Test Drive Meme #1

[staymods]

Crash Course

It happened in an instant. One moment you were in your own world, doing your own thing. The next, you were standing on a small wooden dock. Or on a grassy hill surrounded by sheep. Or on a rocky outcropping near a lake. Or, if you were particularly unlucky, in the lake itself.

Regardless of your exact arrival spot, you were quickly scooped up by some gruff men and women in uniform who said you would get answers so long as you cooperated. The answers they had to provide, however, were sparse. You had ended up in the Saimaa lake system in Finland in Year 99, and nobody knew the 'how' or 'why'. All they had beyond that was a promise of a safe place to stay, so long as you followed the rules and didn't cause trouble. Some fought, some argued, but those who listened were eventually taken to "Otherworlder Settlement #5". A new home for the foreseeable future, until more answers can be discovered.

The Finnish government promised that this settlement was safe to stay in, but that doesn't mean it's easy living. Food and basic supplies are provided, but there is very limited electricity and not much in terms of modern commodities. Do you know how to use a canoe? Do you know how to cook over an open fire? Can you stand taking a bath in a lake? The first few days of life on this island are going to be a crash course in surviving without most modern conveniences, and for some it might be more of an adjustment than others.

But hey, at least there are others around to help you learn, right? Maybe your new neighbor is willing to swap skills with you.

Cats! Cats! Cats!

As you settle in to life on this chain of islands, a few things are going to become quickly evident. Firstly, life here is slow. With strict warnings to not leave the safety of the sea nets and communications from the outside world only coming once a week, there's a lot of time to explore and think.

Secondly, while there is an abundance of birds, fish, and insects, mammal life on these islands is rather sparse. You may see a small land mammal here or there- rabbits, mice, maybe a fox or two- there isn't the level of biodiversity you might expect of a backwater forest. It certainly is strange, and you'll need to investigate the islands further to see just what there is to offer.

The sole exception to this lack of mammals? Cats. Nearly every island- excepting only Snake Island- has at least one colony of semi-feral cats living on it. While these cats are out outright hostile, they do seem a bit aloof. It will take time and effort to win their affections, if you are inclined to gaining a feline companion. Or food, if you don't mind sharing. The cats do seem motivated by food.

If asked, the local NPCs who drop off supplies once a week will tell the Otherworlders that all cats are helpful for detecting threats, but that if you can find young kittens of around 3 months old that they can be more easily acclimated to being around people. The NPCs also warn the Otherworlders that if all the cats suddenly poof up and start hissing while staring in the same direction that you need to leave that area immediately and radio for help. The ominous message isn't explained further.

Ruins of Yesteryear

Not much information is given about "Otherworlder Settlement #5" upon arrival. The Otherworlders are told that the settlement used to be home to a small village that was destroyed 20 years ago, but that it has since been cleansed and is safe for resettlement. The government assures everyone that such practices are normal, and that with limited 'safe spaces' they have to cleanse and rebuild where possible.

That may not be much of a comfort, though, when you have to face the charred remains of houses on a daily basis.

While there are a few buildings still usable, the majority of the buildings on Rabbit Island have been partially or completely burned to the point of being unusable. They will eventually need to be cleared for new houses and facilities to be built, but for now they have been left standing due to a lack of manpower to do the demolition. They stand as a grim reminder that while the island is supposedly safe now, it wasn't so in the recent past.

Remnants of the past can be found in the charred ruins, though. Bits of metal in the form of silverware, tools, and jewelry are the most abundant, having weathered the hot flames all those years ago. In some lucky places with less fire damage, partially-burned blankets and books remain. Dishware, cooking utensils, small pots for indoor herbs. Traces of those who used to live here can be found here and there. But will you go looking, or will you leave those trinkets where they lay?

Deep Dreaming

It might not happen the first night, or the night after. But at some point early into your stay on the islands, you will fall into a deep sleep, one so deep that you cannot easily awaken. You feel as though you are drifting down slowly, like a leaf falling from the sky, until you find yourself laying on the ground.

When you open your eyes, the area around you will seem familiar and safe. It could be your childhood home, or a city you live in now. Regardless, it is far away from the islands you have settled on, and for a moment it might look like you've made it home. That thought will be quickly dashed by two important details: there are no other people in this dream, and the dream only takes up a space of about 50 square meters before it abruptly ends.

If you go to the edge of the dream, however, you will be able to see the space between dreams, an endless expanse of water and starry sky. Be careful stepping outside of the safety of the dream, though! Those who wander too far will feel uneasy, like something dangerous is watching them.

Your dream isn't the only thing there besides the space between, though! You will find yourself about 2 meters away from the boundary of another person's dream. And while you won't be able to step in of your own accord, you might be able to knock on the barrier of the person next to you to say hello. Or maybe they're already there, awake and waiting to say hello. Or maybe they're knocking on the boundary of your dream, waiting for you to let them in. Regardless, it should be okay. While the space between feels dangerous, the dreams themselves are safe.

Do be courteous, though. Those who see the dreams will remember what happens when they wake up.

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Comments

Questions

[staymods]

If you have any questions about any of the TDM prompts, please ask them here!

[abysslord]

A - Crash Course

[If Yuri has learned anything over the course of his life, it's to keep his personal distress to himself, no matter what. The Finnish authorities took in a calm young man when they found him, and sent out a calm young man to this "Otherworlder" settlement with little fuss. And he got to work.

At the crack of dawn, he's up and about, and by the time most people would properly consider it morning, you'll find him cooking over an open flame. He's set up a stand and a pot, and is carefully minding a weathered pot of government-supplied porridge. The base stuff is bland, which is fine, but he's went and dug deep into the food storage for a couple of jars of some kind of fruit or berry jam to put on top. Adding a little sweetness never hurt anyone, right? When you approach, he'll look up and offer you a beguiling smile.]

Morning, sleepyhead. Rest well?

B - Cats! Cats! Cats!

No, no, come on, I can't-

[The cats are everywhere. Unavoidable. Yuri is aware that they're needed in this world, but a litter of kittens just keeps following him after he'd left some fish out upon discovering them. And for fuck's sake, he can't rub at his eyes or he'll ruin his makeup and there's only so much he's got.

Yuri sneezes as one kitten climbs up his pant leg. Ow, he can feel the claws.]

Oh, you little shit, stop being so damn cute. I'll be useless if even one of you lives with me...

[Someone please. At least take the other cats away? His resolve's already wavering for the one latched onto his leg but he doesn't want allergies to kill him.]

C - Ruins of Yesteryear

[It's hard to not be curious when you go from an underground ruin chock full of histories that the surface wants to forget to above-ground ruins that the natives seem uninterested in examining. So, when he's got a little time, Yuri goes to check out one of the more partially standing houses.]

A shame they want us to clear this out...I mean, yeah, it's a hazard, but they're not even going to take a look inside?

[He says this to you, or to the air, whichever is applicable, and picks his way through the rubble. Thankfully the roof that once covered this home is long gone, so he doesn't have to worry about anything falling on his head, but the walls could still collapse or the floor could give out, so his steps are light and even as he shifts rubble aside.]

Goddess, I hope whatever happened here wasn't just a big fire. Really wouldn't want to come across any human remains today.

[It's said with some remorse, though, because he wouldn't feel comfortable leaving bones to be swept up in reconstruction.]

D - Deep Dreaming

[When you peek out beyond your dream, you can see another - darkness, dim firelight, stone walls both built and carved from the earth. There's a bridge that crosses a massive, rushing waterfall, and on that bridge, leaning on the edge, stands Yuri. His eyes are closed, and he's quiet, savoring the sound roaring in his ears, until it seems he's sensed you watching. He turns to look, and...waves.]

Heh, what're you doing here? You don't belong in Abyss.

[He's smiling, the soft kind that says he's not mad, just teasing. And curious! What are you doing over there?]

D

[battling]

[ An old, familiar cave. Beautiful gem stones glitter in the silence, and there's a lake in the middle of it all that reflects and brightens the area. ]

Could ask the same for ya. What're you doing in the Cave of Time?

[ A friendly smile, with a curious tilt of his head. ]

What kinda name's abyss?

c

[suddenlybees]

[ Some people are drawn to the houses by mystery or history, and some people, Kano being the second example, are simply here to scavenge, steps quick and light as he passes through what he thinks used to be a living room— there's the charred remains of a dining table? what might pass for the frame of a bed. The dividing wall is completely gone, and he has to wonder whether a fire can be so selective. ]

Huh? Ugh. Now I'm also hoping so~

[ He hadn't thought about dead bodies but now he has to, thanks!! ]

At least they'd only be, like, bones? If they've been here so long, li'l critters must've picked 'em all apart by now, right? Like, no squishy bits left?

A

[mt_hobo]

[The young man, only a few years younger than Yuri, that approaches nods. He did sleep pretty well, considering. But it looks like Yuri wasn't the only one up and about early, considering he has a long sharpened stick over his shoulder with a few small fish hooked through the mouths hanging from it.]

a

[argentlarvae]

I did, thank you. [Did this teen sleep in the woods last night? Possibly, he looks a little rumpled and there's a leaf stuck in his hair.

The sun is up, but it's still fairly early in the morning.]

You're up early. [Cyan has been up for hours, but he hasn't really been around where everyone else is gathered.]

Sebastian Michaelis | Black Butler

[qualite]

⛧Crash Course.

While Sebastian had no need for food, sleep, or basic human needs he could appreciate the finer things. While this place was lacking what most would certainly call 'comfortable', none of that particularly mattered to a demon. His initial minutes are used to survey the area (which found him not an awful lot, truthfully), while the remaining moments were set aside to locating his young master.

Upon failing that he lets out a sigh... and decides to head toward a poor human that seemed to be struggling with something as basic as cooking over a flame or perhaps about to drink water that has not been properly boiled for safety. Maybe struggling with lighting a simple fire in the first place? My, humans were such silly little things, weren't they?

Whoever he stumbles upon will find a rather perfectly postured butler looming over their shoulder. Brown-red hazel eyes critiquing their attempt at 'survival' even as he offers a polite smile. "Excuse me, are you perhaps in need of assistance?"

Perhaps he could find them useful for something.

⛧Cats.

Perhaps this place was not so bad after all! While the general establishment was wholly unfinished, disheveled and broken he could at least appreciate the rather fine wildlife. Minimal pesky birds, hardly a vole or mole in sight, and he had yet to see a disgusting dog... but a plethora of delightful felines that seemed far too willing to examine and watch himself and the other humans attempting to survive around them.

Since the butler has no need for food himself, he has taken to feeding the strays almost immediately. One could easily find him among a sea of cats with one splayed out across his thighs with his gloved hand gently petting the fur of its stomach as the opposite hand oh so carefully squeezes the delightfully pink pads of its paws.

"Ah... Your coat is so luxurious, if you don't mind my saying so." Another pet and the cat meows as its paw is squeezed softly with a thumb, forcing its claws to extend and then retract upon release. "The shape of your eyes is quite enrapturing... I am surprised no fool as swept you up for themselves already."

⛧Ruins of Yesteryear.

Humans fed and cats pet, Sebastian takes again to exploring this new and inconvenient place that he appears to be trapped in. The decaying, rotting buildings are hardly interesting enough to hold his attention but due to the circumstances he decides to pay them their dues today. Gloved fingers brush along a broken down beam before rubbing together as he examines the residue that he quickly wipes away without a second thought.

His meal playing master was not currently here, he was a bit disappointed--it was a rare opportunity for an acute, special kind of suffering that almost specifically targeted his young master's weaknesses. A well-polished shoe toes away some rubble as he shakes his head. "Truly a waste."

⛧OOC.
While I prefer prose, please feel free to use brackets if that is what is comfortable for you. I'll happily change or we can both just play in the style that most suits us. I don't mind at all! If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a PM.

crash course

[suddenlybees]

"Huh? Um..." The boy in question looks up a beat too slow, as if not realizing he was being spoken to and having to hitch a smile onto his face as an afterthought. The handful of grass in his hands is given a little shake to rid the dirt clinging to the ends, ripped off in the amateur way of somebody who doesn't know to pull weeds out by the roots.

Kano is not weeding.

He holds the fistful of grass out to Sebastian and asks him, "Hey, do you think these are edible? They're green." Criteria for vegetables: green, found in nature, he's seen sheep eat this stuff and not die so people will also maybe not die eating it.

cats

[aono]

Another demon- well, half-demon technically- has also taken interest in the cats. Given that he is a vaguely cat-themed demon and that his Luonto has manifested as a cat, this might not be too surprising.

What actually is surprising is that the cats haven't quite warmed up to Rin in the way they have warmed up to Sebastian. Rin is near the outer edge of the sea of cats Sebastian is currently surrounded by, and he's trying to catch the attention of a couple of the outlying cats with some hushed calls. "Hey, here kitty kitty!"

The cats seem nonplussed by his presence and are even regarding him with that judgemental look that only cats can pull off. Who is this strange person and why is he intruding on their space? Eventually the cats he had been calling out to stand up, which makes Rin's face light up with excitement. But then they walk away from him, heading over towards Sebastian instead, and his face falls once more.

Then it's time for Rin to address Sebastian. "Man, how do you do it? They don't want anything to do with me!"

Cats

[give_kitty_cake]

It was unusual to see one man pay so much attention to a group of cats. He had brought them food, attention, even worked a burr out of one cat's fur, but still Koma kept her distance from him. It was safer to watch from afar.

And none of the food he had brought looked like cake.

Cyan | The Grim Reaper and an Argent Cavalier

[argentlarvae]

arrival
[One moment, Cyan was in the desert under the punishingly hot sun, watching Bright dramatically flail around talking about how terrible it would be if they weren't--

the next he was under water, flailing in the sudden cold shock until he managed to grab on to a floating tree trunk and keep his head above water long enough to get pulled into a boat.

They don't recognize him from wanted posters, they're clearly some kind of military but they don't say anything about his sword, and so he just listens to what they have to say, tugs the collars of his tunic and his robe up a little more to make sure there's no danger of the spider mark on his neck showing, and doesn't ask too many questions.

When he's dropped off on the island, that's when things get a little easier. Not easy, but this is at least pretty normal. Nobody's going to have to worry about food, at least for a little bit, and there's shelter, and water. So the first thing he's going to do is to get a good fire going. He's off in the woods, breaking low, dead branches off of trees and gathering them up in a pile.]

Oh, hello! [Cyan says, to a stranger walking up on him. He's a teenager with a friendly smile, wearing a tunic and trousers and leather boots, with a gleaming silver sword at his side.]

Are you busy?

ruins
[It's risky, but they don't have a lot of supplies, and even if this village has been abandoned for a while it still might have something worth looking for. He has a heavy staff in one hand and he taps on the side of a half-collapsed house before he looks inside.]

Hello! Is there anyone in there?

cats
[Everything's falling into place pretty smoothly with the people they have (no one Cyan recognizes, but more importantly no one who recognizes him) and so Cyan has a few moments to.... try and lure a cat over. He's on his belly on the ground, wiggling a little branch with a leaf still attached on it in front of a suspicious-looking half-grown tabby. He's very focused. It's not very successful.]

[[ooc: hello it's hydok hmu for plotting if you want]]

arrival

[aono]

[Rin is actually pretty new too, and he's stopped nearby to watch Cyan build that fire. While Rin can make fire on his own, this is probably the better way to do it. Just lighting fires to cook by has been draining him of his magic strength pretty quickly, and he suspects it has something to do with this world.]

Beyond thinking about what to make for dinner? Not really. What's up?

[He looks like he has a question for Cyan too.

He is absolutely going to ask if he can use Cyan's fire to cook over tonight.]

arrival

[suddenlybees]

Yeah.

[ Kano says this, but he has his hands shoved in his pockets and nothing apparently going on- he actually goes ahead and plops down onto the ground in front of the pile of branches despite there not being a fire yet, carefully positioning himself so that most of that sword is obscured from his vision but he can still see the very tip.

You know the concept. If you can't see it, it can't see you. ]

Are you almost done? It gets pretty chilly at night!

Chuuta and Drew | ēlDLIVE

[homeecspacecop]

cats?
It is weird! [Says the middleschooler, to no one in particular.] Do you think the cats ate them all? [There's no one else there?]

Yeah! It is! [Is he on a phone? He certainly isn't talking to you.]

ruins
[Drew wants to go there!]

There isn't anything interesting in any of these houses, we've already looked in most of them. [Chuuta says, frowning at yet another ruined building. There's a...... something??? mascot character??? growing out of the middle of his torso and looking back up at him.]

[Come on, Chuuta! Drew wants to see! There might be something!]

cooking!
Here you go! [Chuuta says, handing a bowl of some kind of savory porridge. It's not fancy, but it's well cooked. Probably surprisingly so, given the limited food options available.]

I hope you enjoy it!

[Or maybe you've been helping him work out how to cook on a fire. He might only be 14, but he clearly knows what he's doing when it comes to cooking and knifework. He just is way more used to cooking on a stove than in a pot over a fire.]

[[ooc: it's hydok again! please note anything formatted [like this] is NOT audible to your character]

cats???

[suddenlybees]

The cats ate who? What??

[ Hello???? Kano leans around Chuuta, as if the person he's talking to is just very small and prone to hiding in the kid's shadow or something. Surely not a ghost. Surely not the ghost of all the people the cats apparently ate. ]

Rin Okumura | Blue Exorcist

[aono]

(A quick note! Rin's icons are of him with white hair because that's all I have at the moment. In the game proper he will actually have black hair. So just pretend he has black hair here.

Also he has a tail but he's hiding it currently, and his demon ears are hidden under his hair.)

Ruins of Yesteryear

[Rin isn't going into any of the fire-damaged remains. They all look far too unstable, and he's not sure anything useful can be found in there in the first place. Instead, he's standing outside the blackened husk of a house, looking up at once was a second floor window.]

I wonder what happened here. They wouldn't even tell us when they brought us here.

["The settlement fell 20 years ago" definitely isn't enough information.

Rin does have a forlorn look on his face as he inspects the exterior of the house, though. Is it sympathy for those who once lived here? Possibly.]


Deep Dreaming

[Yeah so, Rin's dreams are a very stark contrast to the island he's found himself on. It's a residential area of a huge city, blanketed by a couple centimeters of snow, and there's a lazy drift of snowflakes falling from the sky. The perfect winter day, honestly. If only he didn't remember that it's May in the world he's ended up in. And that he shouldn't be in a city like this.

And that there's no people around in this dream city.

A little unnerved, Rin is going to go right up to the border of his dream and step out onto the space between. For a few moments he's entranced by the expanse of water and they starry night sky, but he's going to quickly notice the dream right next to his. And he's going to immediately try to walk right in, which means he's smacking his face against the boundaries of that other person's dream.]

Hey!

[He steps back and rubs at his nose as he looks up at the wall that blocks him from stepping in. He's contemplating making some noise to get someone's attention, but whoever is dreaming there would have felt him bounce off the barrier anyway. Hi, neighbor.]


Wildcard

[If you want to do something else, just jump right in with it or message me at husbando to work something out.]

Ruins of Yesteryear

[abysslord]

By the way they're keeping us at arm's length, I don't think they did bring us here. Well, not the general here. They did kind of drop us off here on this island.

[Oh hey, here's Yuri. He's giving the structure a once-over before casually, as you please, lightly stepping inside. Very careful steps, but he knows what he's doing. You can't be a good thief with heavy footfalls, after all.]

Gonna spend all day staring at the foundation or are you coming in?

Pick your poison!

[notquitedracula]

Scenario A: Crash Course
[The lake water had been exceptionally cold when Soma awoke to find himself being hauled out of it. The burly gent who'd saved him from a perceived drowning had smacked him on the back a few times to make sure he hadn't inhaled any water - oddly, there'd been no coughing from him. It took a few days for them to give him the basics - where and when he was, a very rough sketch of what was going on, and then they dumped him in a ruined village.

Soma kept his cards close to his chest. He had to; the way these people talked about souls, he was pretty sure they'd have fits if he told them who and what he was. Their cats had definitely given him more than one creepy stare, but finally, he'd been pronounced fit to be around others. And, well, here he is - an albino in a white coat who looks like he's been smacked in the face with a rather large mackerel. Someone should probably help the poor bastard.]

Scenario B: Cats! Cats! Cats!
[The impression he'd gotten from the cats kept by the uniformed folk had been one of careful training and dedication to a task they were uniquely suited to. The cats on the island, however... well, they were different. For one, not one could be coaxed within ten feet of the new arrival with the white hair. No manner of food, cajoling, or trickery short of outright sorcery would allow him to get close enough to pet them.

Which is... odd, since he seems to be holding a tiny black kitten. What trickery is this at play?]

Scenario C: Ruins of Yesteryear
[When he'd been told he could live here, Soma had expected... well, at least a roof. But that was not the case, at least beyond a certain bare minimum - a communal barracks of a sort that afforded no privacy and little more protection from the elements. And then there was the 'bath', a quick dip in the icy lake with what little soap could be scratched together by inexperienced hands.

There had to be a way to fix that. A thousand years' worth of knowledge both technological and magical had to be able to solve at least this relatively minor problem... right?

Well... It probably could, if he could find an intact tub or basin.]

Scenario D: Deep Dreaming
[The form Soma's dream took was pretty simple. A shrine courtyard, carefully swept, with a great torii and a small sand garden, carefully maintained. There were no buildings - apparently they didn't fit inside the bubble - but that was okay. This was probably the only place Soma had ever felt real peace in his lifetime.]

deep dreaming

[suddenlybees]

[ Shit... shit. Fuck. Running in dreams shouldn't wind him, but here Kano is, winded, hood pulled over his head and footsteps splashing as he drags his feet through the space between dreams.

A shrine isn't... well, it isn't what he expected or where he feels he can take refuge, but that's what those places are for, right? A place of safety. Even if it doesn't let him in, forcing him to place his palms flat on its boundary and sort of side-shuffle around like a very dedicated mime trying to find a breach inside. ]

Kiryu Kazuma | Ryu Ga Gotoku/Yakuza

[lone_horse]

crash course

[ Kiryu has never been outside of Japan, so while the year doesn't really throw him off (it's closer to the technology level that he's used to) all the very deliberately Finnish things, the people and the architecture and the feel of the climate throws him off almost as much as the strangeness of how he got to be here.

The settlement, though. The simple living of it? That he takes to like, well, a fish to water. If anyone needs help in learning to fish, in simple repairs, in how to cook with relatively lackluster equipment or handle things without much electricity, he's surprisingly adept for a city boy. And, as ever, happy to help. ]

cats! cats! cats!

[ Cat like Kiryu.

They just do, and these cats are, thankfully, no different in that respect. They're a welcome addition to this strange, mysterious new home he's been taken to, and he's got a pet and a few soft words and usually some food for any of them that happen by. He's not really interested in finding a kitten to raise, but a few of the littler ones have definitely started coming round more often once they realize he's a good source of food and affection. He's happy to let them wander in and out of his life, which is why there's usually a couple around most of the time wherever he is.

When the one he'd been about to put down food for tenses and puffs up, he looks to his companion; this is the first time he's seen this happen.]

We should go.

[ Never ignore the warnings of locals. If he's learned anything, it's that. ]

ruins of yesteryear

[ Kiryu is scavenging. Their supplies in this 'settlement' aren't exactly stellar and while he'd never desecrate a grave, leaving useful items in the wreckage seems a losing proposition. He's careful about it, respectful; anything that looks like a daily item or something that would have little reason for attachment, that he'll take. Anything he could imagine being well-loved or otherwise hold only personal value? That he leaves.

He turns to his companion for the expedition, or maybe just another another person out scavenging too who happens to be nearby, and holds up a nearly pristine book. ]

Do you think this should be of any use?

w i l d c a r d

[ Whatever you can think of! ]

Ruins

[battling]

[He's not nearly as respectful. It's not like he's tossing things this way and that, but he's looking through the stuff and judging it's potential. If they're dead, they're already dead. If they've cursed their things, he'll deal with it later.

Bradley looks up when he's spoken to, looking over the book.]

Looks fine.

[Usually that means somebody's bothered to cast a spell on it. So it's probably valuable. Considering where they are though, it's not like it'll fetch a good price. Or any price.]

Can ya read it?

caesar zeppeli | jojo's bizarre adventure | ota

[casaposa]

cats

[The feral colony is bustling in this bizarre place-the piercing eyes of one meeting his gaze every single time he whips his head around to look at his surroundings. It feels like he's being watched. Taunted.

But they're just cats. Fuzzy little hairballs that want food from the nearest hand and he so happens to have a fish slowly being charred by the fire in front of him.]

Go fill your stomachs with a mouse or two. Don't pine over my meal.

[Dramatic flick of the hand and all, this huffy man stares down the two cats hovering near his personal bubble and-

They don't leave. They fear no man and Caesar isn't callous enough to chase off a pair of hungry cats for his own comfort. They're just animals with a single goal in mind.

He reaches down to his feet to the scraps of fish from his previous catch, tossing them to the pair who immediately devour it.]

That's all you get from me, you know.

ruins

[Putting a village back together is no simple task-one that becomes more daunting by the day. The burnt remains are an unpleasant reminder of a disaster none of them had the misfortune of witnessing. It doesn't make the sight less haunting.

It feels wrong to rummage through another person's home, but it's for survival and whoever lived here has long since passed-whether through death or by settling in another town. He hopes for the latter.

To whoever's with him-]

We'll salvage what we can. Take care of the bedrooms and I'll sort through the kitchen.

deep dreaming

[The short lived comfort of the Italian countryside-memories of playing with his siblings in their family home, sitting with his dad while the scene of cedar tickles his nose-

It makes him mad. The moment he steps into the furthest boundary of his "dream"-he's livid. This isn't a normal memory, not a normal glimpse into the mind-it's a trick of this place and he can't stand it.

But that rage settles in his gut when he makes it the edge of another person's own unfortunate trap. The dreams are connected-to how many? He doesn't know. But it's the only path he can see out of this place. Never one to idle, the moment he sees another hovering on the borderline-]

Stop letting this place toy with you and let me in.

deep dreaming

[aono]

[Rin's dream is that of a snowy city, one so quiet you would swear it is deafening. The only sounds coming from inside are of snow crunching under his footsteps and he works to push a large ball of snow around a fenced-in playground that is close to the border.

It's close enough for Rin to hear Ceasar's words, and he looks up to the man standing there. He has to focus for a moment, but eventually the border of the dream gives way, leaving an opening for Ceasar to step in through.]

What do you mean 'toying'?

[He's standing up near his partially-completed snowman now.]

Faust Lavinia | Mahoutsukai no Yakusoku

[relictus]

crash course

[Faust is cooperative with the government... technically. Mostly because his attempt at a quiet escape revealed early on that something very unusual is going on with his magic, and he opts to cooperate and find more answers that way than risk putting himself at a disadvantage.]

[He's no stranger to living alone in the wilderness either, though things can go a bit... slower without magic. But he doesn't immediately jump at the chance to share his expertise with anyone. Rather, his first priority after getting his initial bearings on the island is to start scoping out the homes that are still mostly standing, checking the rooms and doors for one that's intact enough- and with a working lock- for some privacy.]

cats! cats! cats!

[If anyone comes across the old sauna, they may spot a couple of bowls set out behind it, one containing water and the other a few small fish. Or maybe you're lucky enough to see some of the local cats partaking in the offering, if they don't run off at the sight of you. Whoever is responsible is nowhere to be seen, though.]

[Or maybe this time is your first trip here- either way, you can see Faust kneeling down beside the bowls, refilling the water and adding freshly caught fish from a basket.]

[Though when he notices he's not alone, he quickly straightens and proceeds to overexplain.]

I noticed a few cats lingering near this place, and I had some extra fish on hand. So it seemed like a good place to leave it.

deep dreaming

[It's a peaceful scene of a small house nestled away next to a river in a lush forested valley, with the backdrop of the myriad sounds of nature and flowing water. There's a small garden behind the house, and a couple of cats are sprawled out and napping in a patch of sunlight.]

[He should go investigate where the dream abruptly ends, but for now he's just sitting on the steps of the house not far from the cats, taking in the familiar solitude while he can. His dreams are not always so peaceful, after all.]

Crash Course

[aono]

[Good luck with that one. Most of the buildings are fire-damaged, and the town hall offers no privacy whatsoever. And neither does whatever building Faust ended up in, because Rin is coming right up on him to snoop around and see what Faust is up to.]

Find anything interesting?

[He seems to completely miss any signs that Faust wants to be alone. Whoops.]

Koma | Asagiri no Miko

[give_kitty_cake]

A - Cats, Cats, Cats

One new resident slipped easily into the cat colony of the island... after a bit of hissing and a few exchanged blows, basically kitty hellos. In her feline form Koma was dark black with those bright golden ever watchful eyes. Her head was not turned by offers of cat kibble or meat but anyone seen indulging in the rare treat of a cake might find her slipping closer. Koma had a sweet tooth.

B - Ruins of Yesteryear

Many of the charred buildings had been burned so long ago that they had already fallen to the ground but those that remained standing looked like grim monoliths of turmoil's past... and some of them were not so stable. As a cat Koma could slip easily in and out of the ruined wooden beams but the best treasures always seemed to be in the most dangerous areas didn't they? She noticed the slanted roof creaking and slowly shifting away from the only beam still strong enough to hold it up long before the human digging around along the former floor where presumably a silverware drawer used to sit.

She flashed into her werecat form making her appear humanoid only with cat ears, long claw-like fingers, and the distinctive double tail of a demon-cat.

"Be careful!"

Her words were hissed as she jumped from the rafters to tackle the adventurer out of the building just as the roof gave and came crashing down behind them.

C - Deep Dreaming

The youkai-cat's dreams took her back to the era of silent films, when she was just a young cat living the life of a human in Tokyo. Most of the buildings were still traditional, small, built along a dirt track road and made of wood. This was not the bright and shining city it would become in only a decade or two's time.

Koma wore bright spring time colors of pink and twirled about in her skirts as she cheerily answered the ringing of the bell over the antique shop door. Tadayuki was away on business again and in his absence she was left to run the store all by herself, not for the first time did she hear the ring of the bell and look up hopeful to see Tadayuki's return only to find herself disappointed when it wasn't him.

"Welcome to the store!"

Which she said in a much more Japanese way. It would have been, 'Irasshaimase!'

"Do you need help finding anything? We have the finest antiques in Tokyo."

A

[aono]

Rin is trying to win over the cats with offerings of fish freshly caught from the lake. He probably should be using that to feed the people here, but he really wants to befriend the cats.

As luck would have it, the cat he's trying to entice over today is a cute-looking black cat who so far seems uninterested in his offering of fish. "C'mon," he says, holding out the fish, "You guys love this stuff, right?"

Kara | Detroit: Become Human | OTA

[deathroadtocanada]

[A: Easy living]
[One moment, she's stepping across the border, putting that first foot into a new life for her and those she cared about. The next, Kara is underwater.

External sensors indicate the temperature of the lake is below freezing, and assert that, while she doesn't have to breath air, it's a good idea to keep her mouth closes. Lest her internal mechanics be overrun with lake water. Drowning at the bottom of a lake. Sounds like an awful way to go.

Luckily, Androids can swim - who knew? Her. That's who. But everything else is a blur, as she's dredged from the shallows of the lake by a couple of government officials who quickly shuffle her off towards Otherworlder Settlement #5. And the news they give her doesn't rest any easier on her mind.

Otherworlders? Year 99? Finland? That's nowhere close to Canada!

And now, she has to live.... here. In this squalor, that's somehow just as bad at the first place she lived in. Well, on the plus side, she doesn't need to sleep. So, folks can expect to spot Kara up at the crack of dawn, a rudimentary broom in her hands as she sweeps whatever goes for a floor. Stop to watch her work long enough, and she'll notice.]

...Hei? Ei kummoinen koti, eihän?

[And she'll state something in flawless Finnish. That's fine.]

[B: CATS: The Not-Musical]
[Well, this island was just full of surprises! Small, furry surprises, with teeth and claws. Hissing at passerby's and generally keeping to their secluded clans.

Except for when it came to Kara. To one cat's astonishment, this thing that moved like the humans, and spoke like the humans... didn't smell like one. And so concurred a few other cats who came to visit the nice human-shaped figure at the human settlement.

And so it goes.]

What...? Oh... Again?

[Here Kara's been, trying to make a livable space, and she can barely take a step without finding more cats circling underfoot. They rub against her legs, paw at her shoes. They roll in the dirt she's trying to sweep up no no stop doing that.]

Can... can someone help me with these cats? I-I'm not sure where they're coming from.

[C: Deep Dreaming]
[Androids do not dream. Androids don't necessarily need to sleep either. But they have a power down mode that's nearly indistinguishable. So, one evening, early into her stay here, Kara lays herself to bed and shuts her eyes...

And opens them to the streets of Destroit city. The place she'd been trying to escape for so long, and she finally had. Except it's.... empty. A hollow shell of the usually lively city, and it doesn't take long to figure out why.

A short walk revels where the futuristic city blocks give way to an expanse of stars unlike anything she'd seen.

So Kara simply... stands there. Right on the edge of her memories. Kara's gaze turned outward to the vast emptiness.

She'd like to think that she deserved to see this.]

A

[abysslord]

...I'm sorry, I literally have no idea what you just said.

[They don't tell us what language the people of Fodlan speak, though based on the names it's likely some mix of the Celtic and Germanic family trees, with a little Italic? But for the sake of RP, what Klara hears from Yuri is English.]

Supergirl/Kara Zor-El|DC Super Hero Girls (G1/Shea Fontana ver.)

[maidofmistakes]

[Girl VS Nerfing]

[The new girl has apparently decided to make herself useful by gathering firewood. If by that we mean finding an entire fallen tree, lifting it over her head, and dragging it back to the settlement like it's nothing. ...Or at least it's nothing at first, but as she gets closer, she starts to get tired and eventually just drops the tree and flops face first at the gate of the town.]

Nn... what's going on? I should have way more energy than this!

[Girl VS Cat]

C'mere! Here, boy!

[Kara catches a cat's eye and runs down the street away from it, stopping to look back. The cat... promptly walks away. She sighs.]

What am I doing wrong? This works with dogs.

[Girl VS Dream]

[Kara's sitting on the edge of her dream, if you're looking to come in; the city behind her looks interesting enough to explore. There's what looks like a complex of domes behind her, and buildings with tall spires off in the distance, but what probably catches your attention is the sky; it's a gradient of purple and yellow, with the sun bright red overhead.]

What's going on here?

vs nerfing!

[newera]

[ ...Right. So Mikey just watched this girl lift a whole tree like it was nothing. Understandably, he's more than a little shocked. This whole situation is strange beyond words, but that might just be the strangest thing he's seen yet - and he can't help but wonder if he's still dreaming. That's what would make the most sense, right?

But the moment she falls over, he runs over to her side, a little concerned. ]

Hey... are you okay? What's your name?

[ Just how long has she been carrying that tree for, anyway? She must be exhausted. ]

James "Bucky" Barnes | MCU | Canon point: directly after the helicarrier fight in CA:TWS

[worthallthis]

I. Crash Course

The man left at the door of the town hall, bedroll in his arms, looks... kind of lost. His expression is non-existent and his eyes maybe a little unfocused, but he's clearly waiting for... something. And his heart is going a mile a minute, beneath the calm mask, because he has no idea what's going on.

He'd thrown one of the soldiers who came for him into a tree. The rest turned guns on him, which is familiar enough that he stilled and waited for instruction or punishment or even just being handcuffed. None of which happened. These soldiers don't look like HYDRA... and they speak Finnish? That's apparently one of the languages he has, but he also knows better than to ask questions, so he just let them lead him to town.

Somebody's gonna have to actually invite him in and give him the run-down, because otherwise he's going to wait out there all night.


II. Ruins

When one is running off of 12 hours of memories (and a couple fractured images of the time before that, which feel more like hallucinations than real things that happened) prior to arrival in a decimated town, one really doesn't know what all counts as usable or not. So as he clears rubble from one of the buildings, he collects everything he finds.

Some of the things he clears look far too big and heavy for even a big man with a metal arm to manage, but he does. He'll even lift something right out of your arms to shoulder it, himself.

Some of the things that fill his pockets and get hung on the straps of his combat uniform are probably pretty useless.

But he works hard, and he brings his collection to the town hall every evening to sort through and silently offer people. He doesn't talk much, but he'll speak if spoken to. Especially if you ask him what the hell he's doing sorting half-melted pots and charred remains of books all over his bedroll, or better yet he holds a bent fork up to you in passing.


III. Dreaming

He doesn't dream. He doesn't remember dreaming, and for his first few nights here, what scant sleep he gets comes without dreams. So it's a surprise when he opens his eyes and sees a place that isn't the hall where everyone's sleeping, or anywhere on the island, or even the bank vault.

Of course, he has no idea where it is. It's a little set of rooms, dingy, cold, with a bed in the living room, a board placed over a bathtub to make a kitchen table, and one tiny radiator that rattles. It feels too empty, like there should be someone else in there with him. Like he knows the place, but he can't put his finger on how.

He waits in there, looking around in confusion, for someone else to knock on his dream and maybe lead him out into theirs.

Ruins

[aono]

That sure is a lot of stuff.

Rin has been largely avoiding looting the homes of the dead, because it freaks him out just a little bit. Almost as much as seeing the charred remains of houses does, honestly. He tempers that reaction when he sees everything that this new guy has brought to town hall though, because it does have a purpose. As much as Rin hates to admit it, having some of this stuff is actually useful. He can say 'sorry' at the graveyard later, maybe.

But for now, he goes over to Bucky and crouches down in front of him, looking over the collection of things he's brought. "You must've been looking all day to find this much," he says. He's trying to be positive here, he won't comment on how melted pots and bent forks probably won't see much use.

Chase Collins | The Covenant

[fifthofthecovenant]

I. Crash Course

Chase has no idea what he's doing. He's never made anything more complicated than a sandwich in his life... that wasn't magic, anyway. He's never lifted a heavy object that wasn't part of a gym set-up... or that he didn't lift by magic. He's never slept in a room full of strangers before-- well, not strangers like this; a single dorm roommate doesn't count. He's certainly never had a bath in a fucking lake before.

He's shivering as he pulls his clothes back on, growling under his breath. "Just dump us here... oh, sure, just dump us in here like we're useless. Like we're a threat, I'll show them a goddamn threat." He just has to figure out how to ghost himself off this stupid island. Can't be that hard, can it? Louder, with his clothes sticking to his still-wet skin, almost-yelled in the direction the Finnish army had gone: "How hard can plumbing be, huh?!"


II. Cats!

Chase is more of a spider person than a cat person, but he's found out pretty quickly that summoning spiders takes a lot more effort here. So he's making an effort with the cats.

He's crouched around behind one of the burned-out houses, a little bit of fish in hand, held out to one of the cats. "C'mere, kitty," he croons to her, as she sniffs and inches closer. His voice is calm and even sweet, despite the insults coming out of his mouth: "C'mere, you filthy, mean, mangy beastie. Aren't you glad you're not a dog? I'd be glad I wasn't a dog, if it were me. C'mon, kitty."

Someone comes around the building, and the cat runs off. "Goddammit! You scared it off!"

II

[deathroadtocanada]

"...Um."

The woman looks downright robotic in the way she takes Chase's little outburst. She steps back, expression seemingly searching for the right way to configure itself. It's like she's new to this.

"I- I'm sorry. I didn't know you were back here."