auroraexpress | EVENT: The Very Hungry Nightblossom FINALE

Who: everybody
When: Day 10, sunrise
Where: mainly outside

[Sometime early in the morning, there's a deep rumble, as the ground shakes. The vines previously grabbing at the Aurora and its heroes multiply rapidly, completely coating the train and shutting out starlight. For a moment everything creaks, as if the metal itself is about to cave in.

But then it stops. Somewhere far away something roars, and suddenly the vines retreat, leaving only a few remaining cracks in the ground. Below, the caves have only the harmless glowing mushrooms which, should you choose to attempt eating them, prove to quickly fill one's stomach and leave them with a burst of energy. You can follow the tunnels still, though -- now that they're free of monster plant, you'll find it's one big connected network. There are various small caves in which iridescent white crystals grow, letting off a faint light reminiscent of the moon. From them drips a translucent liquid which feels soft and cool on the skin, until it seeps in. Once it's in your bloodstream you'll find yourself caught in a euphoria that encourages acting on your every impulse. If you want to steal something, you will. If you want to kiss someone, you will. If you want to kill someone...

...Well. It's possible to overcome the compulsions, at least. You need only picture someone you care more about than yourself, and concentrate. Unfortunately the high that comes with it can be addictive, so one must take care when exploring the caves.

It's unlikely anyone will get much exploring done before sunrise, but if you're not in the deep dark where signal is poor, you'll be woken at dawn by a loud and cheerful jingle on your Chain. Even if you were previously dead, you're sure up now! Accompanying it is the slight shift in the train that usually comes with a trial, and a message that just says:

come outside

If you follow the summons, you'll see that rather than a scary tower or spooky house, there's what appears to be a really flashy convertible, painted a shimmering deep rose. Leaning against the hood is a man who appears just over twenty, with long hair and bright eyes, both quite literally twinkling with stars.

His voice might be familiar, if you were one of the first arrivals. But the tone, rather than sad and soft, is... frankly annoyingly full of energy. As is his smile as he waves at everyone coming out.]

"Good morning, my lovely heroes!"

[[OOC NOTES: Anyone who died will be revived at the time of the prince's arrival, even if it's earlier than the 1 day revival timeline. Injuries can still be there depending on your character's timeline, but there are a couple of hours between the plants leaving and the prince appearing, so everyone should have had time to catch their breath and take a shower at least.]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

With magic?

Technically magic? But not my magic. I paid 500 sparks for it.

That's expensive. I could've healed you.

It was less than 10% of what I had saved. It was cheap.

How have you earned so much? I only have my winnings from the one game.

I've been here longer. Do you need me to pay for your healing?

I mean, it's not like I'm going to do a lot of flying. Even if I knew how. I haven't tried.

I can't take your sparks.

[crosses her arms]

If you want to pay for it yourself or split the cost, that's fine too, but you need to heal your wings. Whether you fly with them or not, they're injured limbs and should be treated as such. Do you want a staph infection in your bones?

Can you get a staph infection in wings?

Anything that can happen to your arm can happen to your wing.

All right, all right. We can split it.

Thank you. It's hard enough getting Fang to get treatment!

Edited 2019-02-06 03:50 (UTC)

Sorry, it's just... it's weird to let someone pay for you, you know.

Nonsense! We're teammates. Every spark I've earned, I've earned with Thyme's support.

Really? All from trials?

No. Emotional and home support counts too.

Emotional and home support?

We're sorted into teams for a reason, you know.

Yeah, the prince was saying something about that being the best way to encourage positive emotions.

Right! And like, for me, I get homesick easily. And... the slime that looked like a wolf? That's someone I miss. It's been a bad time for me here. But it would be a lot worse if I was here by myself. Even just listening to you guys bustle around the train car helps me keep working.

You know a werewolf?

Yes?

But if he's a friend, why were you so worried about him?

That wasn't him. That was a slime being cruel.

Oh, I get it. You were upset because you knew it wasn't real...

(no subject)

bowtiedbones - 2019-02-10 02:24 (UTC) - Expand

malignstar - 2019-02-10 02:36 (UTC) - Expand

bowtiedbones - 2019-02-10 03:49 (UTC) - Expand

malignstar - 2019-02-10 03:51 (UTC) - Expand