The Heroes of Light vs. The Sakura Forest (round 1)

[littlemhigan]

Who: Everyone who signed up!
When: October 10
Where: The Sakura forest
What: There's supposed to be an Eidolon here! Lets go find it!
Warnings/Notes: it's October and there are supposedly mimics in here.

This morning is damp and foggy, lingering swaths of mist a testament to the rapid changes in temperature that always seem a hallmark of the fall season. The sunlight is still too new to burn it away, and the world seems hazy and lavender.

It would be beautiful, if it wasn’t so eerie. Perhaps it’s simply the morning chill, but skin prickling up to gooseflesh seems to be a common occurrence amongst the gathered crowd, and Castor herself, standing at the head and sorting people into teams, is not immune to this.

Behind her stands the southwestern edge of the Sakura forest. The fog within seems particularly dense, and as it diffuses the morning light, the forest seems almost otherworldly; a glimpse at something fey and unknowable and eternal. It’s likewise eerily quiet; even accounting for the fog smothering all but the closest noise, there are no audible signs of life from within the forest’s boundaries.

If the hair on the back of your neck is slowly raising, you’re probably not alone in that, either.

“Alright!” Castor calls, once she’s finished organizing people, “That should be the lot’ve ye! We don’t know what all’s about in there, and I’ve had word that the local wildlife has been ornery of late, so keep yer wits about ye, and stay close te your mates!

“I’ve given each of ye a handful of ribbon…” she pauses to hold up a handful of her own, a cheery red that somehow looks ominous in this atmosphere. “A colour te each team! Use ‘em to mark yer way in; I don’t want te have te go fishin’ fer lost souls when all’s said and done, and if ye find somethin’ ye’ll leave an easy way back.

“I’d advise ye sort someone te keep an eye on the Slates. Twelve willin’ they work more’n ten fulms into the wood, stay in touch best ye can over the network. And don’t hesitate te turn back if ye feel things’re goin’ poorly fer you an’ yours. I’d rather ye come back alive and emptyhanded.”

Here she pauses again, seeming to count something out on her fingers. “I think that’s the last of what I’ve got te say. Try and be back ‘fore sundown, yeah?”


[ooc: And go! I will be endeavouring to reply to each party at least ONCE daily, regardless of who’s posted in the meantime (we’ll see how it goes)!]

Comments

[pidgeypidge]

The pinging of her iMog gets her attention, and Pidge takes a moment to view the message before continuing on. She's not going to send one back, though, because she's not planning on leaving the area. Mostly, she's going to see what she can figure out about this structure. The explosions aren't terribly comforting, but they're also not close enough to worry her yet.

[zanarkandian]

Tidus, for his part, can read a threat when he sees one, and dutifully stays put---despite how worried he is about that explosion. He call out as loudly as he can, though, and lets out a loud whistle. Maybe he should have done that earlier?

Roger.

They have to be okay, right?

[whirluendo_of_puns]

Gosh, none of this is helping them stay on track. Can Pidge even hear the explosion clearly enough to follow the sound, wherever she is? And what about the Eidolon?

After giving it some thought, he decides to call out into the mist again... but this time with Mystic Talk.

"Helloooo~! Are you there? Pardon the intrusion, but is there any chance you could help us find our friend, please?" Hey, it's worth a shot. Maybe the Eidolon is the benevolent type.

[littlemhigan]

There's no immediate response to Patches' query, but his attention is nevertheless drawn in approximately the direction Pidge ran off to - and where the explosion sound came from. There's a feeling similar to earlier - nothing urgent, just that same little tap on the shoulder. It's all the answer he's going to get, it seems.

With the wind dispersing some of the fog, Tidus can actually just about see a gathering of silhouettes that might be the party? It's difficult to tell from this distance, but there are enough forms of the correct height.

Pidge, should she continue looking, will find an old, dilapidated wood door not far off. It's made of plain wood and well rotted, already halfway off it's hinges. Where it leads is dark and smells musty, but there doesn't seem to be much overgrowth on the inside.

[whirluendo_of_puns]

Patches perks up as he feels the gentle tug again. It may not be a verbal response, but it's still a helpful one. Maybe this Eidolon isn't so bad!

"That way? Much obliged!" He ushers the others forward. "The Eidolon says Pidge is in the same direction as the explosion! Let's go, let's go!"

[sassafrisk]

Frisk's eyes widen at Uendo's words. That... didn't exactly sound like good news. "Woah, woah, woah. Hang on. You're saying Pidge might be in danger?" they say, already using Parkour to rapidly bound from branch to branch as they make their way towards the explosion. if what Uendo said was true... they gulp. Hopefully Pidge was alright. They pull out their slate again, typing out a quick message to Pidge.

hey, you good? uendo says you're in the same direction as the explosion which is. you know. not good.

[einspine]

Oh dear. That's... certainly alarming. Sadly, Papyrus lacks any fancy pants skills like parkour, so the best he can do is dash behind Frisk, prepping up another Safeguard in case things turn sour. Best way to get a feel for their situation, really, in case things do rapidly shift to combat and peril.

"WHETHER SHE'S IN DANGER OR NOT, WE HAVE TO STAY DETERMINED! AND, WELL, PREPARED, OF COURSE."

Though it was rather hard to prepare for a potential threat based on an explosion alone.

[pidgeypidge]

There's really no way she's not going to keep poking around. So she presses on, only pausing for a moment to consider the door. When her iMog dings, she pulls that out, reads the message, and sends a quick reply before attempting to push the rotten door aside.

Hey! Yea, I'm good. I heard the explosions but they're not here. And I found something. Gonna check it out. c:

[acapriciousreaper]

"Amazing." Kuja reads the message from Pidge, and nearly throws his slate down in disgust. "I am surrounded by idiots. Very well, toward the explosions then, I'm certain we're not all about to die horribly or what have you."

[sassafrisk]

omfg pidge yyyyyyy get back with the group we don't want you to get even more lost and eaten by monsters :(

"Any better ideas, Kuja?" Frisk says from the treetops, momentarily dropping down to give him a wry look. "We have no clue where we are and the explosions are the only clear directions that we have to go on. At least something relevant's probably going on over there." They pause. "But seriously, do you have any better ideas? I'm well aware that this one's pretty bad even by my standards."

[poisonwish]

"At least we all agree that it's terrible." Snow White wasn't even being sarcastic. He sighed heavily, looking between one direction and the other. They still hadn't truly reunited with Tidus, only maybe heard his voice. And they were willing to leave him for... nothing, really. No guarantee of of finding what they came for.

"Isn't there any way Pidge can send us coordinates or something?" he asked, exasperated as he held up his tablet. "Aren't these... things supposed to be so advanced? Can't they just find her?"

[littlemhigan]

((Zoki's since dropped so we're going to assume Tidus has caught up to the party. Pidge is still at large.))

Should the party continue in the direction Patches indicated, they too will soon come across the large old structure, worn away by the forest and time alike. There's a change in the air here; something heavy settles over the party, not unlike setting foot in a graveyard. The very air seems to come to a reverent silence. A moment of searching will reveal Pidge's footprints and, eventually, the worn door...

Pidge, should she forge ahead, will find the hallway beyond a lightless one, but the few motes of soft light wandering in from the outside are enough to make out the faint outline of rooms along the inside wall. The air here is musty and old, but curiously dry.

[sassafrisk]

Frisk rushes to the clearing across the treetops of Sakura Forest, hitting the ground with a perfect three-point landing. Fuck yeah Ninjas. They can't help but to shiver when they sight the old structure, and their normal frantic pace is replaced with a more sedate, yet still urgent stride. They kneel down, inspecting Pidge's footprints, and hiss through their teeth. "Welp. At least we found her. Ish," they say. Hopefully she was alright. After a moment of hesitation, they move forward towards the building's door and open it.

[pidgeypidge]

She's never been afraid of the dark, so of course she's going to press on. The door proves to be less of a challenge than originally anticipated, so she makes her way past it and holds her iMog up, intending to use it as a light source.

She hears the ping of another message coming through, but decides to hold off on checking it for now, in favor of making her way toward one of the closest rooms.

[whirluendo_of_puns]

"Friiisk, wait for us! We can't all be as cool as you!"

Come on, what's a poor Summoner supposed to do with D-rank speed? Certainly not jump between treetops like a badass. At least this time, they manage to catch up before the group can get separated again.

But even for someone as carefree as Patches, this place smells like bad news.

"Going in here all by herself... You gotta admit, that girl's got guts."

[einspine]

"WELL, FORTUNATELY FOR PIDGE, SHE'S NOT ALONE! OR. WELL. SHE WON'T BE FOR LONG!" He points dramatically at their destination, beaming despite the tense circumstances.

And yet... there's something off about the air for sure. Unsettling about their surroundings. His enthusiasm fizzles slightly as he looks on at the looming door.

"NORMALLY I'D SUGGEST FORMING A STRATEGY, BUT PERHAPS WE SHOULD HURRY ALONG. JUST IN CASE..."

[poisonwish]

Snow White shivered. He didn't like that feeling. He couldn't quite put his finger on why, but it made him uneasy. A chill, like a spirit passing through him -- or how he imagined it would feel.

"Maybe we should wait..." he heard himself saying. "Prepare first. We don't know what's in there."

Truthfully, he was afraid to go in.