WEEK TWO

[shimmermods]

SECOND WEEK

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faq

hiatus/drop

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A new day dawns bright as you leave the town behind you; the map you've found is simple, easy to follow, and perhaps most importantly it's the only lead you have.

And besides, it takes you closer to the source of the Shimmer's influence; that alone may make it worthwhile.

The through the woods leading up the mountain is one that seems to have been taken before, though it's difficult to tell how long ago; the long grass seems to have been tamed in some ways, tamped down and trod upon, and the presence of odd flowers remains constant. They seem to obey no season, growing out among the grass and the trees high overhead.

Though it's worth noting that you don't seem to be alone here; occasionally there's a silence that sweeps over the area, the sort of dead quiet that accompanied your initial approach to the Shimmer. The sort of silence that implies a predator in the area.

Checking will reveal exactly that.

It seems as though something has been stalking you - cougars from the woods have come down toward the group, and while they keep their distance for now, that may not hold true for the rest of the week...

You hear things in the night.

It sounds like humans screaming.

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
[OOC: Welcome to the second week of The Shimmer! Unlike the deer and the other wildlife you've seen so far, the cougars that are tracking you are hostile - you are free to interact with them in any way you see fit, but they will react as a cougar would and they are entirely willing to try to attack the group. While we will not be NPCing these encounters, you are welcome to do as you like with regards to their presence, including fighting them off.]

code by vuvuzela

Comments

TUESDAY

[shimmermods]

[blunders]

[Felicia was prepared for a lot of things when she volunteered to go on this expedition. Honestly, she had thought she'd seen it all after the war between Hoshido and Nohr, after King Garon proceeded to turn into a horrible beast on them. She thought she'd at least be okay.

And yet as the days wear on, it's starting to become clear it's...not. Felicia clearly hasn't been sleeping well, though she's still attempting to wear that chipper look that's gotten her through so much. Even as she wanders around with the group in the morning, it's clear she's a little bit distracted. Just kind of keeping an eye on everything while kind of struggling to keep an eye on anything at all, really.

But she is still alert. Very alert; these moments of disquieting silence are definitely not good, and Felicia's definitely more than ready to keep up. It's just...rough.

It's by the afternoon that Felicia catches sight of a couple of the many cougars that seem to be tracking the group, and well...they need to be taken care of, one way or another. Felicia's going to look to someone if they're nearby--]

Do you think you could assist me with this? The sooner we take care of them, the better, I think...

[She's got her shuriken at the ready; she hasn't elected to take a gun from their new supplies quite yet, but she's sure with a little assistance, it won't be needed.

Of course, then the night comes around and there's the ungodly screaming again. Ugh, Felicia hates it--it's pretty obvious she's flinching whenever a pretty strong one comes by, despite her desire to try to ignore it and get some sleep, or make something to eat, or something that isn't focusing on the possibility that someone's being tortured to death or that the Shimmer's done something else, and--

It's something that sees Felicia start to wander a bit. Not too far from camp (at least not yet), but she's constantly keeping it in sight as she tries to get an idea of where the hell these screams are coming from. Maybe if they intervene--maybe they can do something. That's what Felicia tells herself, anyway.

She isn't aware if anyone's keeping track of her, though, so don't be surprised if you scare the everliving daylights out of her.]

afternoon

[scythegun]

Ja, of course.

[If there's one thing Yeager likes, it's fighting. He's aware that Felicia's got throwing weapons and requires range, so he shifts his weapon into scythe form and swings it over his shoulder easily.]

Is your aim good? I can get in close to keep it busy, but I don't want to end up with one of those in my back!

[He gestures to the shurikens. As always, Yeager sounds completely relaxed about all of this.]

[blunders]

[Felicia nods her head at Yeager's question; it is maybe a bit unusual to see him so debonair about all of this, but if nothing else, that'll make this go a little easier.]

It is, yes! You won't have to worry at all--I'm very used to fighting in close formation with these, and nobody's gotten hurt!

[friendly fire thankfully doesn't exist in fire emblem, the only way she can hurt people is with her atrocious cooking!!]

Are you ready, then?

[Let's do this shit.]

[scythegun]

Of course!

[And so a handwaved fight later...

Yeager finishes cleaning off his scythe and returns to Felicia's side, just as relaxed as he was at the start of all of this.]

Well, that was fun!

[...Okay, so maybe that's not entirely accurate; he's a little worked up in a way that might be approaching manic were he anyone else. He'll chill out soon enough, but for now he's a little excited about killing things, that's fine.]

You certainly weren't lying - your aim was dead on! Thank you for your assistance.

[blunders]

[Felicia's not doing too bad herself--maybe still a little shaky, and a little tired out, but Felicia does put on a smile when Yeager comes back over to her side. Just let her get this last shuriken out of the carcass here--]

I should be thanking you, you know! I don't think it would've gone nearly as well if we hadn't been working together--I really appreciate the assistance!

[...Of course, uh--]

Are you alright? No injures or the like?

[...Admittedly she's...wondering if he's okay mentally too but the injuries is easy to ask about. She's a medic, that's what she do.]

morning

[me_underfire]

[Grace can tell that something's off with Felicia. Probably because she's also on edge after everything that's happened so far. And here she thought she'd seen everything. Guess not.]

Hey, you need a break or anything? Had breakfast yet?

[blunders]

--Oh!

[Felicia snaps out of her daze a bit to see Grace, and almost instantly goes a little sheepish. Ugh, she's really not doing okay, is she--]

No, no, I should be fine! I-I've just been having a bit of a rough time getting to sleep, that's all...considering everything that's been going on the past couple of days...

[me_underfire]

It's tough, yeah. But I think it's only going to get worse from here on. They didn't think to supply us with anything for sleep, did they? Even just some earplugs?

[Blocking out those horrible noises in the night would be a big help.]

[blunders]

No, they didn't. I don't think they could've thought so far ahead that they'd think to supply us with them, but...

[Felicia shakes her head, sighing.]

It would have been quite nice if we had them, at this point. It's really only going to make things worse if we don't have some way to muffle them.

night

[planetary_bonds]

[suddenly, from behind]

Oi.

[It's Yusei's normal default tone. The problem with that is that Yusei's normal default tone is low, intimidating, and rather angry-sounding, so having that come at you from behind in the middle of the night is kinda.

Sorry about that. Especially since the flashlight Yusei's holding isn't helping to illuminate his face in any kind of friendly manner.]

[blunders]

--Eek!

[Felicia yelps, practically jumping like a cat who's been caught doing something it shouldn't while turning to face Yusei. Gods, that shaved several years off of her life right there!]

Yusei! Oh, don't scare me like that! [just. let her catch her breath a bit. it takes a couple of seconds to realize that, oh yeah, she was kind of sneaking out and about--and she blanches a bit, looking away] Is there something you need?

[Let's just not acknowledge the situation, sure!!]

[planetary_bonds]

Sorry.

[Yusei blinks, looking very much like a cat himself. Although with his bright eyes gleaming with the flashlight, he looks more like a wild feral cat you'd find glaring at you from an alley.]

I was just worried. I hadn't seen you in the camp, so...

[too bad. he's acknowledging it.] Did something come up?

[blunders]

[Ah. Felicia pauses for a moment, not...really sure what to say, before just kind of acquiescing.]

...I'm sorry for worrying you. It's just...I'm really worried about the screaming that we've been hearing, and it's been bugging me for several nights now. I'm just worried, that if someone's out there getting hurt, we'll...

[only find the remains is what she wants to say, but Felicia stops short. Shifting in her spot a bit.]

It's...just not a good feeling.

afternoon

[alchemicals]

Going hunting, are we.

[He's here to kill some shit, honestly, so no judgement there.]

Did you get any guns from the town back there? No issue if you didn't.

[blunders]

Figure I might as well--they're only going to try to get closer to us, so if they can be taken care of before they get closer, it'll only be good for us.

[It's a bit of a pragmatic way of looking at things, but these fuckers have been aggro as hell. Felicia knows damn well they gotta go.

Kimbley's question gets a shake of the head, though.]

I didn't really think to--I imagine that the others could probably use them more than me. And I've got these with me-- [Felicia waves the shuriken in hand.] --so I'm sure we'll be fine!

Ready?

[alchemicals]

I've got guns with me. I just wanted to know how likely it is that I'm going to be hit by something. Not like your aim is shit or anything, but if bullets are going to be flying I want to know where they're coming from.

Let's go, yeah.

night;

[aokisouhei]

Hey, what do you think you're doing?

[ It's in the middle of the night and seeing one of their medics wandering a bit of ways from camp was concerning when there's still probably a good amount of those things hanging around. Too bad Lancer also didn't use an indoor voice (then again they WERE outdoors), so if he sounded pretty loud himself it wouldn't be a surprised. ]

[blunders]

[--Oh dear gods, DON'T GIVE HER A HEART ATTACK LIKE THAT LANCER, DEAR GODS. Felicia jolts and turns to face him skittishly. She's definitely been caught then, and while she's sure she could lie, she's...]

I--I was trying to see if I could maybe see what was going on ahead. [She's not lying, at least.] All of this screaming going on for days now, and it's just...what if there's people out there? What if they're getting hurt, and they need help?

[aokisouhei]

[ Sorry not sorry, Felicia. ]

...Right now there's nothing but those dangerous animals nearby us, and that's not a coincidence—that sound's more likely trying to lure us into a trap. I'd prefer it if none of us died a meaningless death hoping it would do something.

[ Honestly, this felt like a trick a certain someone would conjure up to cause someone an untimely death (that might be an exaggeration, though maybe not not), but luckily she's not here. Still, he reckoned that the screams mostly happening at night was intentional. A tactic to lure out prey. ]

afternoon

[pr159]

No objections.

[ And he's got his throwing knives, so there will soon be a lot of sharp metal objects flying through the air around here, which can only end well. ]

We can consider it a joint target practice.

[ Not that he really needs practice, but these aren't his usual knives either, so hey. ]

[blunders]

[Ah, knives! An excellent choice, as far as Felicia's concerned. She winds up smiling; surely this will only end well! At least for them. The cougars are another story entirely.]

I wouldn't mind that at all. Let's see just how well we can do!

[One of the cougars seems to look in their direction, and well, it seems to be go time. Felicia doesn't exactly need the practice either, but her look goes pretty serious.]

Let's go!

night

[selfsacrificial]

[Rean feels much the same way about those screams. He can't bring himself to tune them out, he may have stopped chasing them at this point, but he still finds himself looking every time. That's part of the reason he can't relax. And why it's easier to stay up, on guard-- just in case.

So when night comes, he patrols. That's when he sees Felicia beginning to wander a bit. With a concerned pinch of his eyebrows, he decides to follow her.

He reaches out and puts a hand on her shoulder lightly--]

Hey...

[blunders]

[Well, if nothing else, that gets Felicia's attention! ...By way of Felicia practically jumping out of her skin, turning in an instant to see who just tapped her and--

Oh. Oh, thank goodness it's not a tree come to life or something. Felicia lets a sigh of relief loose, before settling.]

Ah--Rean! Um, was there something you needed?

[selfsacrificial]

[He feels bad for startling her, pulling his hand back slowly and smiling apologetically.]

Actually, I was going to ask you that. If you're planning on heading out there, I could come with you.