EVENT LOG: FOR EVERYTHING A REASON

[inthenightmods]

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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Comments

[equinoctials]

[ M.K. isn't so different. People have to work to get into the confidence of people like them. Maybe M.K. has a looser tongue than Riku has, they put up walls around their most vulnerable places and are reluctant to let them down. They do so conditionally.

Actions have always been easier for Riku, who for so long lacked a vocabulary for the things he feels that didn't come framed as a challenge, a dare, a tease, something cocky and sometimes cutting. Riku is illuminated in two places - by the starlight in his pale hair and by the warm glow of the lantern hanging from his hip; these throw his face into shadow when he tips it, looking down. ]

I'm back. Had to see Dawn off.

[ No one answers and, unperturbed, Riku unhooks his lantern from his belt loop, carrying it with him as he moves to sit on the ground. When he speaks again, he's set it down, picking up twigs, stray leaves that have blown in over the two graves. The soil heaped over one of them is much fresher than the other, the soil is still dark and damp. ]

Not you, though. Sora thinks he can find a way to bring you back. And- maybe I'm not that into goodbyes.

[darkeyed]

<sub>[It's this damn darkness. Impossible to see clearly long distances, even for the sharpest eyes. He can hear just fine, and Riku cuts an unmistakable silhouette, but--

The one-sided conversation perturbs him for the sole sake of not seeming to add up, busy as he is looking for a conversation partner. Riku speaks as if in the quiet company of a friend, only the aforementioned friends he'd promised are nowhere to be found, not that M.K. can tell. It isn't until Riku sits that he begins to see.

Standing at a lower elevation, the angle's all wrong for him to make out exactly what the other is talking to, but he doesn't have to. Riku gives it away--his tone, his words, detritus crunching under his hands as he brushes it off slightly darker patches on the dark ground. It's a tableau most people in the Badlands know well. The clues are all there.

M.K.'s footfalls add to the soft noises of the night as he gives up his distant vigil to come closer. The moment a nebulous kind of dread gives way to understanding is clear, as he pauses for that moment somewhere over Riku's shoulders. Then carries on again, coming closer so that his lantern's light pools with Riku's.]</sub>

Who?

_{[Who's filling these graves? Because that's what they are: graves, one so new Riku's still wearing it.]}

[equinoctials]

[ He does not look surprised to see M.K., there's a way about his gestures that slows to acknowledge his question, but Riku doesn't startle, he doesn't look up in alarm. The truth is he could kind of smell him coming, all that darkness in him clouding up at Riku's back.

Wiping his hands clear, their combined lantern light hollows out his eyes and does what all the soft light at the shore couldn't - marks all the way exhaustion is carving into him, while he remains steady. ]

Her name was Kairi. We grew up together.

[ Lifting his chin to look at the other, newer grave: ]

His was Dawn. He picked that name for himself, right here.

[darkeyed]

<sub>[Oh.

This isn't what he'd been expecting... but neither is it all that surprising. Not to him. Not given where he comes from. He's looked on more fresh graves than he can remember--sometimes he thinks there are more dead in his world than in this one.

But that doesn't stop a dreadful heaviness settling over him, because these aren't just any graves. They belong, he's beginning to realize, to people who were here. And they're certainly not just any graves to the person who had invited him to "meet" them. Replaying their conversation in his head adds a dismal new context to everything.]</sub>

From your group.

_{[Not entirely a question. More a revelation said out loud.]}