test drive meme.

[fablemods]

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away... You snap awake with a sudden jolt, the sounds of nature surrounding you. The ground is warm beneath your hands, a press of fabric under your head. Sit up. Look around. This isn't where you fell asleep. Not even close to it. But with no one around you, answers as to how you got there in the first place are a little beyond your reach for now. If you decide to head off, don't forget your bag. You'll want that if you plan on making it out here. If you want to survive. And if you don't want to move, well...good luck. There's a shadow on the prowl. A rustle of leaves, a snap of twigs. Glowing eyes in the distance... -------------------- Characters find themselves waking up on the bare ground (or a bed if they're very lucky), a leather pack beneath their head, and entirely alone. It's not where they fell asleep that night. Isn't even close. The sky is the wrong shade, the ground isn't quite right. The only note of familiarity are the clothes on their back. Searching through their pack, characters will find a change of clothes, a few food rations, and something personal to them. They'll also find a pouch of wooden coins and a shard of mirror. Before they get a real chance to investigate those items though, they'll hear a rustle in the distance. The sounds of something moving around. It's their cue to get moving too. And somehow, all characters find their feet guiding them in the same direction. Off towards the Great Lake, less than ten minutes walk away, no matter where on the island they first woke up. Welcome to the island of Leutheria. Welcome to the Fablelands test drive. Above is an arrival prompt that players are welcome to use to introduce or test out any characters they are interested in bringing to the game. Below is an on-going event that takes place throughout the first two weeks of a character's arrival.(Though the wolf will still remain a constant presence on the island for the months to come). And of course, you are free to use this post for any other prompts you wish to use, or mirrorshard conversations too. All threads are able to be used as game canon, providing both players agree to it, and can ultimately be used for bonus AC if you wish to. If you have any questions, please direct them to the FAQ. And without further adieu, let's get on with the show! premise | faq | locations | wishing well | taken | reserves | applications | hiatus/drop | bonus ac

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away... You wake to the feeling of being watched. Of a set of unfamiliar eyes, of warm breath on the back of your neck. A jolt back to the land of the living, and it's gone. No matter how quick you are, how sneaky, the source of the disruption has long since disappeared, so you have no choice but to try and ignore it. To continue on with your day and try to set that moment of strangeness aside. You eat, drink, speak with others. Perhaps you explore a little. Whatever it is you choose to do for the day, that feeling from the morning won't return. And by the time the sun sets and the moon glows brightly above, you've likely set those moments of strangeness aside. It's not like it's anything new, after all. It's the same again for the next few days. No better, no worse. Something best ignored, right? A speck of blood on the doorframe. That wasn't there before, was it? A snap of twigs in the distance. A crunch of leaves. Claw marks gouged deeply into the door. Into the wall above your bed. Scraps of red fabric, turned darker with blood. Pieces of fur. Of flesh. Do you run and hide? Do you fight? Whatever you choose, it's definitely time to make sure your body parts aren't scattered next... ...what a horribly big mouth you have. -------------------- Since first waking up on the island, characters have been stuck with that feeling of being watched. It isn't a constant. Isn't more than a few seconds at a time, dotted throughout the day. Investigation has never turned up much, and there's never been any sightings of the cause of it all. Until now. Throughout the first half of the week, characters will find themselves suffering from that feeling of being watched on a far more constant basis. Rather than it being a one-off, few seconds occurrence each day, that feeling will last for minutes at a time, and on multiple occasions. However, it isn't until the fifth day that they'll start stumbling across physical signs of their monitoring. There are claw marks on doors. Spots of blood on the paths outside. A crack of twigs in the forests, or the imprint of bloodied paws in the snow. Ten days in and those signs start finding their way indoors. Wet footprints, tinged with red. Claw marks in the walls, the floor. Torn sheets and the smell of wet...something. Whatever it is that's been watching you, its finally decided to come and say hello. Two weeks in and characters will begin to have sightings of the creature, its fur dark and its eyes a glowing yellow. At times it looks like a wolf, prowling in the distance. At other times, it's walking on its hind legs, almost human were it not for the muzzle full of gleaming sharp teeth. Get too close, and it slips away like a shadow, gone between one blink and the next. It decides when to reach out to characters, not the other way round. It's after characters finally get a good look at the creature that it starts leaving...gifts. Characters will start to find familiar items from their home worlds amidst the mess. The remains of a childhood pet, perhaps. Photographs of loved ones, faces torn almost beyond recognition. It's only once it delivers its final gift that the creature retreats to the trees again: a blood-splattered item of clothing that clearly belongs to the person the character misses the most at the time, alive or dead. [credit 1 & credit 2]

Comments

[wearenotdoinggethelp]

"See? We're no twins. I'm good at destroying things."

[With a projected touch of something akin to pride in his voice, forgetting for a second that some higher power might be observing him, concentrating only now on attack</> or defence


(Against a goat, son? Pitiful)

Loki grins]

"Amazingly good at destruction. It, it's a gift."

[aworldanew]

"Sigyn," she offers, along with a hand to shake as she continues. "I'd appreciate it, but if you're as lost as I am, I think we'd just get outselves more lost. It doesn't look like anywhere on Asgard I'm familiar with -- or Midgard, for that matter." Though being outside Asgard doesn't seem likely to her at the moment; it's a three-month trip between planets, and she doubts she's been unconscious long enough for transport.

She pauses a second before asking, "This may sound strange, but did you just wake up here as well?" Maybe he's lost the traditional way, but at least it would give her something, to figure out if she's the only one.

[gotaholdonme]

Loki nods, her own pride flaring up for just a moment. "I can build anything," she tells him. "It's a gift. What people can do with what I build though, that's up to them. I could easily aid in your destruction if I wanted to."

Bombs are going off inside her mind, no metaphor here either, she can hear the sounds of test bombs echoing in her mind and she's not sure why. She could build such a thing if needed but she doesn't know why she would.

Still, that's not the point, now is it? She's not a mischievous thing, not anymore anyway, but she knows she could tear a city down, given time and tools.

Her fingers twitch again, this time as the old itch to construct rises up in her. SHe's never felt more at home, even in the chaos that she found herself in than when she is creating something.

[blindearthgirl]

Toph raised a brow. She had no idea what Missouri was, but that was overshadowed by this guy saying that he was an alien or something. With her earthbending, Toph could feel people's heartbeats through vibrations in the ground, and said heartbeats tended to change when people lied.

'Starlord's' heartbeat didn't change when he mentioned his dad coming from space, so either he was a really good liar, or he thought that was actually true.

"So you're an alien?" Her voice was full of skepticism. "You seem like a normal person to me."

[OoC: Not sure if Toph would be able to feel anything out of the ordinary from Starlord. Let me know if I should edit anything.]

[aworldanew]

She freezes halfway across the space between them, struggling to breath for the second time in minutes, because that, that is not the sort of greeting she'd expect from her wife. She's still staring when Loki asks her next question, not sure what's going on and waiting for things to somehow explain themselves. She should know by now that's not going to happen here, but the strange new place is one thing; this is Loki, and Sigyn has no idea what to do now.

"I -- yes, something -- but you --" Her voice is unsteady, and she makes herself stop for a moment, take a deep breath and regroup. "Loki? It is you, isn't it?"

[wearenotdoinggethelp]

Loki takes a step back, his gaze wary.

[gotaholdonme]

"Isn't that a question," she remarks, shaking her head a little. "I'm one of the two me's, but the only me I know with my shape. So yes, I suppose the answer is that but if you're looking for the male Loki, I'm not him. I'm me, who is still not sure what that means but I am me, who may or may not be who you're looking for, depending."

She pauses for a moment. blinking once, then smiling uncertainly. "I think I know you. Though, I'm not sure why. I don't have much to go on at this point." Frowning, she adds. "You feel like you were important once, I'm just not sure hwy."

[arrogator]

See, this is why a helmet comes in handy. No one can see you flinch. Or see the baffled look on Mordred's face because that was not what she was expecting. What kind of knight is this guy?

“You can't say....”

She's at a loss here. She really is. What does she even do with this? Give up and storm off? Threaten him for wasting her time? There's a moment of silence before she starts laughing, planting her sword in the ground to keep her balance.

“You can't say you know how to trap something like that, and I can't seem to track it or land a blow. We're screwed, aren't we?”

It's not that she's happy about it, it's the exact opposite. But these last two weeks have been such a mess, she can't help but laugh about it.

[gotaholdonme]

She tilts her head at him, a frown coming across her face. "I don't have to. I'm not sure what's appropriate here. I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know anything." SHe sighs, slumping a little against a tree.

"I'm really not sure what's happening, or what's to be done. I don't know if I'm useful here or if maybe this perhaps is a vacation for me. Maybe I should just be grateful. The things here, those things that lurk in the trees, maybe they're not as terrible as the things that are waiting for me to return."

[aworldanew]

"You do." She swallows around the lump in her throat, trying to find her words. It takes a second to keep going. "I'm your wife. I don't -- I don't know what's going on, I don't know why you don't remember that, but you know me, you should know me."

She's crying now, tears slipping steadily down her face, but she doesn't bother trying to stop it. "I know you," she adds after a moment, her hands coming together so she can twist her ring around on her finger.

[gotaholdonme]

"O-oh."

Loki looks down at her shoes, not wanting to see this woman be so upset right now. She doesn't know what to do, can't even think of what a proper answer to this would be.

"I didn't know I had a wife."

That was probably not the right thing to say.

Taking a few careful steps towards her, Loki reaches out, fingers brushing Sigyn's arm. "I'm sorry," she offers. "Really very sorry, I...I don't remember very much. I wasn't allowed--" SHe stops. Maybe now isn't the time to go into that.

"I'm sorry," she says again instead.

[whirlrock]

"Howzer--" He stopped himself again, wondering if Sigyn was as right as she sounded. She gave a quick impression of someone experienced in the world, so he didn't press himself too much. The 'knightly' impression he was supposed to give off was something he was always willing to discard for the sake of being casual or, at least, letting others know he was more than just a set of armor and a kingdom behind his tabard. Occasionally, it helped that he could avoid being too structured in his behavior.

"Nice to meet you, miss... And, I guess I agree! I'm really used to knowing my neighborhood and now, of all times, I'm really out of my element..."

There was a little pause between the two before she asked her next question, which caught him somewhat off guard. He hadn't been expecting someone to tell him something that familiar. She had woken up the same way?

"That's... Yeah! Actually, that's how I found myself here, too! I was in the middle of training up with newer soldiers and in the next moment after, I was just lying out in the dirt nearby!"

Despite laying himself out flat, Howzer thought of his dignity only shortly thereafter--

"But, I got my bearings fairly quickly! North, South, East, West--I have a good grasp of it but this is completely new territory... So, I take it that you're not familiar to these parts, Miss Sigyn?"

Oops she accidentally broke him for half a second. Don't worry, he bounces fast ;)

[wearenotdoinggethelp]

"Give it back. My name. You thief!!!"

Loki glares at her, with sudden spite. Don't ask him why, it's too sudden for him to comprehend right now.

"You're unworthy of wandering around with my name, you madwoman!!"

Caution? Forgotten, lost, thrown to the winds of the wave of soul consuming emotions for him, for a few seconds.

"Don't you dare call yourself Loki! And speaking as if you were a god, too--- I won't let a thief---!! Don't. Dare."

[whirlrock]

In rough moments like those, Howzer felt much more confident. Now, it was apparent that Mordred wasn't one of the knights with sturdy backs like Gilthunder, who thrived on structure and a strict table of manners to adhere to. Somehow, this knight felt considerably closer to him. He grinned, beaming the moment that Mordred began laughing--and he was certain it wasn't something humorous at all baked into what came out of her.

"Heh. Maybe," He planted his hands on his hips, looking aside from Mordred to the woods. There was a momentary glance towards her sword--something he couldn't help but notice. His father, a renowned blacksmith, couldn't have possibly crafted something that ornate. Even the presence of it was a little scary but it was worth admiration. Maybe if he saw it swung in battle, he'd take the time to praise it and the knight wielding it but--

"But... I can't help but get a little pissed off thinking that I may not be able to do anything," He reached behind his back, drawing up his lance and tapping the butt of it against the soft, cold dirt beneath his feet. Mordred's mood was infectious.

"Whether or not we're in a bad way doesn't matter, does it? Either way, I've got a score to settle with that thing and I don't care about outsmarting it or unraveling its tricks. All I want to do is make sure it doesn't hurt anybody else! As a knight, I can't possibly let it get away!"

Loki? You okay there, buddy?

[gotaholdonme]

She blinks, stepping a little to the side, so that the tree stands between them. She's not sure what she did but she obviously has done something.

"I--" she starts, unsure of what to do. "I'm sorry," she winces. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't trying to--" But she's starting to stumble over her own words and she's shaking a little. "I'm not trying to offend, I'm trying to learn, to help, to--" She digs her nails into her arm, trying to calm herself as her own nerves gangle about inside her.

"I should go."

[aworldanew]

Sigyn leans into even that small touch like she's been starved for it. She hasn't, really -- she has friends in the resistance, and even these last few weeks playing the studious servant in preparation for the launch, she's been surrounded by them, but.... But none of them are Loki, and she's missed her, god, she's missed her.

But Loki is just as unsure as she is, and Sigyn doesn't want to scare her off by tossing herself at her so fast, so she only sways into it and tries to put on a smile. It's weak, but it's something.

"I really doubt that you have anything to apologize for." She hesitates a second, but Loki reached out first, so -- Sigyn lifts a hand, resting it gently against Loki's arm and then sliding it up to rest on her shoulder. "It's all right. I just -- I didn't know you were here."

[gotaholdonme]

Loki leans into the touch, her eyes closing and her whole self gravitating towards Sigyn. She can't stay away, can't keep herself from wanting anything more than this kind touch.

"I didn't know you were here," she echoes. "I didn't know anyone who might know me was here." And something about putting that into words hits her in the gut. She realizes that, if one person who knows her is here, there might be others.

"I should--I should leave." She stumbles back, fear streaking across her face. She can't stay here, she can't let anyone get this kind, sad woman.

"I'm sorry," she says yet again. "I wish I could stay..."

[aworldanew]

"No, please don't go." The words fall out jumbled, almost tripping over each other, and Sigyn wraps her other hand around Loki's arm. She just barely manages to stop herself from holding too tightly, trying to force Loki to stay with her. She doesn't want to upset her more, doesn't want to give Loki a reason to run, but she can't just let her walk away. Not when she doesn't know why she's here or if she'll still be here if Sigyn takes her eyes off of her -- and maybe that's a ridiculous thought, but this is a ridiculous fucking place that appears out of nowhere and sends things clawing at her door and shoves her dead wife into her path and who knows what it will do if Loki walks away? Maybe this is some kind of torment; maybe she gets to see her one more time and then she loses her all over again if she doesn't do the right thing and Sigyn can't let that happen.

Some part of her is aware that her thoughts are growing frantic and not making sense anymore, but a much, much larger part of her doesn't care about anything but making sure Loki never, ever leaves her sight.

"Please, Loki, you can't leave," she says, almost begging.

[gotaholdonme]

Loki winces, not at Sigyn's touch but her words. "I shouldn't be here," she says, her voice urgent. "I can't. I don't know what's here and if--There are things, things inside and out. Hungry. They're hungry and wanting and I can't let them have you. You don't deserve that."

She's shaking a little, her brain starting to race at the idea of Odin, or her creatures coming after either of them. "I have to get away. I don't want her coming here, I don't want her finding you."

But she's not pulling away, can't quite make it happen. She wants to, she knows she should but...But this woman is so hard to walk away from.

[aworldanew]

She's a little relieved that somebody else had the same experience, and its hows; there's still a little bit of wariness to her, the knowledge that anybody could be part of how she got her, but for the moment, she's going to take him at face value. She could hardly imagine that she would be the only person to suddenly wake up on the ground somewhere that just seems a little... off for the planet she was on, after all. Somehow that seems really unlikely.

"Just Sigyn's fine," she says quickly, and then shakes her head in answer. "No, I've never seen any of this before in my life. I was in a bed, indoors, and then -- here I am, with somebody else's bag and absolutely no idea how I got here. How does it look from up there?" she asks, tilting her head back to glance at the sky and then looking back at Howzer thoughtfully. "Any sign of, I don't know, populated areas?"

[aworldanew]

"If there's anything coming, we'll be safer together. Something's already been inside where I'm staying -- other people have had things trying to get in before. There's safety in numbers, right?" There's a desperate edge to Sigyn's voice, even as she tries to be convincing. "It's better if people stick together, so we should -- we should stay together. Please. Please."

[gotaholdonme]

"I don't--" But even as Loki sounds unsure, she's stepping closer, moving to take Sigyn's hand into her own.

"All right" she says softly. "I'll stay."

Somehos it feels like a betrayal. Like hse's fucking up in a big way but she can't refuse her either. She cant' just walk away from all this, even though she feels liek ti migt be the best thing to do.

Is he ever? 1/2

[wearenotdoinggethelp]

"You really should go. You tire me. Go, thank you for seeing reason. Go. And your name is. Not. Is. Not. Loki."

2/2

[wearenotdoinggethelp]

And then moves to grab her if he can.

"Not until you tell me who sent you here to mock me!"

"The name! Tell me their name, who hired you to mock me?!"

[clawandscars]

Tsume watches her and waits to see what she'll do as she spots him. A friendly reaction wasn't one he was expecting. One ear flicks forward from where its resting at the side of his head and then the other follows suit. It almost looks like a wave back of sort.

He comes closer, slowly and with measured steps, sizing up his paw against those on the ground. Whoever left these is a beast of much mightier size than he is, which means the other wolf has to be huge. Tsume is not a small wolf.