logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: FOR EVERYTHING A REASON

Entry tags:

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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Definitely a familiar face. The Soldier stops by Handler Misty's house about once every twenty-four hours to check for jobs she might have for it to do (once or twice it's done so more often, out of a low-level desperation for something to do). Even if those jobs are often small and well beneath the level its training, it doesn't care. It's something to do.

The past day or so hasn't been one of those times, because between other tasks, it's had the little boats.

At her voice it changes the angle of its path to intercept without missing a step. "Handler Misty." There's not a smile, the Soldier still doesn't smile. But there's a slight relaxing of expression and shoulders, and the metal arm makes a brief rippling of plates as if saying hi, too. She's a good handler, hasn't even tried to hurt anyone yet, not even the Soldier itself. It's nice. Helps that the whole little boats thing makes it feel more calm, too.

There likely isn't any point in protesting the 'handler', so she opts not to. Later.

"Paying respects, or just passing by?" She asks, dividing focus between him and the paper she's working between her hands. He's solemn enough and active enough she could imagine a case for either; and it's her best bet for small talk. A stone's throw from 'how are you'.

Hey, if she told it not to call her that, it wouldn't. That's an order, after all. (Wouldn't stop it from calling her that in its head, though.)

"Just making little boats," the Soldier answers. "I don't have any respects to pay." Thankfully Elena already gave it permission to keep going when it learned the real reason for all this, so Misty doesn't have to deal with its confusion and dismay at the discovery.

She has to smile, at that. If not for solemnity, it might be something close to recreation. He would benefit from that.

A hand extends toward him, and when it opens there sits something paper and vaguely canine-shaped on her palm.

"For the next boat." Or him! Whichever.

The Soldier hesitates only a moment, mostly at the proximity, but then plucks the little origami gingerly off her hand, using its right rather than the metal one. No part of it actually touches her. "Thank you." It holds the little paper creature up to the light of it's lantern (currently tied to it's back with only a little light peeking over the metal shoulder) for a better look. It's actually... really fucking cute. "Though then no one will see it." Since these boats are disappearing into the bay, and even if there's somewhere for them to go, the paper probably won't last long enough to get there.

Nonplussed, Misty shrugs. "Can just keep it, if you want. Not really a full decoration, but this place could do with more splashes of color." There's a slowly-forming zoo on the sand in front of her, so it isn't as if she'll be wanting for any currently or in the future.

"Or for luck? I'm saying it's lucky, as of now."

"If you want" isn't a thing the Soldier actually gets to do, so that's a nice sentiment but not one it can act on. It eases into a crouch to examine her other offerings, balancing the first one on its palm still. "How do you make these?" There's an actual question mark in its voice and everything.

"Origami," she declares with some pleasure. "Just folding paper." Asking at all means he may be wholly unfamiliar, so she adds, "I can show you, if you want?"

There's that "if you want" thing again. But Handler Misty does use that phrase a lot, and when it's not related to potentially keeping things for itself, the Soldier can choose to accept the sideways order. "Learning new skills is always worthwhile." And it's already done a lot of folding papers already, maybe this will be easy,

She pats the sand in front of her, inviting him to sit, and shifts so as to more properly display the flat side of her boot she's folding on. Her lantern consists of differently colored sides; she turns it so their light isn't tinted.

"You're best off with a perfect square. I've just been cutting these, they work fine but don't blame any wonky edges on anything else."

She presents her current selection, fanned out from one hand. Pick a color, any color.

The Soldier is at least consistent in apparent preference: after a glance at her face (not eyes, but face; baby steps) to reassure itself that she is in fact asking it to choose, it goes for red, like the red stars it's been drawing on the boats.

There's a little smile, meant to encourage, and she settles in to teach.

"Fold diagonally, unfold, then again the other way." As she models. Easy, impossible to mess up.

The Soldier picks up things on the first try, in general, so definitely impossible to mess up.

But it actually asks (sort of asks): "What is the purpose of unfolding." Because that seems counter-productive and inefficient-- why fold and then undo it?

"You're making creases that fold into the right shape later," she answers, "Think of it like a base to work on. Then you fold it widthwise, unfold, and fold lengthwise."

A whole set of creases. The world is their oyster.

"Okay." At the moment, the Soldier can't work out how that will help anything, but maybe it will become clear when they're further along in the project. Misty knows this skill better than it does, obviously. So it follows her steps, eyes moving regularly from her hands to its own to make sure it's doing it right. (It is doing it right.)

"Cool. Unfold it completely and then fold it - down, diagonally, but with the sides coming in?" This is demonstrated slowly, with her paper turned to most clearly be seen from his position. He's doing fine, so this is less specific attention and more due to this being trickier to articulate.

"Little square here's the actual base."

The demonstration makes it easy. The Soldier follows her movements as exactly as larger hands can. "I see." It thinks it does see. It knows the math of calculating a shot against wind and motion, the weight of a bullet versus gravity, but now it's learning the math of folding paper. This is a much nicer lesson.

It proceeds relatively simply, shapes running roughly from diamond to kite. Displaying remains more useful than speech from that point, but every step merits at least a few accompanying words. They proceed to the final few folds; bending one extended point down to form a head, and turning down the bulk of paper in the middle to form wings. She shows her own, palm-up, with an undeniable air of politely withheld ta-da!

"A crane!"

With the whole of the process behind it, the folding and unfolding makes more sense. The Soldier's little crane isn't quite as well-made as Misty's, but for a first try, it's pretty damn good. It looks between the two paper birds and almost smiles. It's obvious it's almost smiling, too. "Neat."

The Soldier made something new, something more complicated than a little boat, and an actual human helped it learn how instead of a spirit-thing. That's definitely neat. New experiences all around.

She'll smile openly enough for the both of them, pleased and encouraging at once.

"Not shabby, right? I know a lot, and there might be something in the library for more if we're lucky. Can make a hobby of it."

He...needs hobbies, she would wager.

The idea of a hobby is pretty novel, to be honest. The Soldier is used to either having a mission, or being in cryo-- and when on a mission, boredom isn't a problem, there's just orders. It's reaching the point now, though, that it's starting to remember what boredom actually is.

The Soldier wants to know how to make more, but asking isn't a thing it's supposed to do. So, after a beat, it plucks up another piece of paper and gives her a look (to her face, not quite her eyes, but close) that shades into both hopeful and expectant. Almost like a puppy. That doesn't count as asking, right?

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EVENT LOG: FOR EVERYTHING A REASON

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