welcome to the jungle we've got fun and games

[saddleclub]

Who: Y'all
When: Day 8 noonish
Where: THE JUNGLE

[So there is a mostly unexplored jungle out there.

It seems like a good day to explore it, eh?

Please look out for:

Venomous snakes, the smaller ones will leave you fevered and nauseas, the larger may stop your heart.

Spores, inhaling them can leave you with mild to severe continuing hallucinations

Pollen, it may make you sneeze.

Dark shadows in the undergrowth, that seem to whisper as you pass. In familiar voices...? Or that's just the wind.

Vicious monsters. They want to eat you.

And look out, if you go exploring, because halfway through your adventure the sky seems to open up and pour on you, try to find a safe shelter--if that exists in the jungle.

For those of you not inclined to explore well, you may see lights in the jungle, little wisps, of light in the growth, or maybe it's your team colors you see? The more you look the more you feel practically compelled to follow those lights and flashes of something familiar....

Maybe you get caught by the jungle's dangers, trapped in a cave by the downpour, or maybe you make it to an odd break around a still pond, the surface so smooth it's almost like a mirror. If you look in, your reflection looks back. And it smiles at you.

And if you make it this far, if you look deep into your reflection and let it stare back, you might find yourself leaning down, towards it--hopefully you have a companion to pull you back before pale arms reach to pull you in and drown you.

Even if you're pulled back from the glass pool, a strange dread lingers with you for a while. And the urge to be near others is incredibly strong. Be it their presence or their touch you crave, you need reassurance.

((OOC: Explore, use this an excuse for wet huddling together in a cave while hallucinating, get cool new scars from fighting beasts, encounter the glassy pool, or whatever! Grab a buddy, have a good(?) time.))]

Comments

[unaffective]

A: [ after a few days just kind of holed up in her carriage, heading out just every once in a while, elaine finally just gets restless and heads out into the jungle for a bit, quietly, without telling anyone. she wanders pretty deep, or at least intends to - plans to get far out enough that she isn't bothered by anyone, or doesn't bother anyone. she doesn't especially want to use any magic, but if anything attacks her, at least she can still heal, she thinks.

and then, as she's going, she hears the voices. logic dictates it's a trick, she knows that it is, but she can't risk the slim chance that it isn't - she breaks into a dash in pursuit of the source, and just.

slams right into you. fortunately she isn't especially big. ]

B: [ all of this but instead you meet her a little later on, as she's taking shelter from the rain at the pond, staring at her reflection oddly... intently? ]

A.

[nihilmancy]

[it keeps happening

Tabby was actually levitating, so she tumbles back through the air before grabbing a tree.

She looks a bit out of it, squinting to try to make out Elaine among shifting colors and patterns.]

Hmm?

[unaffective]

I'm -

[ dark skin. dark hair? no, that isn't right either.

exhaled, slowly, looking at her like she's sort of. coming to terms with this situation? ]

... Sorry...

[nihilmancy]

[Tabby shakes squeezes her eyes shut, shaking her head.]

No, it's- I can't see so well right now.

[unaffective]

I wasn't thinking.

[ a pause, ]

Are you alright?

[nihilmancy]

I'm fine. I just- I believe I'm rather, inebriated. It will, fade.

[She floats back to the ground, leaning against a tree. Her speech is a bit slow like she's taking a moment to choose her words.]

[batshitty]

[ fortunately she isn't especially big and ohia is fucking huge

so she just sort of catches her, in a way that almost sort of suggests she might have regained some semblance of future sight, or maybe just that she could hear you fucking running ]

Uh. Hey?

[unaffective]

[ sort of

pulls back. quiet for a good few moments, shocked - this is definitely not who she was expecting ]

... ʻŌhiʻa...?

[batshitty]

M -- Elaine.

[unaffective]

I -

[ well, she can't hear anything now, but. either way. either way, at least it's a familiar face. ]

... I'm sorry. I thought that I had heard...

[batshitty]

Heard what?

1/2

[unaffective]

My -

[unaffective]

[ ... ]

Someone's voice... though it seems to have been my imagination. My apologies.

[ reaching for her hand ]

It's hardly appropriate for you to be out here alone.

[ she says, having been out here alone. ]

b

[cawnflict]

[ He's clearing his throat.

At least he's not being sneaky. ]

[unaffective]

[ just looks up, abruptly, startled - ]

I -

[ but it's just ciabatta. it's just her teammate, but be that as it may she never really seems to like. calm down? even as she stands and turns away from the pond to meet up with him, the fear in her eyes is palpable. she's pretty clearly unsettled by. something or another. ]

... My apologies. Was there something that you needed...?

[cawnflict]

No. I just didn't want to startle you even more, in case you fell in.

[ though that would have been funny. ]

[unaffective]

[ she has so much hair. it would've been funny. ]

I am not - frightened, particularly... it's only a pond.

[cawnflict]

It would ruin your clothes.

[ He's on Senna for a reason... . . . ]

What are you doing out here, anyway?

[unaffective]

I thought that I would go for a walk, and it started to rain...

[ reaching for his hand, though ]

Though - it's hardly appropriate for you to be out here alone.

[ even though she's the one who looks unsettled, still - no matter what she actually says, she probably just wants to hold his hand. ]

[cawnflict]

[ h-hand.

hum.


well okay, she can have it, carefully. ]

Sometimes it's better to be alone.

[unaffective]

... Are you leaving...?

[ it comes out a little more plaintive than she really means for it to, very soft - and she sort of startles a little at the sound of her own voice, a tiny jolt he'd probably miss if they weren't holding hands. ]

[cawnflict]

[ stop being adorable....... he has a soft spot. ]

No. I could use a break, anyway.

[unaffective]

[ her reflection made her SAD ]

We can -

[ an inhale. she doesn't really like the idea of letting someone she barely knows see her like this, even if it's a teammate, she has just enough sense remaining to think that, but.

she can't calm down and he's warm and closeby. ]

Returning to the carriage is likewise acceptable... my apologies.

[ sort of muttered, near his arm. we are getting exponentially more clingy as time passes. ]

[cawnflict]

[ hm.

nah, he's actually just going to sit down completely, crossing his legs under him. ]

We spend too much time in there. Fresh air is good for you.

[unaffective]

... Is that so...

[ she settles down a less intimate distance away, limbs heavy, anxious, more awkward than usual. he's not really wrong, even if there's context behind her hiding that she thinks he's probably missing, but something about the comment is oddly nostalgic.

in her rational mind, far in the back, she kicks herself a bit - it's barely been a week since the last time she saw her brother, but.

but she can't calm down and ciabatta is warm and closeby. so when she scoots over, aiming to close the distance between them, it is neither quick nor subtle, and she can't really bring herself to meet his eyes. ]

... Pardon me.