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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Most of these memories have been either bad or just bizarre, but this one's pleasant, and it's got something familiar to it. It's an emotion Gregor doesn't really have a word for, a combination of sympathy, affection, and protectiveness. It's almost possessive, and it's very relatable. As is the fact that being around this child brings out a somewhat different side of the opal's owner. That's what being responsible for someone else does to you, knowing you're the only person they have.

The memories that catch Gregor's interest are usually the ones that involve something terrible, or something utterly alien, but this one he keeps a hold of for a completely different reason. He thinks he has a good idea of who it belongs to, and Rosinante is going to want this one back. The best way to ensure that he gets it is to escort it personally.

Thankfully, Rosinante is one of the easiest people in Beacon to find. Gregor catches up with him at the harbor.

"See anything interesting yet?" If he's read him right, Rosinante seems like the type to sneak a glimpse into someone else's past, rather than avoid it. Maybe to return the stones to their rightful owners, or maybe for other reasons, hard to say, but in their other interactions, he always struck Gregor as the inquisitive type.

He'll bring up the opal in his pocket in a minute.

"A few things," he replies with a shrug and turns his head toward Gregor as he approaches.

One of the more interesting things he's seen is how willing people are to find the original owners of these memories and hand them back. It's heartening. He can already tell he'll likely end up giving Gregor the one he found, now that they've run across each other. He's pulled enough information from it; no need to keep it.

"How about you?"

A few things is right. These opals are a goldmine.

"Plenty. This whole thing is fascinating." Not only is he learning about the residents of the town, but their homes, their worlds, their customs. Some are very much adjacent to his own, while others are wholly alien. Both are equally valuable.

"One thing in particular, though." He reaches into his coat to produce the opal. "Thought you might like to have this."

His tone isn't somber or hesitant. So either it's nothing bad, or he's just very unimpressed by Rosinante's terrible memories.

Rosinante's expression shifts subtly, from neutral to - well, pensive, really. These memories have been a mixed bag. Less so their actual content and more that he doesn't enjoy people finding them. After a lifetime spent keeping his history, his personal details, all under a metaphorical lock and key, it's extremely uncomfortable to have them forced out into the open like this. It hardly matters if what Gregor found is inconsequential or if he just has a very good poker face, Rosinante doesn't like that he's found anything at all.

He takes the opal and closes his eyes for a moment, letting the memory sink in. Law, again. It's probably a good sign that so many of the memories scattered around this place are thoughts of the boy, and not because they're the easiest to relive - they aren't, actually. Every time, it leaves him feeling a little hollow, and he slumps forward over his knees where he sits on the pebble-covered beach. He has felt Law's absence every day he's been here. Either the opals' abundance is a reflection of that fact, or - or it's just coincidence, but one he finds gratifying. In some stupid, nonsensical way he imagines it might be a reflection of the kid remembering him too. Maybe.

Ah, and damnit every time he comes out of this he becomes acutely aware of the tears welling up in his eyes. He tries to blink them away but that just makes a few streak down his face instead. Sengoku did always worry he was too sensitive to keep his emotions perfectly in check. Turns out the old man was right, wasn't he?

"Thanks," he eventually manages. "Yeah. I, uh. I have one of yours, too."

Sorting through his box of opals so he can hand it over is a good way to distract himself for a few minutes. Maybe that'll work. Maybe, as he hands the opal toward Gregor, the others' own memory will keep him occupied. At least they have something in common.

Yeah, he notices the teary eyes. He doesn't acknowledge them, though. They're dead, they don't have much left; might as well leave the guy his dignity.

Instead, he'll occupy himself with figuring out what memory Rosinante has come across. Hopefully nothing to, uh, incriminating, but that sort of thing getting out has its uses, too. Thankfully, it's something a lot more pleasant. For the most part.

These are good memories, yes, some of the better ones, despite the sheer number of other things they're up against. But there's also a feeling of loss. Gregor wouldn't say he has regrets, exactly, and he did the best he could for the kid, all things considered. But maybe that's part of the problem; Joss doesn't deserve to have to lose anyone else. Will he make it? Of course he will. But he's already lost too much.

Gregor doesn't find himself crying afterward, but that's never really been his go-to reaction. Instead, there's a long moment of somber silence followed by lighting up a cigarette.

"Well, I guess that means I don't need to tell you that we've had similar experiences."

Yeah, he needs a cigarette too, that much is a given. Would've wanted one anyway but the smell of Gregor's triggers a need in him. It gives him another thing to focus on briefly anyway as he forces back the slight shudder in his breathing.

"Yeah. I... wouldn't have expected that," he admits after a long draw, a slow exhale. Gets himself in check before he continues. "Most people here don't have kids, let alone..."

He gestures vaguely with his cigarette. Let alone that, the struggles of caring for a difficult child who isn't blood but who is family all the same. Of having to survive while also looking after someone who needs so much help, although Law helped him just as much - helped him sail, helped put out his stupid accidental fires, helped him realize what it is to love someone and to be loved back.

His mind is spinning, and he rests his head in a hand. "I've been here all this time, and I can tell you, being separated from him doesn't get any easier."

It's definitely not the sort of experience he thinks is common, but Gregor supposes there have to be people in the infinite multi-verse that have raised kids as damaged as they used to be themselves. It's the fact that they met here and found each others' memories that's most unusual. Like attracting like, he supposes.

"Mm, I didn't expect it would." He's lost enough people over the years to know better. "But I'm not really worried about myself." He's sure Rosinante gets what he means.

A second later, he huffs out a short laugh. "Listen to me, sounding like a responsible adult."

"No, it's - I completely understand," he says with a nod, and a small sympathetic smile, though it fades quickly. "I don't know how he's doing, and he wasn't really in a state to be alone. Plus... he was there when I died. I dunno how that's going to affect him."

He has a lot of worrying he's done over the months. For all that Law is smart and self-sufficient and determined, the unknowns terrify him and he imagines Gregor must feel much the same way.

Gregor winces a bit in sympathy. At least Joss wasn't present for his untimely (or more than timely, if he's honest) death. He's not sure what that would've done. Given Joss a feeling of responsibility, probably. As if he doesn't have enough survivor's guilt.

"Joss is a strong kid. He's a survivor." Gregor pauses. "Though he could stand to be a bit more selfish."

Maybe that's the thing that worries him the most, that Joss will keep giving until he's got nothing left. Take a bullet for someone else. Though if that's how he really wants to live his life... Gregor can acknowledge the choice without agreeing with it. They did that a lot with each other.

He sighs. "I guess all we can do now is hope that what we gave them was enough."

"Yeah." That's something Rosinante can surely agree to. He did everything he could for Law to make sure he would get off that island and cure himself. If it didn't work, then... at least he tried. He couldn't forgive himself if he hadn't tried his hardest and if his hardest wasn't enough then maybe that's just how life is sometimes.

But he has a lot of hope. Faith, really. In Law, individually, and not just in the mysterious clan he belonged to, but maybe a little of that too. Maybe he just wants it to mean something, in case it helps.

"Your kid, Joss... He just turned up one day?" he asks. He can't help but be curious how much else they have in common.

"Hm. Not exactly." As a matter of fact, not at all. Not remotely.

"I killed his father." He says it plainly, without any emotion either way. He wasn't really planning to out himself so quickly, but they're on the topic, and this is an important piece of the picture. It wasn't a secret between he and Joss. Of course, it wasn't anything they really spoke about either, because Joss couldn't bring himself to actually say he was grateful for something like that, and Gregor wouldn't have been able to really say you're welcome. Regardless of whether or not those feelings were there, it felt wrong to give them words.

"Real piece of work, that one. The situation was complicated, as such situations tend to be, but the bottom line is that he had to be stopped and didn't give anyone much of a choice about the how. Wanted to take everyone else down with him, too, and he succeeded, except for one."

He'll let Rosinante fill in the blanks. He seems like a bright enough guy. Though hopefully he doesn't read too much into the whole murder thing. For all Rosinante knows, this could've been a one-off thing. Though it's probably kind of obvious that it wasn't.

Doesn't sound like a one-off thing at all. People don't talk about killing others that casually if it's the only person they've had to kill. But it also sounds like there was plenty of strong reasoning behind it, so he doesn't show even the slightest indication that he's bothered by this. The fact is, sometimes people need to be dealt with and while he'd prefer imprisonment for dangerous criminals, sometimes death is the quickest way to keep things from spiraling out of control. It's just too merciful for some people. Like most Marines, he's been taught that punishment is best given in the form of long, arduous sentences so that criminals really feel the weight of their crimes.

The ease with which he takes this statement probably says plenty about him too, but he'll allow that.

"Probably best you got the kid out of there, then. What was his father up to?" Yeah, he's going to push, because "it's complicated" is never a satisfying answer.

Eh, sometimes you've just got to cram all of that weight into a few moments and be done with it. Besides, there isn't a prison system for the sort of people he deals with. Would be sort of impossible, probably. Imagine trying to keep a person behind bars who can open locks without touching them, or worse.

In this specific case, much worse.

"Up to is an odd way to put it." And yes, Rosinante taking murder in stride does say quite a bit about him. But hey, that just puts them on a more level playing field here.

"He was, you might say, a very persuasive person. He could put ideas in peoples' heads and make them seem perfectly rational, even if they were anything but." Gregor means this in the most literal sense, but the turn of phrase is common enough to slide past, maybe. "He'd started an extremist religious sect. A cult, if you're familiar with the term. He started to gain an uncomfortable amount of followers, and things got a bit out of hand."

It's a better answer than it's complicated, at least. Hopefully it's enough this time.

There's starting a cult, and then there's having some sort of mildly psychic ability to suggest things to people and have them stick. Making people think their ideas are their own when they're entirely not. It's a concept he can grasp even if it's not a power he's ever seen - and in fact he can imagine that sort of power functioning as a devil fruit, but a very, very powerful one. A terrifying one.

"A cult controlled by one man, able to direct them at his will. I can see how that kind of power could be abused," he says. It's the sort of power that would in fact make such a person awfully hard to contain if Gregor's world doesn't have the tools to negate such abilities, the way the Marines do with seastone to disable their prisoners.

Of course, he does know to take some of this with a grain of salt. People can tell stories here. He certainly has. Odd story to make up in order to justify a man's death, though, which suggests there's probably truth to it.

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EVENT LOG: THE NIGHT WE MET

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