky searchingly. Oh.... she hopes she can find someplace nice to sit soon....

Wildcard!