Origin Star Finale: Session 2

[fairwind]

Who: explorers
When: Day 54, noon
Where: The Final Island

[At nearly noon, Thyme's airship returns from the island with the first session's explorers. Everyone receives a chain message:

Time for round two. If you want to go, gather up.

Those who wish to go looking for the second totem can now board the airship. It waits around 20 minutes -- long enough for a quick break for those who are going twice in a row -- but then heads off again with its new crew. Along the way, everyone gets a lecture:]

Okay, for everyone who missed it the last time, here are the rules:

You're not looking for a monster to beat up. You're looking for a totem, that you'll have to deactivate by showing positive emotions. Any creatures you meet on the way can also be beaten with good feelings. Some can be killed, but that's not purifying the soul, so try to avoid it.

[When you arrive, it's at a damp sea cave. The airship hovers over the water, leaving you access to the only viable ground -- a narrow, salt-crusted stairway leading up into a tower.]

Comments

[yearofthecat]

[ Eyes widen as he's dragged into the reflection. The emotions of the image overwhelming him as it embraces him. Kyou fights the embrace, as if it's hold is almost as uncomfortable as the emotions it's emitting. ]

Stop! Don't touch me!

[ But he can't fight against it. ]

[bad_crowmance]

[ Crow managed to resist a similar pull and he reaches out to hold out a hand towards Kyou. ]

Hey, I know you don't like touching but grab on!

[hot_mess_express]

[If your hands touch, you can feel eachother just as if there were no barrier.

From there, it's a matter of will -- Kyou's will to pull Crow in, or Crow's will to rescue Kyou? Of course, positive feelings are always stronger, if expressed in equal portions.

You may decide OOCly who pulls who through the mirror.]

[yearofthecat]

[ He most certainly doesn't like touching. But he wants something right now. He needs something right now. Those feelings will go away if he just reaches out.

And so he does reach out to grasp Crow's hand and attempt to drag his teammate into the reflection with him. ]

I just need these feelings to stop.

[bad_crowmance]

[ It's not that Crow doesn't want to help Kyou, but he just isn't as firmly invested in the guy as he might have been if this were one of his friends. This is just a guy, one he doesn't feel that much attachment to, so his desire to get Kyou out isn't really as strong as Kyou's desire to drag Crow in.

...Which he does with a startled sound out of Crow. ]

[overworker]

[And after she just got out, she watches Crow get dragged in.]

Crow!

[For heck's sake!!!]

[bad_crowmance]

[ Too busy yelling at Kyou, sorry Towa. ]

[hot_mess_express]

[Kyou has pulled Crow into the mirror!

All Crow can feel is fury, resentment, and hatred. It's physically painful, like being prickled by a thousand needles.

But Kyou doesn't feel any better. He's just got company now, and rather than the people outside, the resentment they feel may just turn on eachother, with potentially lethal force.]

[yearofthecat]

[ Okay, now he's just pissed. How dare he go through all that work and not even feel a little bit better! ]

GOD DAMMIT! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!

[bad_crowmance]

[ Crow levels a glare at Kyou. Sorry Towa, he's not paying attention to you right now. ]

Oh yeah?! The way I see it, this is what I get for trying to help you!

[overworker]

[WELL EXCUSE HER FOR TRYING TO INTERRUPT YOUR FIGHT IN GAY BABY JAIL BUT--

She's just going to keep yelling.]

Crow, knock it off! Fighting isn't going to help! You're just letting the feelings in the mirror influence you!

[bad_crowmance]

[ Excellent advice, too bad he isn't listening. ]

[yearofthecat]

Help me?

[ Have you forgotten? ]

Your LAST attempt to help me--I got EATEN. You're 0 for 2 now!

[bad_crowmance]

[ Crow balls his fists at his sides. ]

You're the one who wanted to sit around and do nothing until you were too crazy to stop yourself. At least I was trying to do something!

[ He hasn't forgotten! ]

Hell, I'd gotten the impression you'd prefer being eaten!

[overworker]

WOULD ONE OF YOU PLEASE LISTEN TO ME?!

[She has one (1) orbal gun and she will use it. To shoot at the opposite wall. A warning shot.]

I understand you're angry, but none of this is helping-- if you want to fight each other, do it once you're out of there. If you get stuck in there or something bad happens, then what?!

[bad_crowmance]

[ The shot at the wall gives Crow reason to pause and he glances over. ]

Oh, hey Towa.

[overworker]

Don't "hey Towa" me!

[Towa sighs.]

Give me your hand. I'm getting you out of there. You can fight later.

[bad_crowmance]

....Yeah, sure.

[ Crow holds his hand out towards Towa. ]

[overworker]

[Towa will reach out and grab his hand. No matter what happens, she's not letting go.]

[notafruit]

Kyou-san...?

[ Gently, coming before him in the stone wall. She can tell he's angry... bustling energy as though his hair were all on end. He wound up inside the wall too. She doesn't know why she was spared, only that she's not willing to leave a single person inside. ]

Kyou-san... hey...

[yearofthecat]

[ On the one hand, he's really thankful she is safe. On the other, she's probably going to try to help him out. He doesn't know she's already assisted several people by now. ]

Go away! You're just going to get dragged in here too!

[ He. HE will drag her in. Just like he did to Crow. ]

[notafruit]

[ Gently, she shakes her head. ]

I won't be pulled in.

[ She's heartened... feeling somehow more confident and positive than before. She doesn't understand how or why this happened, but she absolutely knows that they are more than able to escape these walls. ]

Kyou-san... I know you're scared and upset and angry right now. I can barely believe my eyes-- that something like this is possible.

[ Falling through walls? It's as though she's stepped into an impossible movie. Nothing makes sense, but here they are. ]

But... you don't belong there. Do you remember what we were told when we set out? We... we're fighting against the 'malice'. And our best defense... our only defense, is to strengthen our bonds and fight against it knowing that we are stronger than whatever it has to throw at us.

[ A faint smile, gentle as she reaches a hand out to gently rest it upon the wall. ]

I believe in you. You're warm and kind, and whenever I think back to my memory with you, my heart fills up with so much joy. I know that you can get out of there. So let's do it, together.

[yearofthecat]

[ He trusts her. With everything he's seen about her--she's someone he trusts completely. Together. The word alone brought a feeling of warmth to him that flowed throughout his body. Butterflies fluttering within his stomach. ]

I don't want to hurt you.

[ But his hand reaches out to meet hers and press against the rock, their hands touching as they met together. ]

[notafruit]

You won't. I promise.

[ And she believes it. Kyou wouldn't hurt her. She understands that much. When his hands finally find her own, her fingers curl about his and she pulls him toward her with a tug, determined to free him from that place. ]

[yearofthecat]

[ And just as she was determined, out he came stumbling out of the stones and into her with a burst of smoke. ]

What just...

[ He looks up and the face he'd been looking into just moments before is much MUCH larger than it was just a moment before. ]