logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: THE NIGHT WE MET

EVENT LOG: THE NIGHT WE MET

characters: everyone.
location: the path from downtown beacon to the harbor; all over town.
date/time: february 16-21.
content: the forest spirits send off their friends to join the aurora. memory opals drop from the eerie green lights above.
warnings: n/a.

i had all and then most of you, some and now none of you.

For most of the day on February 16, all of the town's forest spirits can be found along the stretch of road between downtown and the harbor, clearly setting up for, uh, something. They're piling snow onto the pathway, creating a miles long sled trail that starts outside the Landmark Inn and ends at the very end of the harbor's dock. Not only that, but the forest spirits are also not super willing to explain what they're up to! They're busy, you lantern-havers.

By the time evening rolls around, the spirits have set up wooden railings alongside the snowy path, as well as a warming tent, hot chocolate booth, and announcer stand outside of the Landmark. Oh, and a starting banner for the race! It's dogsled time!

Throughout the event, Beacon's downtown and harbor areas will be completely overrun with forest spirits, all there to bear witness to this holiday celebration—this holiday is for them, though, not you weirdos with your naked faces. Point is, none of the spirits will be hostile at this time! They're more interested in interacting with each other than with Beacon's residents, though if pressed, a kind spirit might be willing to explain what's going on:

The aurora arrives in Beacon for about a week each year, and the forest spirits believe it to be "friends in the sky". The lights are old friends of theirs, it seems! And each night while the aurora shines above the town, the forest spirits send off a handful of friends to join the aurora! The spirits ready to join the aurora build sleds of their own and assemble mighty sled teams, sometimes comprised of dog spirits and sometimes... other stuff. Then, when the aurora is at its peak in the wee hours of the night, the sled teams will ride off one by one, racing down the snow-covered path all the way down to the harbor, where they'll finally rocket off the dock and out over the lake, picking up more and more speed as each team gallops wildly over the water before arcing up into the sky. Once the spirits are barely a speck, they'll hit the aurora and burst into a shower of light. Beautiful stuff!

See, since the aurora is made of light, forest spirits launched into it are killed on impact! Isn't that wonderful! The forest spirits seem to think so! What is death to a dead thing!

All of this information can be learned through handwaved/played-led interactions with the forest spirits during the event. They'll all be focused on saying goodbye to their friends and cheering them on as they stream through the sky, but they're happy to welcome lantern-havers to join in the celebrations. The hot chocolate is free and only tastes a little bit like mud, so. Enjoy!

•••
For the entire duration of the event, the aurora will dance in beautiful silence overhead, lighting up the whole town with its eerie green glow. Every so often, handfuls of opals will rain down like meteorites from the lights above, and these opals each contain the memory of someone currently in Beacon! They can be found all over town, landing on paths and atop buildings and maybe even rocketing straight through your ceiling to crash into your living room. Perhaps a forest spirit decided to hide some shiny rocks in your cereal box or under your pillow... Better hope the Postmaster General doesn't find your opals before you do, though. That spirits sure does love their rocks. Point is, who knows where the opals might turn up?

On that note, if you signed up for a random event, we'll be RNGing characters to receive these random events throughout the event! The event may happen in response to a toplevel on this event log, or we might turn up in your IC inbox... 👀 These events will be entirely random, meaning we could dole out any number of them at any time, so it'll be a fun surprise for all of us.

If you missed signups and would still like to toss your name in the ring, go right ahead! Signups will remain open throughout the event, though we can't promise everyone who signs up will get something.

And finally... Each day, we'll post a list of the forest spirits joining the aurora! What, did you want to know in advance? The forest spirits have never been a particularly organized bunch, so they're winging this—which means more surprises for you. :)

Enjoy the races and the lights and the opals, residents of Beacon, and remember: WHAT IS DEATH TO A DEAD THING!

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Midna? [ Of all the things. Sora actually smiles a little at that. ] No, no. If she's a handful, I got lots of friends who are big ol' handfuls. [ Jack Sparrow is probably a whole three or four handfuls on his own. ]

No, you two were just talking to each other. Something about a brave one? And... [ Okay! Play it casual. ] Then you guys found a sword.

I see.

You saw me draw the Sword, huh?

[He smiles weakly, not sure why the memory would be upsetting for someone to witness. To him, it's a fond memory.]

I'm glad.

I mean, that's a good memory, at least... I have some...

[He waves a dismissive hand.]

Whatever.

[ Oh. Hm. Sora... is not as sure about this! But it's not like he's about to kill Link's buzz. It's not like he can really put a finger on why that bothered him so much. Maybe... something about the way he smiled?

Sora puts his hands in his pockets and looks at Link, curious. ]

I'm glad that it's happy! I mean, you seemed really excited about the sword. [ But Midna definitely stopped him for some reason...? ] What was it like? You were... following in his footsteps, right? The brave one?

That part was pretty weird.

...May I?

[Without waiting for an answer he walks over to Sora and sits beside him.]

The forest spirits let me through when they saw the Triforce. They thought I was him. The other one, I mean... Something about me finally coming back to them.

And then there were some stone guardians that also let me pass, they called me the Brave One too. They all thought I was someone else.

Part of me felt bad, like I was lying to them. But I needed the Sword.

[ Sora will let him, he was already making room! He'll look into Link's face as he speaks, listening to every word! All he wants is to know things about his friends. ]

Lying?

[ Sora thinks about this for a second before it clicks. Yeah, of course it would feel like lying. Just like it felt like lying when he called himself Sora.

(This is not actually true. Sora never had a reason to not feel like he was Sora until he got to Beacon. Until he'd arrived in Beacon, Sora was just who he was, no arguments.

Sora still feels like the truth. He's just lost the feeling that he had any rightful ownership to the name.) ]

Do you think he would've minded? Like, the real Brave One. [ A hum. ] Do you really think the spirits minded either? Like... were they like the spirits here? I don't think they'd mind if they'd lied to you if it was for a really important reason.

[Link's lips twitch.

He doesn't respond to the question, as his mind instead latches on to one particular phrase in all of that.]

The "real" Brave One.

[Is that what he'd implied? That he wasn't the real Brave One? He's not the man people expect him to be but he doesn't think he's any less deserving of the title than the Hero who came before him.

He has the Triforce of Courage, the Master Sword had chosen him... that makes him a Hero.

When will people take him seriously?

He's the Hero! The real one! He has to be, otherwise what is he?

His grip tightens around the wrapped opal until it's almost crushing.]

[ ... Now that is now a reaction that Sora hadn't been expecting. (Or maybe he had? Something about the way he'd swung that sword...)

He doesn't have problems with referring to the original as the "real" Sora - after all, now that Naminé is here, he feels real enough too - but he didn't realize that Link would react quite like this. ]

Link? Hey, I'm sorry. Can you tell me what's wrong?

Hm? Nothing...

[His grip loosens and he sags forward slightly.]

That was just a weird choice of words.

The other guy wasn't the real Brave One. He's just the one who came before me.

I'm the Hero of my time, it's my turn now--

[As the words pass his lips more anxieties about being the Brave One bubble to the surface and he looks away from Sora, feeling very ashamed of himself.]

I mean...

It was my turn.

[ Sora looks at Link, thinking about it quietly. (His mind clicks into place at Link's assertion. Of course. That was a weird thing to say. How silly of him.)

His turn to be the wielder of the Master Sword. His turn to be the hero.

Sorry, your part's over now. Here, go play hero with this. ]

You miss home, huh. [ Where being the hero meant a lot. It opened doors. ] You must miss Midna a lot, too. [ It's just a guess, but it's a feeling Sora has. ]

Edited (spelling) 2020-02-22 23:24 (UTC)

Yeah. She was a good friend.

[He looks somberly back at Sora and offers a weak smile.]

But everyone here misses people. We've all left someone behind.

[So he hopes nobody worries about him missing home. He doubts he's unique in that regard.]

[ Sora shakes his head. ]

That doesn't mean the hurt magically goes away. You're allowed to talk about it. I mean... if we all end up thinking that we're not special enough to miss home because everyone misses home, when do we get to talk to each other about the things we care about?

[ When do they start trusting each other to do things for each other? To not hurt each other? There's only so much waiting they can do. ]

Mm...

[He looks down at the toes of his boots, eyes narrowing slightly.]

I don't really want to talk about them.

My friends, I mean.

[It still hurts too much. He feels like they're the ones that are gone and it's strange to think they're still around. He's gone. He's mourning his own demise.]

[ Sora looks between Link, and the toes of his boots, then back to Link. Ventus did this too, didn't he? He just let Vanitas go. How could that be okay?

How is it okay? ]

Then... you shouldn't. [ Sora looks at the toes of his own shoes. Voice wistful, but not really begrudging? If anything, it's more like Sora's reminding himself of the right thing to do. ] Just because you're allowed doesn't mean you have to. But like... you can. If you want to. [ He scratches a cheek with his finger. ] I guess that's not a hero-y thing to do, but I don't think heroes were ever supposed to be invincible? Just, you know. Brave.

I KNOW I'M NOT INVINCIBLE!

[Link hisses.]

That's the problem!

I'm dead. They're not.

I don't want to think about what's happening to them, or to Hyrule, with no Hero around because I can't help them. I can't save them anymore.

So there's no point torturing myself over it.

[Said in the harsh tone of someone who's been torturing himself.]

[ Sora jumps physically, looking over at Link in alarm. That's... a lot of pain. And this isn't one he can immediately connect to himself, because he's always thought about his own heroics in the opposite direction. It's hard to think he's left his friends, but he was never the most important piece in the puzzle. He was just something that complicated things. A stray piece on the board.

Link, though. It was just him. There was a whole world depending on him and he needs to go back to it. Maybe... It's like how he needs to follow Riku? Or how he knows he can't ever forget Kairi?

Oh. Well, in that context, Sora's not sure why it's taken Link this long to get to this point. ]

People keep telling me that who I was before I got here doesn't matter anymore. That I don't have to worry about who I had to be, or what people needed me to do. The only thing that matters here is who I choose to be. Something like, choosing my own destiny? They're trying to help me think about other things. Like how to get back home without... losing it, I guess.

[ Sora turns to Link. ]

I dunno. I don't think about it too hard because I know they say stuff like that because they care about me and they want to help. But now that I'm thinking about it, I think I'm angry. [ Sora shakes his head. He doesn't like being angry, but now that he's said it, he realizes that it's true. ] I think I've been angry about it for two months. Is that how you feel, too?

[Link curls his fingers around the hem of his tunic and shakes his head slowly.]

No.

I mean...

I'd convinced myself that I died for a reason, that I was sent here...

But I was wrong.

Rastus said that it was a mistake.... The portal... all of it...

None of us are supposed to be here, which means, I...

I just died.

[His eyes drift closed.]

I just died for no reason and left my people behind.

Edited 2020-02-26 06:45 (UTC)

[ There's an evaluation going on in Sora's head here. Besides his purpose to be Sora, which he hadn't realized was a purpose until Riku had pretty much made it clear that whatever Sora-ness he'd reclaimed in the past few years wasn't enough, he'd made it a touchstone in his life to assume that he deserved nothing in life. There wasn't a prophecy or a grand design. Everything he did he did by accident. If he died, it would most assuredly be for no reason. He'd accepted that on his first week here.

This is it, he realizes. No two reincarnation journeys are the same. Especially if one of them had inherited a great quest and a magic sword and the works, and the other had inherited the delivery boy. This is where the analogy breaks.

How does he help someone who had their destiny taken away?

You were just the delivery boy.

Oooooh. ]

Okay. Then that's my destiny. I'm going to make it so you get back to your people before anything bad happens to them.

[Link tenses. Sora is trying to help, he knows, but the words hurt. How good is a Hero who can't even save himself.

He doesn't want to have to rely on anyone. Others are supposed to rely on him. He's supposed to be the world's pillar of strength, isn't he?]

Don't make me your quest.

[Sora shakes his head. ]

That's the difference between us. I wasn't meant to do anything. Sure, I feel like I'm supposed to be someone, but that person wasn't meant to do anything either. [ Except love a universe that's been dead for years and years, yearn for people who will never come back to him, but that's more of a doom than a destiny. ]

If being dead is what it takes for destiny to stop guiding you, then I can choose to fix destiny. Or tell it to take you back. [ Sora looks up into the aurora. ] I'll turn back time or whatever. I'll make it so you never died.

[Link watches Sora closely then shoots him an expression that's half way between a smile and a wince.]

C'mon, don't talk like that.

[He gently nudges Sora in the ribs with his elbow.]

Of course you're supposed to do something. Everyone is supposed to do something...

Life is just figuring out what that something is. The real difference between us is just that the Gods have been telling me my purpose. Probably because I'm too dumb to figure it out on my own.

[ Sora allows himself to be nudged, smiling back. Aw, Link. He'll yell at the Gods for him, if that's what it takes. ]

It's okay. I don't have to feel good or bad about it. It's just how things are. [ Knowing that he's never meant to be a great leader or a hero or a champion has freed him up to do lots of things, after all. If he's accidentally given power, then he figures he needs to use it to make sure that actual important people get to do what they need to.]

I'm more worried about people like you. [ Like Riku. ] You're important. You need to go back to do what you need to do, and it feels bad when you can't.

[ Sure, he also feels bad that he can't go back to Locke City and let people there know he's all right, and he can't go back to Riku and Kairi and Donald and Goofy because they're dead in a collapsed universe... but it's not like he left behind a responsibility to anyone but himself. Link has that. Riku, in his persisting universe, has that. He can't imagine how awful it must feel to have to carry that kind of responsibility only for it to be taken away. ]

I don't want you to feel like things are hopeless. But! If I'm not allowed to make you my quest, and I can't give you a new purpose, then maybe I can just save everyone? Then you'd just have to deal with it. [ Sora nods to himself. That was the plan, anyway. ]

[A small laugh.]

Yeah, I think saving everyone is a good plan.

You won't even have to do it alone, 'cause it's my plan too.

[Maybe if he can find a way to save this world from darkness he can find a way to do the same for Hyrule... Maybe his spirit can go home.]

Race ya. [ Sora deadpans that, then laughs. ] Good talk.

[ He's silent for a moment. ]

We need to get everyone out of here soon. Maybe sooner than however long we have. [ Sora closes his eyes. He feels like he's going a little crazy here. Everyone here is in so much pain. It's taking all he has to hold on. ] And I'm not kidding about turning back time. That's happening.

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EVENT LOG: THE NIGHT WE MET

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