EVENT LOG: WITH ME ALL ALONG

[nextnightmods]

EVENT LOG:
WITH ME ALL ALONG

characters: everyone.
location: around town.
date/time: May 1-10.
content: rain, rain, go away
warnings: n/a. please cw tags appropriately.

And I wouldn't be the same without you

Welcome to WITH ME ALL ALONG, the follow-up event to BOTTOM OF THE RIVER. We're so glad you've made it here with us! The prompts below are designed to cover the entire first third of May as the process of sorting through the wreckage and beginning to rebuild is a lengthy one. Seeing as how we've just overhauled and updated all core pages in the GPSL, there may be errors here and there! If you spot something that looks wrong or out of date, drop us a line.

We are also happy to announce that EXPLORATIONS are now open! Remember that for now, only one explore per character per month will be allowed, so choose your destinations wisely. Rebuilding or other setting alterations is now entirely separate from explorations, and the form for setting alterations can be found below the map on the updated setting page.

Dedicated characters keeping an eye on the bonfire and the torches around town mean that 82 torches are able to be found either in the bonfire, at The Invincible upstairs, or scattered nearby around town in easily-accessible places and can be freely picked up and returned to the bonfire in threads. Many others are still safely accounted for by characters in other locations, but 19 torches seem to be completely missing. To find them, please see the FOLLOW THE LIGHT prompt below, and then sign up for a feather under the Torch Retrieval comment in this log. And don't forget, if you take a torch from the bonfire and place it elsewhere, let us know!

Lastly, keep an eye out for an upcoming npc post on the network within the next couple of days!

HOLDIN' ON FOR SO LONG

The downpour from the heavens fades to a sprinkle, then to mist, over the late hours of April's last night. When finally the rain ceases, the flood begins to drain away, retreating to the lake. And the river, proud and full over its banks, sinks back downward, leaving little rivulets in the dirt like grasping hands that cannot fully hold the weight of all the water in the channel and finally they too lose their grip on the land.

There is darkness in the direction of the lighthouse. The cliffs have eroded, and the tower, the beacon that Beacon was once named for, has slumped and crumbled into the lake with the stones it once stood on. The rest of the town has suffered various fates. Bridges lie scattered in pieces on the lakeshore or wrapped around buildings; the Town Hall has collapsed and clockwork lies scattered around the Bonfire square - and so do people's personal belongings, for the cabins of Bridalveil Falls seem to have been raided by the water and what wasn't smashed or toppled has been carried by the flood to some unexpected places. You might find your favorite mug half-buried in silt outside the Post Office; your winter long johns now hanging from some battered shrubs outside the Delft Theater. Perhaps far worse is the number of people not responding to messages on the network. What's missing, and where can you find it? Who needs help, and which buildings need to be prioritized? Why did the welcome message just start playing the moment you look at your tablet?

And what happens when a full day goes by, and then another - and the ferry never arrives?

I'M HELPING!

Since the storms have ended and everyone's started taking stock of what's been destroyed and who's left among their population, the mood has understandably become a little dour in Beacon and the spirits have taken notice. A few days into attempting to rebuild what they've lost, citizens will start to notice piles of debris stacked up, usually near the supplies they're using to rebuild or in windowsills or doorways. Sometimes they're piles of branches, sometimes they're shingles that had been lost to the storm that you'd thought you'd disposed of, sometimes it's an unusual amount of moss. Usually it's a combination of all of these, plus some other things found along the way.

More often than not, the spirits will leave these quickly enough not to be seen, but if you're lucky you might find one or two setting up their offering, though they don't stay long once they're seen. This is supposed to be a surprise, after all!

FOLLOW THE LIGHT

Much of Bonfire Square fared surprisingly well, thanks to the valiant efforts to protect the torches mostly resulting in success. However, that's not to say the storm did not take its toll. The accommodations built there by long since lost Beaconites have mostly washed away. There is only one exception to that rule — the shack that used to be home to the Bonfire Keeper, while dilapidated, seems to linger on.

The Keeper himself is nowhere to be found, even when most of the wreckage is cleared away. That is, until the very last pieces are stirred and a scattering of feathers is left behind.

There's something odd about the feathers, and when touched, they will float up on a sudden breeze, glowing a comfortable gold in the dim of the square. Almost like a breeze takes them away, suddenly the feather will float off in the dark, beckoning like a guiding light. As it drifts the light will fade, yet the feather insistently twists a trail to something, gently navigating those brave enough to follow. Eventually, the feather will find a torch that has been displaced or lost, floating just above it until it has been reclaimed. Once it has, the glow will fade and the feather will return to normal, decorated in the colors that will seem familiar to any that knew Rastus well.

It seems his system for locating absent torches has helped to protect the bonfire one last time. Where will the feather lead you?

QUICKNAV
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Comments

[fjorgedinfire]

I can be there in a few minutes, alright? Just stay put.

[Luckily he knows where the bridge used to be, so it's only a few minutes at a full sprint for him to make it to the general area, and he holds his lantern up high as he walks carefully through the debris of the immediate area, looking for the flash of white that he remembers her dress as being. Maybe she'll see the eye staring back at her first, but he still cups a hand around his mouth to call out.]

Pudding? Can you hear me?

[flangirl]

[ She does answer over the network as soon as he promises to be there, so he knows she heard.]

Okay.

[ Terrified as she is, even several feet back from the bank and trying to hold back streaming tears, Pudding has her eyes trained on the glow from the water, feather clutched tight by the quill in one hand, only taking her eyes off the torchlight to glance down at her tablet. So she doesn't see the lantern coming - but she hears, recognizes Fjord's voice. Barely, with the sound of water still rushing painfully in her left ear, but better once she turns her head and sees that comforting yellow glow. It's so much more obvious at this distance how far the actual light from it doesn't reach, contained and small, in the oppressive dark. But god, at least she can see it. ]

[ She stuffs the tablet into the pocket of her dress so that she can grab her own (overturned; she's lucky the outer shade is heavy enough to withstand a soft bump) lantern and lift it high, waving it back and forth. ]

Fjord!

[ She tries to get up, tries to run to meet him, torch be damned now that someone else is here, but her legs falter under her and she just goes over onto her hip like some actual damsel in distress. She bites her lip as that brings a new, unfair sob up out of her throat. Stupid, this is stupid! ]

[fjorgedinfire]

[Fjord hears her voice, and sees that torch, and is quickly running over to her. He's fast enough, even, to catch her with one arm before she hits the ground, even if her weight makes him stumble slightly like some real anime bullshit, and helps pull her to sit upright, looking her over for any signs of injury.]

You're not hurt, right? Y'all didn't try goin' in the water at all?

1/2 jfc

[flangirl]

[ Pudding's fucking heart skips a beat. ]

[ He really did just run to catch her from a stupid mild stumble, didn't he? ]

2/3 I'm sorry

[flangirl]

[ Why and how is everyone here so nice? The real kind, not just idiot boys falling over themselves for a low-cut top and happy-go-lucky idiots being sugar-sweet to a smiling big-sisterly face. ]

I -

3/3 done

[flangirl]

[ She ducks her face and presses her forehead against his chest, all her eyes shut, to try to contain all of her damn feelings with panic still thrumming through her and all this kindness battering against her like the debris in the flood. Her fingers clutch and dig into her palms through his shirt and that's the only reason she manages not to snarl in self-defense. Instead she explodes right back into tears. ]

oh my god

[fjorgedinfire]

"Oh--" oh no, Fjord doesn't know what to do with a crying young woman. Beau would have smacked him for mentioning it and Jester just didn't so what does he do--??

He goes stiff for a moment, before he slowly sets his lantern down on the ground, and wraps his arms around her shoulders in an uncertain, but tight, embrace. "You're fine, I promise. Ain't nothing right now that's gonna hurt you."

[flangirl]

[ Instinct wants Pudding to recoil - at least inwardly - at being held. Reaches right out for that place of disgust summed up more or less by ugh, men. But it's a flicker there and gone, because the tears she's crying are real instead of expertly faked and she's scared and small and wants somebody to hold her. And that's terrifying all by itself, makes her feel weak and stupid and as easily-fooled as everyone she's ever tricked, ever convinced, ever strung along and toyed with. Wanting this badly enough to mean it. ]

[ And whether Fjord's a flustered boy or a forest spirit or a fully transformed fucking Zoan user as stupid-looking as Morgans doesn't matter a bit because it's not about that

and that realization stutters a sharp hiccup into her tears that signals a slowing instead of a descent into harder sobs. ]

[ He's nice and he's a friend and he actually cares if she's okay. ]

[ She sniffles, pressing a little closer but already not crying nearly as hard or as loud. ]

Thank you...

lmao i lost track of style SORRY

[fjorgedinfire]

[ He lets one hand rub her back gently. That's what you're supposed to do, right? He doesn't know, he's trying to take cues from how Jester helps people. ]

No problem, Pudding. D'you think you can stand?

[ He's kneeling with her right now, but he's going to start gently lifting her to her feet if she allows it. ]

lmfASDMLKSj I literally didn't even notice, no worries!!

[flangirl]

[ Pudding can't help an awkward bubble of a laugh from coming out between snivels. Fjord is so awkward. It's sweet, in its way, isn't it? ]

[ She nods at his question, lets him help her up, keeping her hands tight on him as she tries to find her feet. Her knees shake a little, so she doesn't let go right away. But most of her weight is on the ground instead of him. ]

Sorry, [ she sniffles, fighting down the warmth in her cheeks. ] I'm not hurt. I'm not hurt, I'm just - I'm scared. I can't do anything. I followed a feather to try to help and I can't even do that.

[fjorgedinfire]

[ He sees her blushing, and tries to be polite about not noticing it, instead looking at her forehead as he feels himself blush a bit as well.

And then frowns slightly. ]

You sure you didn't get near it? Your forehead's all wet.

[ As he says that, he's lifting a hand to brush back that thick fringe of hers to see if she's injured it somehow. Water for blood wouldn't be the weirdest thing that happens around here. ]

[flangirl]

[ The blushing is just embarrassment, completely the general "made a fool of myself" kind and nothing else. Shut up. ]

[ She's not looking at him as he speaks, because of that embarrassment, and his concern earns just confusion for a second - her forehead is wet? - before his fingers brush at her bangs and (all of) her eyes go wide. ]

[ Pudding's intake of breath is some combination of choked-off gasp, squeak, and shriek as she startles backward, letting go of Fjord to put space between them, to keep him from seeing -

shit, the feather!

- her hand snaps out almost as quickly as it let go, grabbing Rastus' feather and trying not to crush the plume as she does so. ]

[ But that means she doesn't get to step back as far as she likes - fuck, she closes some of that distance back up for a second. And Fjord's fingertips brush high across her forehead, above her third eye, before she can bring her own free hand up to cover it with a palm. ]

[ Shit. ]

[ Her eyes meet his now, wide and shellshocked. ]

[ Did he see it? ]

[fjorgedinfire]

[ Unfortunately for Pudding: yes. ]

[His hand was already in her hair when she realised, and when she jerks back and forth so fast - making Fjord start back as well, when her hand snaps back towards him - that movement combined with the sharp flick of Fjord's hand as he jerks back makes her fringe flap wildly, and he gets a really, really good view of that third eye on her forehead.]

[He doesn't move further back, to his credit, but he is staring. At the hand over her forehead, then her usual two eyes, with a look of wide-eyed alarm on his face.]

Uhh.

[flangirl]

[ Pudding feels her heart fall right out of her chest. Bang against her knees on the way down and splatter into the mud. ]

[ Fuck. ]

[ She can't do it. She can't stand here and wait to hear it again - bakemono, voices echo in her head, childhood mockery loud and horrible and as nauseating as the water rushing in her left ear; creepy, she hears in her mother's own voice, so recent and sharp, and she turns and bolts. ]

[ She doesn't even know what direction she's running in - except not toward the river - but the more important question might be how far she gets before one of them realizes her lantern is still sitting placidly in the slippery dirt. ]

[fjorgedinfire]

[ He starts again when she bolts, instinct more than fear - the eye was a surprise, for sure, but he's gotten used to eyes in mysterious places (Avantika had had one in her palm, and now Fjord has one inside his ribs, in a sense), enough that it's still weird but like, manageabley so. ]

[ So when she bolts, Fjord ducks to grab his lantern with a sharp curse and dashes after her. ]

Pudding--! Be careful!

[flangirl]

SHUT UP!!

[ She regrets it the second it's out of her mouth, and she clasps her hand over it before she can burst out something worse, anything else in the voice she's thought of as "hers" for so long: loud, brash, halfway between growling and nasal, all back of the throat. She doesn't wanna talk to Fjord like that any more than she wanted to with Soldat, but then Soldat hadn't looked at her third eye the way everyone else always looks at it, and there are already more tears streaming down her face -

- when she stumbles, not going down immediately but definitely faltering. She's not that fast in the first place, not a combat fighter by any means and now running through flooded soil in little pink mary janes instead of anything with traction, so she's not going to exactly be outrunning Fjord if he's following. ]

[ And even less so when the flood-roaring in her ears (both ears??) seems to redouble, and her steps get sluggish. Why...? ]

[fjorgedinfire]

[ The shout makes him flinch in surprised, but Fjord keeps running after her. He has the advantages of fitness, familiarity with the terrain, and his own fucking lantern on him to light the way and chase the muddy slaps and cracking branches of Pudding's escape. ]

You're gonna get hurt, get back here!

[ He can't be too far behind, surely, he's holding his lantern as high as he can while he runs to try and get a glimpse of her.]

/2 ✂

[flangirl]

[ Pudding can't help an awkward bubble of a laugh from coming out between snivels. Fjord is so awkward. It's sweet, in its way, isn't it? ]

[ She nods at his question, lets him help her up, keeping her hands tight on him as she tries to find her feet. Her knees shake a little, but most of her weight is on the ground instead of him. She tries to let go, and one foot goes out from under her, landing her right back on the ground with an awful, muddy splash before Fjord can catch her. Soft hitching cries return as he pulls her back up more carefully; she's flushing with embarrassment, tears tracking down her cheeks (and only her cheeks). ]

Sorry, [ she sniffles, fighting down the warmth in her cheeks. ] So stupid...! I'm not hurt. I'm not hurt, I'm just - I'm scared. I can't do anything. I followed a feather to try to help and I can't even do that.

Re: /2 ✂

[fjorgedinfire]

[ He might miss catching her but he bends down quickly to help pick her up again, and this time he hooks his arm under her shoulder in an almost-embrace so she can't fall over. ]

You're not stupid, Pudding, y'just got a bit scared, that's all. I wouldn't want y'all jumping in that there river anyhow - it's killer.

[ He moves his hand to her waist so he can bend down to pick up her lantern, but his hand falters for a moment. For... some reason, he thought she'd left it somewhere else. ]

[ But a second later the thought is gone, and he picks it up to hand back to her. ] We oughta get you back to the Invincible, I'll feel a lot better about trying this if I know you're safe.

[flangirl]

[ Ooh, he's an observant one, isn't he? Pudding eyes Fjord's hand, but he seems to cast the little incongruity aside completely enough to satisfy her. She takes the stem of the lantern in both hands, tucking it close to herself despite the mud. It's all over the rest of her anyway; she'll have to work on getting stains out of the whole dress as it is. ]

[ That little hook of his arm around her though... she nestles into it, tucking back in against his chest, and stubbornly ignores the fact that not all of that is acting. Even if she can't trust him to see her real face... at least she can take a little comfort in his kindness. Running to catch her... that was real enough. ]

What if it washes away? [ She looks over her shoulder at the light in the river, but at the moment, that concern is put on. One torch can go tumbling off into the fucking lake for all she cares. See what doing the good thing gets her. ]

[fjorgedinfire]

Probably it'll get taken down to the lake. But fire here's important, I'd hate to see it get that far and then washed out of our reach completely. [ Since she seems content pressing into him for a moment, he removes his hand so he can hook his lantern onto his belt again. He feels safer with it there. ] And I'll need some rope anyway before I go trying anything.

[flangirl]

You won't go alone, will you?

[ Pudding startles herself with how quickly she whips her head back around to look up at Fjord, one hand leaving her lantern to settle on his chest. ...Years of muscle memory and acting, that's all it is. She's still furious with him. She still can't trust him. ]

[ (He still rushed to her side immediately when there was no acting in her crying at all.) ]

[ She draws her fingers back after a beat, glancing away as red rushes up into her cheeks again. ]

I wouldn't want you to get hurt...

[fjorgedinfire]

I'm not scared of the water.

[ He says it so full of confidence, that it's nearly impossible to tell he's bluffing. He is a little bit scared of the rivers - they've already gotten him once, and now that everything's gone to shit who knows what might happen if he dies again? ]

And I know how t'be careful around it. But I'll get someone to help me. It's only sensible. [ That, and he'll never be allowed unsupervised again if he does go getting himself killed to something completely avoidable. He CAN learn, people! ]

[legalcy]

[ Thankfully for the two of them, there’s something moving towards them in the forest by the river. Judging by the pinprick of light, it’s probably someone with a lantern and not some sinister spirit bent on pushing them both in the river for a cruel joke.

Minimus is certain that Pudding would be around here. Hopefully, once he’s by the river, he can get a better look.]

[flangirl]

You should be. [ This might be the first time Pudding has scolded Fjord, even gently, but her voice is firm. (And steady, in sharp contrast to things he won't remember.) ] I know I don't get a lot of say since I can't swim, but I don't much think the water here is normal. Nothing here is, is it?

[ She does catch a glimpse of the bobbing light over Fjord's shoulder, take another moment to quietly duck her face and dab at her eyes (and forehead) again with the arm of her dress before making more a show of seeing and waving her own lantern back. It could be someone coming to find her after her spectacle on the network, or just as easily someone else who's lost and could use a waypoint? ] Oh, Fjord, there's someone - Here, hello!