logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: FOR EVERYTHING A REASON

characters: everyone.
location: the harbor.
date/time: september 6-7.
content: characters and forest spirits send off paper lantern boats in honor of those who have died..
warnings: character death

a somber kind of serenity.

When you arrive at the harbor, there are already boats in the water, and the lighthouse's red beam flares in slow pulses over the lake. The moon's a bright first quarter and the stars are out in force today, all reflected on the glassy surface of the water. It's uncharacteristically calm, this weather, so take advantage.

Rastus is down at the water's edge, tending to a large mound of pebbles that looks not unlike a miniature bonfire from a distance. The stones are all ordinary, having been collected from the beach, except Rastus has enchanted them to glow with a soft, yellow light. The enchantment will only last a week, but that's ample time for this little ceremony to send off those lost over the past two months. Or to send off something less literal, perhaps.

Next to the pile of stones is an array of craft materials—just the basic supplies like paper, markers, glue, and scissors, but more than enough to accommodate everyone in attendance. A handful of forest spirits (some you may recognize from the party!) are standing nearby to assist in paper-folding or boat-crafting if you're out of your depth there. They, along with Rastus, urge you to join in. This memorial is as much about you as it is anyone we've lost, after all. The boats can look like or represent anything you like.

Releasing boats lit with pebbles out onto the water will fill you will a sense of peace. It's a somber kind of serenity, but it's a relief nonetheless, whether you're mourning the loss of a friend or letting go of some other part of yourself. You're welcome to release as many boats as you like, too. It's not like there's a shortage of rocks around here, and even if the craft materials run low, there's plenty of other stuff around town that could be used in a pinch.

The forest spirits are in attendance, as well. Some are helping with the crafting, yes, but most are taking part themselves, building their own little boats to send out over the water. Their crafting involves more of a hands-on approach: Chomping and tearing and crinkling into unique shapes and textures. They stand out from the townsfolks' designs on the beach, but once the boats drift far enough into the surf, it's impossible to tell which vessels belong to which group. Feel free to NPC your own forest spirits for this event and refer to the OOC info post if you have questions about how they might behave.

On the final night of the event, a sound starts up along the treeline, one you haven't heard in some time, perhaps. Crickets. Cicadas. Katydids and beetles and the shrill hum of a mosquito in your ear. It seems insects have returned to Beacon from... wherever they were hiding, and the night air is now vibrant with their music. No more eerie silence back in town, where the sounds of the lake are snuffed out by the trees. It sounds almost like a real forest now.

And it will stay that way after this event ends, too. Maybe you were enjoying the time away from bugs or maybe you were longing for some sign that, yes, this world was alive once, but either way, the insects are here to stay. Well, until winter, at least.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There's something in the back of the Soldier's brain that says, Holy cow. And it's staring. Definitely staring. Because that's ice. The guy just made goddamn ice on the palm of his goddamn hand.

The Soldier-- as someone who has been frozen solid and thawed more times than it can count-- isn't sure whether to be fascinated or terrified. (Let's not be silly; of course it's both.) "What did you just do."

Maybe the Soldier will get back to philosophy in a minute. First things first, find out what the fuck is going on with ice-man here.

Before responding he sets the glowing, frozen stone in the boat and lets it set sail into the lake. A tiny beacon of light to add to the others slowly making their way out onto the water amidst the waves lapping at the shore.

"I froze it." He's still watching the lake rather than the man next to him, but eventually he turns to face him. Holding his hand out palm upright his fingers are quickly enveloped in a swirling blue mist that coalesces into a small ice orb. He lets it sit there for a second before he crushes it and lets the pieces fall to the ground.

"I used to be called Sub-Zero. In a time before here."

Sub-zero. Like the Winter Soldier. Or Captain America. (Probably more like Captain America. It isn't like the Soldier got to pick its code name. And this man is definitely not like an Asset.)

The Soldier watches the pieces of ice fall with a blank expression. "How much can you freeze." Because. Well. The Soldier has been frozen a lot. And now it's got that whole thing going on in the background where its brain is warring between wanting to find out first-hand because cryo is fucking familiar, and wanting to back the fuck away and maybe shoot the guy. The only outward signs are the very intense way it's staring at Kuai's hand and how the plates in its metal left are are starting to click together and whir softly.

Everyone he meets seems to ask some variation of that question. As if they expect he will freeze the entire town and lake on a whim. He frowns, thinking about that, because that's something he's done in the past. He was possessed and has no memory of it save for the aftermath, but he's certainly capable of it. They're right to be concerned.

"I'm not planning on freezing anything living, if that is a concern you have." He inclines his head to include the Soldier in that statement.

"But you could." The Soldier sits back on its heels, body tense.

The little war in its brain resolves itself. Maybe not now. Maybe not ever. But knowing someone could... it might be a good thing.

It even decides to explain a little, in case Kuai thinks the wrong thing about its interest. "Cryofreeze is required for full recovery from serious wounds. And for recalibration." Part of the process, anyway.

"I could." He agrees. No use in hiding it, if they were ever in battle it would become pretty apparent just how powerful he was.

There's an explanation there, but not one he understands, "It wouldn't heal anyone, depending on the duration they would die if frozen too long."

Granted most could break out of it if he did decide to freeze anyone, though he could encase them in an entire block of ice and they'd suffocate before it melted. But he hasn't done that in years, he has no wish to have to do so again. It would be nice if he didn't have to fight at all, but that's far too much to ask for and he knows it.

"Recalibration?"

Honestly, the Soldier has no idea how it works. It was just patched up, slung into cryo, and came back out again whole. It's possible that regular freezing won't do it, too, and it'll just die for good, but one never knows until one tries. (And it's not like it's not already dead, anyway.)

"Recalibration." It lifts the metal hand to tap at one temple with a finger. The arm plates reconfigure again, this time with a stuttering sound, before it clarifies, voice a little harder: "Fucking brain scrambling."

His eyes dart to the arm, wondering what that sound is. He'd thought that his arm was similar to Jax Briggs' but these seem to be ... doing something.

"That's not how ice functions at all," he sounds confused, not understanding the comparison or why any of this would have to do with freezing. "I've been under someone else's control, I would never do such a thing to someone else. Nor do I have the ability."

Good to know this guy wouldn't want to, at least. Not many people ever said that, before.

"Maybe it's how I function." It isn't like the Soldier understands it, either. It drops its hand, looks away from Kuai's hands finally, and goes back to folding the paper for its current boat. "I don't know how it worked. No one ever explained."

"I'm afraid I do not understand." He watches him go back to paper boat building, looking vaguely concerned about all this. There's some disturbing undertones to everything they're discussing and Kuai can't yet figure out what they are.

"You were frozen and controlled?"

That makes two of them, pal. The Soldier nods in answer, looking determinedly down at the paper but anticipating more questions. "I am the asset. Property of HYDRA." Maybe it shouldn't have brought the whole thing up, because now Kuai is going to be weird about it all (like almost everyone seems to be) but it had to know what kind of ice the man could make. If it hadn't asked, it would just have gotten itself tied in knots wondering.

Hell, maybe that would have been better.

"Perhaps you were, but not here. No one belongs to anyone." He's not even going to ask what either of those things mean, because the truth of it is - it doesn't matter here. There's a lot of things he doesn't understand about the other places people come from and this is another to add to the pile.

"None of us are what we were."

Maybe. Maybe not. But it's only been a week of conditional freedom, and the Soldier really isn't ready to consider life without handlers, without orders. The handlers here aren't so bad, anyway. How do you imagine being something else when you don't remember anything else?

You don't, not right away, anyway. So it continues to focus on its paper folding, expression drifting down into a frown.

Sorry, Kuai. It seems like the Soldier just ran out of words.

That's fine. He understands when the words just end. Much better than the reverse like some people he knows back home who never stop talking.

He'll sit nearby, meditating as he watches the boats make their final journey.

EVENT LOG: FOR EVERYTHING A REASON

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