trainmasters: (Default)
Aurora Express Mods ([personal profile] trainmasters) wrote in [community profile] auroraexpress2019-02-15 09:27 pm

Unlock! (1)

Who: Everyone
When: Day 12, evening into night
Where: the Aurora

[As evening approaches, you hear the jingle associated with an official message from your Chain. It's the same balloons and confetti animation as the last time newbies arrived, and the same message as well:]
WELCOME NEW HEROES

[As anticipated, some newbies are waking up in their rooms, in the usual nondescript undies or team pyjamas.

Just after this, however, something much more startling happens...

Outisde, the bell tone gets all the louder, a beautiful resonating sound that fills the air. Then, suddenly, a flood of strange square-shaped sparkles appear, floating around like magical fireflies, bringing with them a pleasant warmth. They increase in size and volume until the air itself whites out with a bright but pleasant light. While you can't see, you can hear the bell, and the distant rumbling of stone.

Abruptly, the sound stops, and the bright light fades to reveal a sky painted in sunset hues. Where there was once a dark and hostile jungle with cracks in the ground, there's now a colourful rainforest environment and a floor thick with bright moss. The sounds of birds and insects and regular wildlife rise over the previous silence, and the aggressive plantlife is replaced by large flowers and succulent fruits. In one direction, a dirt path winds through the trees, and in the opposite, the brush gives way to a stone formation with a flat top and an opening flanked in carvings of water and plants.

If one were to enter the new cave entrance, they'd find the previous moon crystals replaced by rainbow ones that reflect sparkling light onto the floor, and feel soothingly warm to the touch. Further into the caves, there's a carved stone path that leads to the beach you initially arrived on. There stands the Prism: a large floating cube in the center of gyproscope-like concentric rings. Where it had been glowing black, it's now a royal purple, and the light and energy from it are significantly less malicious than before -- though still far from pure. The beach itself is now covered in fine white sand, and the sea no longer tries to pull you in -- provided you don't go out too far.

Because not all is well on this Star just yet. While the nearby water contains a reef of colourful fish, 100 meters or so out to sea the water turns black again. While under water in the safe area, you can occasionally see the shadows of great and terrible monsters deep in the dark.

Likewise, should you choose to follow the first path, after ~1km you'll find the forest fades back into the previous dense, dark jungle. At the edge of the darkness, there's something new -- the remains of what looks like a modern town. It's all overgrown, cottages twisted into ruins and streets covered in vines and prowled by tiger monsters and a new threat: towering reptilian creatures that climb the crumbling shells of apartment buildings and the empty City Hall, like geckos increased to dinosaur size. They're fast, and if they catch you they'll swallow you whole. On the one side, that makes it easier for someone to save you -- they could cut you out. On the other, those unable to be rescued will find their skin and muscles becoming slowly more transparent and stiff, the colour and feeling leaving them until their minds are trapped in a useless shell. Those found in that condition later must be saved via the healing pods -- but they'll remember their stay in their glass bodies, with their blood running and heart pumping like a living anatomical model of their organs.

On the Aurora, however, you're welcome to enjoy the first sight of the sun in 12 days. As the brilliant sunset moves into a night reigned over by a gentle moon, the Heartbeat Festival remains in full swing. So celebrate your victory with a glass of shimmery alcohol and a kiss, because you've done it -- your love has purified a part of this Star!]

[[OOC NOTES: CONGRATULATIONS on your first Prism purification, guys! There is a toplevel for ICly suggesting train upgrades here, so check it out! Next week we'll post a poll, and the week after the upgrade will be implemented.

The updates to the Setting page to reflect this post will be made soon, so keep an eye out!]]
ruinatings: (089)

[personal profile] ruinatings 2019-02-17 02:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Shut up.

[Rufus is way too upset to want to hear nice things. Or bad things either, honestly. He is too upset to be a person in general!! And even though Jusis is telling him right now that he cares too much about appearances, and even though it was only a few weeks ago that all of Class VII smacked the same thing into his head, he's still panicking at the idea of making an ugly face in public.

Just like he was panicking about liking Randy too much (even though it feels really good)! And panicking about attaching to a pet who's reliant on his ability to not be selfish (even though he's already been snuggling up when no one's watching)!

He'd really like to climb out of his own head right now.]

I am not going to keep talking about this.

[It's so stupid!! He's so stupid. So he's just getting up and going inside.]
saddleclub: (23)

[personal profile] saddleclub 2019-02-17 02:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[He takes a deep breath, scrubbing at his face and feeling tired and sad and like he fucked up. He calls the dog and brings her in at least, but he won't push Rufus more for now.]
ruinatings: (092)

[personal profile] ruinatings 2019-02-17 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[TO RUFUS' CREDIT the dog will follow him anyway. He has in fact been very cute while no one's watching and now he's going to go to his room and lie face-down with his nameless dog who won't ask him to be a human being.]
saddleclub: (16)

[personal profile] saddleclub 2019-02-17 02:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[he's not at all surprised the dog is attached to Rufus. It's not like he doesn't know his brother is kind at heart, even if he's so damaged he refuses to show that to anyone else.]