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pluviooc2024-01-23 10:00 am
pluviosamods) wrote in pluviooc2024-01-23 10:00 am
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Test Drive 01
TEST DRIVE
Hello, and welcome to the first Pluviosa Test Drive!
Rather than a series of prompts that are set after arrival to the game, this Test Drive is instead more of a soft open for the game. That is to say, not only are Test Drive threads game canon, but the Test Drive should be regarded as the "start" of the game chronologically and contains arrival-related events and information.
Or lack of information, as the case in fact is, because there is no greeting party waiting to reassure characters that everything is fine back in their worlds and that they'll get to go home again. (On the flip side, there's no one telling them that their worlds have been destroyed, either.) There is only the ship, the things inside it, the raging storm outside, and what characters can figure out for themselves.
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.
(cw: minor blood, visions, storm weather)
The first thing you become aware of is the sound of dripping. Your mind is fogged, as though woken from the wrong part of your sleep cycle. In your daze, you're convinced that the sound of dripping is blood. Yours? Someone else's? You can't be sure. It's dripping from somewhere. It's your fault, whichever it is.
Good. One way or another, you'll be free of this nightmare -
And then, in response to the sound of a crack of thunder outside, clarity returns.
Characters come around as though disturbed from a deep sleep. Once they have shaken off the (vision? impression?) of blood, they will find that the dripping sound, at least, was real. Fortunately, it's only water - rainwater, more than likely, judging from the occasional booms of thunder and flashes of lightning overhead. One hell of a storm, quite possibly the worst characters have ever experienced, is raging outside.
Outside where? Well, outside the ship, of course.
As a general rule, characters wake up in a random room of the first level of the ship below the main decks. Theoretically, this should be a relatively safe, dry place - but with the age of the ship, its state of disrepair, and the number of plants above that have dug their roots into the deck above, leaks are plentiful. Thus, the sound of dripping water is a constant even in enclosed areas - and, of course, the outside of the ship is being pounded by rain in shimmering sheets, adding to the cacophony of noise accented by the thunder.
Even the protective bubble over the deck itself and the balconies of the rooms is having trouble working to keep the rain out - the rain isn't terrifying hurricane levels, but it is steady and water floods steadily down the stairs and over the edges of the gap down the center of the ship. The worst of the wind, too, has been kept out, but occasional gusts send ripples through the rain.
There is no power inside the ship right now and barely any light besides the flash of lightning - although characters may arrive while it is nominally day, the clouds stretching from horizon to horizon have blocked out the sun almost completely. The motion of the ship is also far worse than usual due to the storm winds - it's easy to believe that you are in fact at sea, unless you manage to get close enough to the exterior windows or balconies to be able to see the ship's legs in motion through the cascade of water that runs down the exterior.
(cw: hallucinations, thinking things that are real are hallucinations)
In the dark, you have to rely on your other senses - hearing, sound, smell. Smell is giving you the best information to start out with - rain, of course, but also mildew, plants, and old metal. (Is that a whiff of blood at the bottom? No, it's because of that bad dream you had messing with your head.)
No one comes to greet you. No one comes to find you. Instinctively, you know - no one is coming. You'll have to save yourself.
Characters will be fully convinced that they are alone until they actually run into another character. Even things that seem like they should be indicative of another person's presence, such as hearing voices or seeing someone shine a light down a hallway - your character will be convinced that that is just a hallucination until they can definitely lay eyes on another person, hear their voice clearly (ie: not half-drowned-out by the rain) or otherwise be certain of their presence.
That isn't to say that hallucinations aren't occurring. All characters, but especially those who are alone, will periodically hear murmuring voices, smell blood, smoke, and other scents reminiscent of destruction, and see what appear to be the flashes of flashlights, flickering lightbulbs, and the shadows of people walking around. These hallucinations fade in and out in intensity, but they always clear up for at least a little while when a character notices the sound of thunder. Given that the thunder is very frequent during the storm (every few minutes), most hallucinations won't last for long.
For most characters, the voices will be unintelligible murmurs. However, if your character has experienced an event of mass destruction at some point in their life (apocalypse or near-apocalypse, destruction of a city, volcano eruption, being the only survivor of a town that was slaughtered, etc), or has a connection to the dead, they will be able to pick out that the voices of the hallucinations are talking about either attempting to rescue people from something similar (eg: a distant voice shouting "there's someone still alive over here!") or, alternately, talking about how everything is lost, everyone is doomed now, etc. They may hear one type of voice or both at different times, at player discretion.
(cw: dead loved ones, hallucinations/delusions, violence, potential death. THIS PROMPT CONTAINS PVP OPTIONS.)
You're not supposed to be alone. There was someone with you, only a few hours or years or minutes or lifetimes ago. You weren't always alone, and you have to find them.
You'll find them. You do. But not in any kind of condition to keep you company. This lump of flesh is empty now. The plants are already growing over it, reclaiming it. There's blood in the soil, and there's the sound of someone else coming up behind you.
Someone is coming. You'll have to save yourself.
There are various heaps of organic debris that characters can stumble across when wandering around in the dark - piled up leaves, rotted plants, heaps of ferns, moss, and so on. Even solid wood, sometimes - the trunks of small, twisted trees that took root where they might and have grown out from balconies to the exterior or inwards down the jungled crevasse between the two halves of the ship. In the low light, it's easy to literally stumble across them, or mistake them for something else in the brief light of a flash of lightning.
It's the mistaking them for something else that could be a problem. Characters may find themselves absolutely convinced that these heaps of leaves are the body of a loved one - especially if they were wandering around looking for someone in particular. They may or may not accurately perceive leaf cover on the outside of the "body," but unless they dig their hands in enough to be sure of the heap's contents - but who would want to go digging their hands into the body of someone they love? - or they see the shape in clear lighting (which would have to be provided by another character), it will be near impossible to convince them that the pile is just that, and not a corpse.
But that's not the really dangerous part. The dangerous part of all this is that if someone unexpected approaches while the character is in the same room as the 'body,' they may become convinced that the new arrival is responsible for their loved one's death. It doesn't matter how illogical it is on the surface - fear, or rage, or whatever it is that might fuel them will turn on the stranger. And whatever it is that convinces them of this has also turned their fight-or-flight reflex solidly to fight, whether it's for revenge or the last chance at survival for a cornered rat.
Characters so affected will fight until one of the following occurs: If they are led out of sight of the 'body,' they return to their senses (given that they may be inclined to chase the 'perpetrator,' this may be the best non-violent way to resolve the issue). If they are convinced that the 'body' is fake (through physical contact or clear lighting as above), they also return to their senses. And finally, if they kill the 'perpetrator' or are themselves killed or knocked unconscious, the effect ends. In all of these cases, it ends with the sharpness of a rubber band snapped against the skin, and the character is fully aware of their altered mental state and what occurred as a result.
If your character dies as a result of this prompt (and you want that thread to be game canon), please give the mods a heads-up if/when you are accepted into the game. Although this will not count as an 'official' death and will not consume a character's "freebie" revival, there may still be consequences for your character's death.
(cw: worms. many worms. not parasitic. just worms.)
It's easy to take a wrong step in the dark. Of course, tripping and falling isn't the worst thing that can happen.
This isn't the worst thing that could happen, either. That doesn't make it any better in the moment - the split-second when the ground erupts and a writhing mass of something slimy doesn't so much crawl out as jump out - but maybe it will make it better later.
You know how worms come writhing up out of the ground during a rainstorm, when the soil is absolutely saturated?
Well, that's true of the soil on the ship as well, except the worms here aren't just common earthworms anymore. They've learned to climb, the slime that they use to wriggle through the soil modified such that they can cause it to turn sticky and squelch their way up walls, ceilings - and anyone they happen to come across. If you step in the wrong place, an entire cluster of them will respond, by clinging to your clothes and body, squirming upwards in a desperate bid to escape the wet soil and the continuous rivulets of water caused by the storm.
Or perhaps you sat down to rest somewhere and felt them creeping - or didn't, until there was suddenly something wet and cold on your bare skin. Or maybe you encountered the worms not through their climbing, but afterwards, when they drop off the ceiling and fall down on your head as the enzyme that renders their slime sticky wears out. However it happens... worms.
Fortunately, they're harmless - aside from being a bit larger than the earthworms a character is likely to be familiar with, and their strange ability to become sticky, these are largely indistinguishable from normal earthworms. Unfortunately, it's hard to tell that in the dark and the wet - this is their native environment, not yours, and anyone would panic at the sensation of worms trying to crawl up them or into dry places in their clothes.
There is an easy solution to this: Because the worms are fleeing the rain in the soil, they won't climb up anything that's just as wet as the dirt they left behind. All a character has to do to become worm-free is get thoroughly soaked, such as by stepping out into the reduced-but-still-pouring rain on a balcony or deck protected by the ship's bubbles. Unfortunately.... Well, then they're wet. And there doesn't seem to be anywhere to dry off any time soon...
For information on the general shape and state of the ship, please see the setting page. Please note that mods will not be running investigations during the test drive period.
Q: Do our characters still have their powers/items?
Generally speaking, yes. Characters have their powers intact (with certain exceptions, largely for potential-gamebreak reasons) and whatever items they were carrying at their canonpoints. Please see the FAQ for more details.
Q: My character is dead and/or dying at their canonpoint!
Well... Now they aren't. Specifically, dead characters come back as their most recent 'healthy' state of being (unless they're a type of character that is playable while dead, such as a vampire or a Bleach shinigami, in which case they continue as normal for them); they also arrive already soaked through by the rain, regardless of the location they wake up. Characters who are mortally injured find that their wounds have healed; in place of whatever blood was soaking through their clothes/dripping from their bodies/in their mouth from a Cough of Death, they instead find pure water.
Q: Can my character(s) explore the ship?
Your characters are welcome to explore as much as they're willing and capable of doing in the wet and the rain! However, getting between floors is a challenge in the current weather - with the power off, the elevators do not work, and the stairs are consistently flooded by a cascade of rainwater. However, mods will not be running any official, guided explorations until after game opening.
Q: Is there anywhere dry to rest?
Nowhere is completely dry, but the aft portion of the ship is significantly drier than the middle and fore. The reason for this is that there is a series of partial decks (the residential decks) over roughly the last third of the ship. The rain is fully blocked by the roof overhead, in theory, but in practice the wind and the flooding leave this space only sort of dry. It's possible to find your way here on your own and find some place to sleep that doesn't blow mold spores into your face when you sit down, but it's also darker here, since the lightning's light is also blocked out by the roof.
Q: BATHROOMS?
Unfortunately, the lack of water in the pipes means that the toilets (which can be found relatively intact in most suites, though many are full of standing water) are also not running. Characters get to deal with this issue as they see fit, whether that's using the dilapidated toilets or using a more fertilizer-like strategy.
Q: Is there anything from the game's main info pages that doesn't apply to this Test Drive?
Given that the power is currently off, the Ship (as in the entity) cannot be interacted with on the Test Drive (and characters have no reason to think it's there). Anything else that would require power, such as the elevators or water from the faucets, also does not work.
Q: How long does the storm last?
ICly, it begins to lighten up on the evening of the second day after the first characters wake up, though it is still raining steadily with occasional thunder throughout that night. (Characters will continue to trickle in throughout the duration of the storm, though most arrive before the end of the first day.) The characters will be able to see the sun starting on the third morning - which is also planned to be the game's formal opening, so we won't say more until then!
Q: Do our characters receive anything upon arrival?
Not a thing! Nor do they encounter any kind of informational NPC or anything that gives them a solid idea what's going on. The only exception to this is that all characters experience the dripping-blood related vision/dream/impression detailed in the first prompt of the Test Drive. Additionally, characters who have a unique tie to their world (such as Aerith's connection to the Lifestream in FFVII) will be aware that they're not in their own world anymore.
Q: What are our characters eating?
Since the power hasn't come on yet... Whatever they're adventurous and/or knowledgeable enough to find that doesn't kill them! This can include edible plants and limited amounts of things brought from home (please don't have your character bring 99 casseroles even if your game's inventory system allows it), but mods are not tracking this specifically. Most characters will be expected to be hungry and unhappy but not literally starving come game open. At least there's plenty of water.
Q: I have some specific question I need to ask about my specific character on the test drive!
Please post your question in response to the header comment QUESTIONS below!
Rather than a series of prompts that are set after arrival to the game, this Test Drive is instead more of a soft open for the game. That is to say, not only are Test Drive threads game canon, but the Test Drive should be regarded as the "start" of the game chronologically and contains arrival-related events and information.
Or lack of information, as the case in fact is, because there is no greeting party waiting to reassure characters that everything is fine back in their worlds and that they'll get to go home again. (On the flip side, there's no one telling them that their worlds have been destroyed, either.) There is only the ship, the things inside it, the raging storm outside, and what characters can figure out for themselves.
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.
ARRIVAL
(cw: minor blood, visions, storm weather)
The first thing you become aware of is the sound of dripping. Your mind is fogged, as though woken from the wrong part of your sleep cycle. In your daze, you're convinced that the sound of dripping is blood. Yours? Someone else's? You can't be sure. It's dripping from somewhere. It's your fault, whichever it is.
Good. One way or another, you'll be free of this nightmare -
And then, in response to the sound of a crack of thunder outside, clarity returns.
Characters come around as though disturbed from a deep sleep. Once they have shaken off the (vision? impression?) of blood, they will find that the dripping sound, at least, was real. Fortunately, it's only water - rainwater, more than likely, judging from the occasional booms of thunder and flashes of lightning overhead. One hell of a storm, quite possibly the worst characters have ever experienced, is raging outside.
Outside where? Well, outside the ship, of course.
As a general rule, characters wake up in a random room of the first level of the ship below the main decks. Theoretically, this should be a relatively safe, dry place - but with the age of the ship, its state of disrepair, and the number of plants above that have dug their roots into the deck above, leaks are plentiful. Thus, the sound of dripping water is a constant even in enclosed areas - and, of course, the outside of the ship is being pounded by rain in shimmering sheets, adding to the cacophony of noise accented by the thunder.
Even the protective bubble over the deck itself and the balconies of the rooms is having trouble working to keep the rain out - the rain isn't terrifying hurricane levels, but it is steady and water floods steadily down the stairs and over the edges of the gap down the center of the ship. The worst of the wind, too, has been kept out, but occasional gusts send ripples through the rain.
There is no power inside the ship right now and barely any light besides the flash of lightning - although characters may arrive while it is nominally day, the clouds stretching from horizon to horizon have blocked out the sun almost completely. The motion of the ship is also far worse than usual due to the storm winds - it's easy to believe that you are in fact at sea, unless you manage to get close enough to the exterior windows or balconies to be able to see the ship's legs in motion through the cascade of water that runs down the exterior.
SEEING IS BELIEVING
(cw: hallucinations, thinking things that are real are hallucinations)
In the dark, you have to rely on your other senses - hearing, sound, smell. Smell is giving you the best information to start out with - rain, of course, but also mildew, plants, and old metal. (Is that a whiff of blood at the bottom? No, it's because of that bad dream you had messing with your head.)
No one comes to greet you. No one comes to find you. Instinctively, you know - no one is coming. You'll have to save yourself.
Characters will be fully convinced that they are alone until they actually run into another character. Even things that seem like they should be indicative of another person's presence, such as hearing voices or seeing someone shine a light down a hallway - your character will be convinced that that is just a hallucination until they can definitely lay eyes on another person, hear their voice clearly (ie: not half-drowned-out by the rain) or otherwise be certain of their presence.
That isn't to say that hallucinations aren't occurring. All characters, but especially those who are alone, will periodically hear murmuring voices, smell blood, smoke, and other scents reminiscent of destruction, and see what appear to be the flashes of flashlights, flickering lightbulbs, and the shadows of people walking around. These hallucinations fade in and out in intensity, but they always clear up for at least a little while when a character notices the sound of thunder. Given that the thunder is very frequent during the storm (every few minutes), most hallucinations won't last for long.
For most characters, the voices will be unintelligible murmurs. However, if your character has experienced an event of mass destruction at some point in their life (apocalypse or near-apocalypse, destruction of a city, volcano eruption, being the only survivor of a town that was slaughtered, etc), or has a connection to the dead, they will be able to pick out that the voices of the hallucinations are talking about either attempting to rescue people from something similar (eg: a distant voice shouting "there's someone still alive over here!") or, alternately, talking about how everything is lost, everyone is doomed now, etc. They may hear one type of voice or both at different times, at player discretion.
TO RUN ITS COURSE
(cw: dead loved ones, hallucinations/delusions, violence, potential death. THIS PROMPT CONTAINS PVP OPTIONS.)
You're not supposed to be alone. There was someone with you, only a few hours or years or minutes or lifetimes ago. You weren't always alone, and you have to find them.
You'll find them. You do. But not in any kind of condition to keep you company. This lump of flesh is empty now. The plants are already growing over it, reclaiming it. There's blood in the soil, and there's the sound of someone else coming up behind you.
Someone is coming. You'll have to save yourself.
There are various heaps of organic debris that characters can stumble across when wandering around in the dark - piled up leaves, rotted plants, heaps of ferns, moss, and so on. Even solid wood, sometimes - the trunks of small, twisted trees that took root where they might and have grown out from balconies to the exterior or inwards down the jungled crevasse between the two halves of the ship. In the low light, it's easy to literally stumble across them, or mistake them for something else in the brief light of a flash of lightning.
It's the mistaking them for something else that could be a problem. Characters may find themselves absolutely convinced that these heaps of leaves are the body of a loved one - especially if they were wandering around looking for someone in particular. They may or may not accurately perceive leaf cover on the outside of the "body," but unless they dig their hands in enough to be sure of the heap's contents - but who would want to go digging their hands into the body of someone they love? - or they see the shape in clear lighting (which would have to be provided by another character), it will be near impossible to convince them that the pile is just that, and not a corpse.
But that's not the really dangerous part. The dangerous part of all this is that if someone unexpected approaches while the character is in the same room as the 'body,' they may become convinced that the new arrival is responsible for their loved one's death. It doesn't matter how illogical it is on the surface - fear, or rage, or whatever it is that might fuel them will turn on the stranger. And whatever it is that convinces them of this has also turned their fight-or-flight reflex solidly to fight, whether it's for revenge or the last chance at survival for a cornered rat.
Characters so affected will fight until one of the following occurs: If they are led out of sight of the 'body,' they return to their senses (given that they may be inclined to chase the 'perpetrator,' this may be the best non-violent way to resolve the issue). If they are convinced that the 'body' is fake (through physical contact or clear lighting as above), they also return to their senses. And finally, if they kill the 'perpetrator' or are themselves killed or knocked unconscious, the effect ends. In all of these cases, it ends with the sharpness of a rubber band snapped against the skin, and the character is fully aware of their altered mental state and what occurred as a result.
If your character dies as a result of this prompt (and you want that thread to be game canon), please give the mods a heads-up if/when you are accepted into the game. Although this will not count as an 'official' death and will not consume a character's "freebie" revival, there may still be consequences for your character's death.
CONTENTS WORMING
(cw: worms. many worms. not parasitic. just worms.)
It's easy to take a wrong step in the dark. Of course, tripping and falling isn't the worst thing that can happen.
This isn't the worst thing that could happen, either. That doesn't make it any better in the moment - the split-second when the ground erupts and a writhing mass of something slimy doesn't so much crawl out as jump out - but maybe it will make it better later.
You know how worms come writhing up out of the ground during a rainstorm, when the soil is absolutely saturated?
Well, that's true of the soil on the ship as well, except the worms here aren't just common earthworms anymore. They've learned to climb, the slime that they use to wriggle through the soil modified such that they can cause it to turn sticky and squelch their way up walls, ceilings - and anyone they happen to come across. If you step in the wrong place, an entire cluster of them will respond, by clinging to your clothes and body, squirming upwards in a desperate bid to escape the wet soil and the continuous rivulets of water caused by the storm.
Or perhaps you sat down to rest somewhere and felt them creeping - or didn't, until there was suddenly something wet and cold on your bare skin. Or maybe you encountered the worms not through their climbing, but afterwards, when they drop off the ceiling and fall down on your head as the enzyme that renders their slime sticky wears out. However it happens... worms.
Fortunately, they're harmless - aside from being a bit larger than the earthworms a character is likely to be familiar with, and their strange ability to become sticky, these are largely indistinguishable from normal earthworms. Unfortunately, it's hard to tell that in the dark and the wet - this is their native environment, not yours, and anyone would panic at the sensation of worms trying to crawl up them or into dry places in their clothes.
There is an easy solution to this: Because the worms are fleeing the rain in the soil, they won't climb up anything that's just as wet as the dirt they left behind. All a character has to do to become worm-free is get thoroughly soaked, such as by stepping out into the reduced-but-still-pouring rain on a balcony or deck protected by the ship's bubbles. Unfortunately.... Well, then they're wet. And there doesn't seem to be anywhere to dry off any time soon...
FAQ
Q: Do our characters still have their powers/items?
Generally speaking, yes. Characters have their powers intact (with certain exceptions, largely for potential-gamebreak reasons) and whatever items they were carrying at their canonpoints. Please see the FAQ for more details.
Q: My character is dead and/or dying at their canonpoint!
Well... Now they aren't. Specifically, dead characters come back as their most recent 'healthy' state of being (unless they're a type of character that is playable while dead, such as a vampire or a Bleach shinigami, in which case they continue as normal for them); they also arrive already soaked through by the rain, regardless of the location they wake up. Characters who are mortally injured find that their wounds have healed; in place of whatever blood was soaking through their clothes/dripping from their bodies/in their mouth from a Cough of Death, they instead find pure water.
Q: Can my character(s) explore the ship?
Your characters are welcome to explore as much as they're willing and capable of doing in the wet and the rain! However, getting between floors is a challenge in the current weather - with the power off, the elevators do not work, and the stairs are consistently flooded by a cascade of rainwater. However, mods will not be running any official, guided explorations until after game opening.
Q: Is there anywhere dry to rest?
Nowhere is completely dry, but the aft portion of the ship is significantly drier than the middle and fore. The reason for this is that there is a series of partial decks (the residential decks) over roughly the last third of the ship. The rain is fully blocked by the roof overhead, in theory, but in practice the wind and the flooding leave this space only sort of dry. It's possible to find your way here on your own and find some place to sleep that doesn't blow mold spores into your face when you sit down, but it's also darker here, since the lightning's light is also blocked out by the roof.
Q: BATHROOMS?
Unfortunately, the lack of water in the pipes means that the toilets (which can be found relatively intact in most suites, though many are full of standing water) are also not running. Characters get to deal with this issue as they see fit, whether that's using the dilapidated toilets or using a more fertilizer-like strategy.
Q: Is there anything from the game's main info pages that doesn't apply to this Test Drive?
Given that the power is currently off, the Ship (as in the entity) cannot be interacted with on the Test Drive (and characters have no reason to think it's there). Anything else that would require power, such as the elevators or water from the faucets, also does not work.
Q: How long does the storm last?
ICly, it begins to lighten up on the evening of the second day after the first characters wake up, though it is still raining steadily with occasional thunder throughout that night. (Characters will continue to trickle in throughout the duration of the storm, though most arrive before the end of the first day.) The characters will be able to see the sun starting on the third morning - which is also planned to be the game's formal opening, so we won't say more until then!
Q: Do our characters receive anything upon arrival?
Not a thing! Nor do they encounter any kind of informational NPC or anything that gives them a solid idea what's going on. The only exception to this is that all characters experience the dripping-blood related vision/dream/impression detailed in the first prompt of the Test Drive. Additionally, characters who have a unique tie to their world (such as Aerith's connection to the Lifestream in FFVII) will be aware that they're not in their own world anymore.
Q: What are our characters eating?
Since the power hasn't come on yet... Whatever they're adventurous and/or knowledgeable enough to find that doesn't kill them! This can include edible plants and limited amounts of things brought from home (please don't have your character bring 99 casseroles even if your game's inventory system allows it), but mods are not tracking this specifically. Most characters will be expected to be hungry and unhappy but not literally starving come game open. At least there's plenty of water.
Q: I have some specific question I need to ask about my specific character on the test drive!
Please post your question in response to the header comment QUESTIONS below!
Contents Worming
He's gotten used to dodging these worms now, since he can use flight to avoid them from the ground, all he has to watch out for is the worms from above. It makes for good evasion practice, at least (though honestly, using falling worms as evasion practice... this has to be a new low for him.)
Anyway, he speeds through the halls, ignoring the quiet murmurs and trying to pinpoint the origin of the yelling. He almost speeds past the hallway Childe is in but quickly catches himself before the man spots him. Not that the ginger is paying attention anyway, so frantic to rid himself of worms. (The Wanderer gets it. But also, what a pitiful sight. A Harbinger, panicking because of worms? Truly, their reputation is being dragged through the mud at this moment. Good thing he doesn't have to give a flying fuck about them anymore!)
The drifter quietly trails behind the panicking Hydro user as he stumbles into the balcony and the worms are washed away. Now that he wasn't freaking out, the drifter could finally talk to him.
He lands silently just a few feet from the entrance to the balcony and secures his wide-brimmed hat on his head. With purposeful steps, loud enough for Childe to hear, he enters the balcony. ]
What's the matter? You're looking a bit... under the weather.
you can't just ASK people why they're short ,
[He wasn't freaking out! They were just gross and slimy, and way too happy to get very friendly with him. The Harbinger hears a few steps behind him, firm and solid, and it draws his attention away from getting soaking fucking wet, to some short dude standing behind him, teasing him. He frowns.]
This whole place is. It fucking sucks.
[Childe really looks at him. He's already come across a few people now, most relatively friendly, not mocking, like him. But underneath that, he has.... no idea who this guy is, or where he came from, and that was a bit of a concern for Childe. Less so in that he didn't know him, and moreso... Had he been so foolishly preoccupied, or did the rain drown out the footsteps?
The anemo vision on the short guy's chest answers his question, he's sure. Childe feels almost embarrassed, remembering when his own vision lit up so well and pretty. Right now it lay flickering at his hip, a knife with two edges. He draws his eyes away from the other man's chest, looking at his face instead.
Okay, he was just kind of pretty all around, huh. The fatuus opted to simply not stare in general, closing his eyes and shaking the water from his hair like a wet dog. He didn't care if it splattered on this little dweeb.]
Are you like... A kid? Why are you so short?
[Did he like, need help getting something off of a tall plant? Was he even old enough to be on his own? Childe quickly shuts that thought down at the memory of a starry pit in the middle of the woods. Trembling hands clutching a pocket knife. It was just how the world was, of course. You run away from home to make your own adventures, you live three months of your life in a deeply life-altering and existentially terrifying experience, and you come home to find you've only been gone for three days and frighten your family with acts of excessive violence until they have no choice but to send you away. Just Teenage Things!]
listen, go ask his mom why she made him short. material conservation, maybe????
He's not outwardly bothered by the splash of water. Having long dealt with Childe before, he already knows how to keep his cool around the ginger. ]
Is that how you determine age? Height? You make it sound like I'm some sort of toddler, but I assure you, if I was, you would be reconsidering your entire life right now. After all, how can an adult man be more pathetic than a toddler?
[ Also, sir?? You just thought he was pretty. What if he was a kid??????????? ]
But I'm not, not that it changes much for you. Because now, the problem is with the size of your tiny little brain. Or maybe it's those dead eyes of yours that ought to get checked. Go on, take a better look. I won't bite.
[ The toothy grin on his face says otherwise. ]
Do I really seem like a kid to you?
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Maybe he should tone it down. Childe doesn't know him, and quite honestly doesn't find that he cares all too much about how small the brat thinks his brain is, or how dead his eyes looked.
He knew, intimately.]
Hey, I didn't say toddler.
[Reconsider his entire life. He's already doing that, starting with how the hell and fuck he even ended up in this place, let alone how to leave. He had a life to live outside of whatever this was. A family to return to--- They had to be worried sick. Or well. More worried than usual.
The Harbinger rolls his eyes, crossing his arms.]
Alright, alright. Jeez, I didn't expect you to be so defensive. You just looked younger than me, that's all. You're only a little taller than my brother. Wasn't sure if it was my turn to babysit.
[Just keeping count of all the childhood dreams he has to protect, of course. Nothing to worry about here, officer.
He offers a hand to the stranger, regardless. Now that he got a rise out of him and a stream of insults from that foul mouth, yeah, this fucker was going to be stuck with him for a bit.]
I'm Childe. I'm guessing you don't know the way out of here, since you've decided to stick around with me. Truce?
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[ —wait, how does the Wanderer know that
His grin is far too knowing and malicious for the comment to be coincidental. ]
Childe, hm? How fitting for someone like you. Someone far too young to be where he is right now.
1/2
2/2
How do you know that.
[It's not a question. His earlier fit where he nearly killed Casper over what he thought was his brother's murder? Those feelings were very real. The Harbinger can feel static gathering in his hands, purple sparks flitting over fabric and skin.
He doesn't know what this stranger is capable of. But to talk like that, he had to be pretty damn confident.]
What do you know about my brother? Spit it out.
[The fatuus was done with the games, very suddenly. He reaches for the other man, aiming to grip at his black shirt and pull him close. Childe's eyes were wide, devouring all light that would reasonably reach them, even as electro trickled over his hands, his belt, where the delusion laid.]
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Well, actually, he doubts the second point. Really can't get worse than being one of the main sponsors of the god machine project, and Nahida knows exactly how he feels about Dottore. And this is about Childe's personal life anyway. The Fatui would not act on his family being threatened like this. ]
Whatever do you mean? I was just suggesting ways you might want me to behave. Did I hit some kind of nerve? I do apologize, I've been told I have an unpleasant personality at times.
[ That smile is all teeth, no benevolence, and the tone? Scathing in its mockery. ]
Now now, you should calm down. Wouldn't want anyone to be hurt by an Electro-charged reaction, would you? We're friends now, aren't we?
cw: choking/attempted strangulation
Don't weasel out of this. You mentioned my brother. What do you know.
[It wasn't a question. There's a dark look on his face. Nothing else this guy says matters to him-- how did he know his family, and why?
What did he know? How much did he know? Why? And what of Pulcinella? What did this mean?]
Tell me about him. Is he well? Is my family safe? You seem to know so much.
[No, they were not friends. Not now. Childe's voice is dark, and while he was upset, his steps, his stance, they were all calculated. Either the anemo wielder started talking, or he'd start swinging. Childe wanted to give him a fair chance, despite the sour tongue.
His thoughts race back, far back.
His older brother teasing Tonia with his friends until she cried. His dearest little sister running to him, her knight. He always rescued her from the mean boys, always sat with her, fixed her hair while she calmed down. Her feelings were so easy to tip, one way or another.
Tonia helped take care of him, his wounds, after he'd returned from the Abyss. He'd shielded her from the worst of his violent tendencies.
Tonia running to him in tears one day, chunks of her hair chopped off, the braids she'd asked him to help with that morning. A quiet anger boiled in him, as he comforted her, promised her it would never happen again.
Hands around a throat, the terrified face of his older brother under him. Being found and dragged off and away by their father before he killed someone.
Their mother and Tonia, in tears over what he'd done.
He'd do worse, for their sake. The blade thrums.]
I'm not known for my patience, but I'm feeling pretty generous today. You've got ten seconds to start talking.
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I mentioned your brother because you did. Don't tell me you've already forgotten? Tsk tsk, what poor memory you have. Perhaps it's because of that Electro skill you're using. Must have fried a brain cell or ten dozen, judging by how short a fuse you have. Water and lightning don't mix well, you know? You really ought to go back to school and study your elemental reactions.
[ He's more than ready to dash, knowing how touchy Childe is about his family. The drifter hasn't given the man any satisfactory answers, so there's no way the Harbinger will calm down now. ]
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[The other's glowing doesn't deter Childe, but it does allow a little more visibility. The shorter man's words don't phase him, he'd shocked himself plenty of times before. Yes it hurt. No, it didn't matter to him. It was just a means to an end.]
Nine.
[The end he wanted was either answers or a fight. It was certainly leaning towards the latter. He knows the stranger is going to flee. Childe just has to keep up long enough to get a good hit in.]
You described how he would react, exactly. You can't weasel out of this.
[Childe affixes his mask to his face, in the hopes of keeping most of the rain out of his eyes. The drifter chastising him about elemental reactions made the fatuus snort. Water and lightning didn't mix well? That fighting here would hurt him just as badly as it would hurt this stranger?
What a concept. Who could have imagined it? Not him, the Harbinger known for doing this.]
Eight. Don't get all soft and worried about me now. I'm a big boy, I can take it.
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Here, though... He doesn't. More than that, he wants to see how he measured up against Childe. He's far less powerful than he was before. But he wouldn't let that mean he's weaker than this brainless idiot. ]
Alright then, big boy. Up for a little game of tag? I'm sure you've played it more than a few times with your precious siblings. You're it.
[ With a little wave, and a sickeningly sweet, mocking grin, he turns and flies down a corridor. Come get him, kid. ]
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[Childe tears after the Wanderer, not quite hot on his heels, but close enough to keep his eye on the little guy. He knows he might not wholly be able to keep pace, and with those skills, Childe feels it safe to assume that the other knew the ship a little better than he did.
With that in mind, the Harbinger is happy to keep some distance between them, cautious enough to make sure he's not being lead into a trap of some sort. As he runs, electro energy gathers in his hands, forming two blades, that he then presses together into a double-ended glaive.]
Let's even the playing field a little.
[He spins the weapon as he runs, before stopping in his tracks and using that momentum to throw it at the Wanderer in the hopes of clipping him, or slowing him down. Childe is used to ignoring the stinging electrocharged reaction dancing across his skin, and simply shakes the feeling off. He starts to run again, chasing down the drifter.]
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He isn't leading the Harbinger anywhere in particular though. For now, he's quite happy to see how long the other man can keep up with him. If they were to engage in a proper battle later, they could do it on the deck, where there was plenty of space, and plenty of overgrowth to destroy. The ship likely wasn't built to sustain all these plants, so might as well destroy them while they're fighting.
He feels the charge of electric energy in the air before Childe throws the weapon. Electro, unfortunately, is something he's always been sensitive to, due to his creator's identity. He doesn't even glance back to dodge the double-ended glaive, feeling little arcs of electricity clip him slightly as it passes by and the sting of the electrocharged reaction between the glaive and the water soaking his clothes.
He returns the flavour by throwing back two Anemo blades, the first a haphazard one sent down the hallway without much thought and the second right after designed to reduce the openings through which Childe can dodge. ]
Is this all you can do? The Harbingers of the Fatui are a more pathetic lot than I thought!
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Even if he wanted to wring answers out of the guy like a wet cloth.
The anemo blades sent back at him have the fatuus dodging--- the second one clips him as he tries to get out of the way of the first, slicing his shoulder. He laughs, pressing a hand to staunch the bleeding as he presses onward, forming another glaive, this time with one hand. He can't toss it in a big arc like he wanted to, but he could just hurl it.
Childe weighs the pros and cons of just transforming here and chasing the shorter man through the halls of the ship, but he knows it's a waste of his energy, unless they're really going to go for a fight.
Childe tosses the glaive, the electro weapon spinning towards the shorter man, while putting a little more power into his running, trying to close the distance between them.]
I can do a hell of a lot worse.
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Why don't you show me then, Harbinger?
[ The Wanderer swerves left at an intersection and eventually leads Childe to an open section of the ship, where he turns to fire several wind blades in succession, and uses them to obscure his charge towards the Harbinger, a swirling sphere of Anemo energy at hand. ]
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[Childe perked up as he realized they were heading to a more open area-- finally he could actually let loose a little.
The other man fires anemo blades at him quickly. Childe manages to swing out of the way of most of them, two of the blades grazing him, cutting into his scarf and lopping off a tuft of his hair.
Childe only has a split second to react as the drifter heads straight for him, a ball of anemo energy primed and ready.
Channelling electro energy at the soles of his boots, Childe would dash forward, using the water on the floor to help him skid, sliding towards the shorter man, looking as though he were about to just take the sphere head on. He'd do his best to duck under the Wanderer's hand, evading the attack, for the most part.
Once Childe was behind him, the fatuus would reach out for the nearest sleeve fluttering behind the Wanderer, aiming to yank it gently, just enough to let the rude little bastard know that he was very close.]
Tag, fucker.
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Anyway, Childe dodges under the sphere and reaches back to tug on his sleeve and he grins, razor sharp as he turns around to face the Harbinger, having traded places with him. ]
Not even going to grace me with a wound from your blade? I should be insulted.
[ But for all the insulting he does, Childe is a Harbinger. An unknown location and just the two of them are not great circumstances, and Childe is more than smart enough to make allies with any stranger he meets as he figures the place out. He must still feel that way despite the pointed way the Wanderer has gone about riling him up.
Well, perhaps in Childe's world, this little fight they're having is as good as a friendly greeting to him.
Anyway, he's 'it' now—but really, playing tag with a Harbinger??? What are they, children??—so he wastes no time firing more wind blades at Childe and charging in once again. This time though, without an Anemo sphere in hand and with the intention to make feint maneuvers so he can tug on the ginger's scarf if the man doesn't dodge in time. ]
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I guess I'll have to try a little harder then.
[The wind blades start up again. Childe dodges them pretty well, he thinks, even with one coming very close to his face.
The feint manoeuvres don't quite phase him, as he pushes himself backwards, turning on his heel and leaning out of the way as the other man charged at him. If his scarf was grabbed at this point, it'd be just fine by Childe, they'd be close enough to make it a real fight.
The Harbinger would manifest his electro glaive, stepping closer while sweeping it towards the other man, trying to close the distance between them.
Childe knew he wasn't quite fast enough to outrun a guy who could fly like this. But he could try to get a hit in.]
Don't fly too far, we're only getting started!
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Don't get cocky, brat. I'm more than a match for you at close range.
[ He didn't have centuries of combat experience for nothing. With the scarf still in hand, he whirls to unleash an Anemo-powered roundhouse kick at Childe's head. ]
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Brat? He'd show him who the brat was. He laughs.]
Come on then!
[Childe sees the kick coming. Knowing that the other was still holding onto his scarf, he drops to the floor like a sack of bricks, hopefully tugging the Wanderer down with him. He catches himself with his palms just before he fully hits the floor, glaive dissipating. The his arms sting as sparks trickle up along them, but Childe thinks it's a bit better than a good boot to the head.
Using his upper body strength, he would crouch before turning himself around to face the Wanderer again, leg swinging out to kick up at him. Pulling hydro energy from the wet floor back into his hands as he moved.
Once situated and with both feet on the ground, Childe would throw a hydro blade towards the other man, intending to hit anything that was close enough to reach. The blade's form wavers before failing completely as it travels through the air, globs of water sluicing away and splattering over him and the floor and probably the Wanderer, too. He hisses a curse between his teeth.
Maybe he just needed to pretend he didn't have a vision at all, damn.]
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...Interesting. Very interesting. He's more than curious enough to stop his assault and find out what's going on. ]
What's the matter, big boy? Hydro not responding as well as you'd like?
[ He knows a little of Childe's background—that he fell into the Abyss as a child and survived for a few months, coming out as a battle-crazed maniac, which had ultimately landed him in the care of the Fatui. Was it the Abyss's influence interfering with the Vision? He's never seen a Vision fail to respond to someone like this before. ]
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Hell if I know. Took a vacation to figure it out, went to Fontaine, got arrested, fought the narwhal I'd spent my life looking for, and I still don't have any answers.
[He didn't, well and truly. Childe had no idea what was happening. For a bit he'd wondered if it was the Abyss. The Narwhal calling to him? The Primordial Sea? There was too much in play surrounding him for Childe to have an actual definitive answer. Furina and Neuvillette had nothing for him, either.]
Come on, don't start pitying me, now.
[Whatever the reason, he was still very capable. He still had his delusion. He could still transform. Childe stands up properly, unsure if the game was up.]
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But the revelation that there was something wrong with Childe causes the drifter to—it's not concern, really, but the idea of fighting him didn't seem as appealing anymore, and he shifts out of the active stance and scoffs. ]
Pity? Please. I just have no interest playing with a broken toy.
[ Sorry bro. Come back after you get that Vision problem fixed. ]
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Childe huffs, and glowers at him for a moment, but accepts it. He's not going to force the guy.]
Fine by me.
[He just. Didn't know what was wrong with it. Or him, if it were his own fault. He'd never heard of this happening.
No one had.]
For the record: I'm not broken. I still have a delusion. Works just fine.
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