CAVERN.

[atrueheroine]

[Another encounter with the Shimmer, another round of confusion, frustration and exhaustion. It's probably going to be a fairly unanimous opinion, but Page much preferred the circle of peaceful corpses over the tree of suffering.

She emerged from the river just in time to hear what the Shimmer had to say, and it leaves a bad taste in her mouth. But regardless of feelings, it's probably wise that they don't move away from this cavern for the time being; the fire, remnants of that horrible tree, is providing light and warmth. They couldn't really ask for much more, especially after spending the past week in darkness.

So Page will swim back to the fire, placing herself in front of it and unwinding her headpiece, letting her locs fall free around her face. She's soaked, miserable and cold. As awful as the source of the heat is, she needs to dry off. The last thing she wants is to fall ill.

Not that it would mean much - sounds like a problem for her body. Wherever that is.

You're free to join her, or do what you will; time to rest, before the new week begins.]

Comments

[me_underfire]

[Grace wishes she never found that message.

They trudged all the way down into this hole, and for what? There were no survivors. She was stupid to think there would be any. Now there's something else on fire- more lives snuffed out. Why does everything end in fire?

She's starting to think the Shimmer is right. That all of this is pointless. She hates thinking that. She tries to tell herself that it's just the effects of the electromagnetic activity on her psyche but she's not sure if she believes it.

She has her back to the tree. She can't bear to look at it.]

[blunders]

[I don't...want to harm you.

It's amazing how so few words can get stuck in her head after all is said and done, but they stick with Felicia. And in a way, as much as she acknowledges that this needs to happen, all of it is a shame. More than anything that there isn't a third option to take, and maybe even more so that Felicia's gone and accepted whatever's going to happen as an inevitability.

...It really sucks, all things considered, but there's nowhere to go but forward at this point. Felicia's definitely a little bit out of it as she sets up her supplies for the night, but in the end, she decides to stay by the river instead--notably keeping her gaze on the water, rather than the fire raging before them. Hell, she even takes her socks and shoes off and just...dips her feet in for a bit, pensive.

She's not opposed to company, at any rate, but her mind's definitely elsewhere.]

[instrumentalized]

[ Garma doesn't really feel like getting that close to the tree, but he does agree that drying off is probably good, even if he feels like he can barely remember why. If you ever wanted to be treated to a view of Garma in only his underwear, today's your day, because he's taking off his wet clothing and laying it out to try close to the stream, hoping some of the heat from the fire might reach them.

He himself will sit at a cave wall in the corner. It's weird that he hardly minds being seen in a state of undress. He should, but this thing that is on display is barely part of him to begin with. Nevertheless, he hugs his legs. Once upon a time, that's something that might have given him comfort.

Though he's been lively in arguing with the Shimmer earlier and keen on keeping the mood up during the week, he's very quiet now. ]

[scythegun]

[Well, this is morbid, isn't it. Not that Yeager's complaining; in fact, he's busy staring at the burning helltree with one hand digging into the cravat over his chest.]

"A lack of existence is always worse than one that's less than ideal"... Hmm.

[Seems like something the Shimmer said is standing out to him. He's still smiling, but there's nothing pleasant in the expression.

For once, he's not going to bother standing guard tonight. Instead he sets up his tent and stays inside it for the rest of the evening. Feel free to bother him if you want, but he's certainly not going to be pestering people today.]

[skelkro]

[... When was the last time any of us had a bath? Because Emma might move over to a secluded enough spot into the cave water to do that, before then coming close to the fire so she can warm back up/dry her clothes as much as possible. You know, before we'll have to roll the pants legs up and cross back to the other side to leave the cave again.

But otherwise, Emma... does not seem to have a problem with the possible smell of burning flesh tree, at least not at first. She continues sitting here and watching this fire burn even after she's no longer really needing the warmth, like as if she's willing to stay up and watch all night until the fire is completely put out. She is frowning a little though the longer she watches it, not really smiling anymore as a thought suddenly occurs to her, unintentionally said out loud.]

... Did it have this same smell back then too, the last time I did something like this? I can't remember...

[... Ehh, I'm sure it's fine, whatever it is she's thinking about, right?]

[alchemicals]

[So that's a pretty big fire, all things considered, and while Kimbley doesn't usually mind such things he's currently...not really in the mood for it.

So he's been kind of holding up the walls, and he's sort of surprised to see Garma doing the same; after a while, he'll come sit down next to him, and he doesn't seem bothered by his...lack of clothes there.]

Hey. Something on your mind?

[klematis]

So it's been said.

[ As always Hugh feels the need to interrupt randomly and restate the obvious. His head is canted, watching Yeager's smile closely. ]

[scythegun]

It has.

[Yeager doesn't look away from the tree, but he doesn't seem all that surprised by Hugh's contribution either.]

Do you think the Shimmer is right about that?

[notjustawriter]

[It's starting to feel like a pattern, that they're too late to save people.

But, at the same time... if it hadn't been for Grace, Gabriel isn't so sure he would have survived his second case. Not when he'd managed to fuck everything up by refusing to listen to her. It had been her determination that had saved him when he was too sick to do anything but groan on an uncomfortable bed in Ritterburg's dungeon, safe away from the townsfolk who he could easily have harmed without wanting to.

Gabriel wants to believe that he's learned a lot from his experience, but now he's not so sure.

That doesn't stop him from throwing an arm around Grace just the same.]

[alchemicals]

[So the water is probably fucking cursed, but fuck it - Kimbley's hair is long and he's tired of just feeling it, so he's going to be washing it as throughly as he can because ugh. Better people have been submerged in the water today, so this is probably fine, we're all going to be wet here and it hardly matters.

Once he's done that, though, he'll be spending some time just watching the burning helltree and trying to ignore most everything that's going on around him, though he's keeping his arms folded pretty tightly against his body and not really seeming fond of staying still. If he's approached in all his fidgety glory, he's just got one thing to ask.]

So. Apparently some of us have some weird physical stuff going on. You have anything that's been showing up, or...?

[He's trying so hard to sound casual, despite the everything.]

[klematis]

That depends. Are you asking for my personal opinion, or are you asking what I've seen and witnessed?

[scythegun]

[He considers that for a moment before finally turning to look at Hugh.]

Both. I hadn't considered those being separate.

[He figured your personal opinion would match what you've learned from your observations, in other words.]

[instrumentalized]

[ Because it's Kimbley who approaches and because Garma still cannot help being himself and feeling some genuine joy upon being shown care, he musters up a little smile. ]

A lot of things. We're out of Napalm, for one, which has so far been our best bet against anything Shimmer. We keep seeing more and more hideous options for what might become of us and I'm hardly afraid of it, because this body... it doesn't even seem like my own anymore, eve though I look like myself and I...

[ He trails off, catching himself before getting too emotional, and just sighs. ]

I don't even want to go home, I just want to be elsewhere.

[alchemicals]

...It sounds like you are actually having a deep thought for once, and that's terrible.

[Like, don't you start cracking all over the place on him now, come on.]

[me_underfire]

[Grace actually stiffens a little when she feels Gabriel around her. Out of everyone here, she feels like she let him down the hardest today.]

I'm sorry. This isn't what I wanted to happen.

[That's what she gets for being optimistic.]

[alchemicals]

[...Wow. All of that is...spectacularly above his pay grade, but...]

...I can help you with one of those things. That being the napalm.

tent

[abysstery]

[Once Heinwald has cooled his head after that frustrating conversation with the Shimmer, something occurs to him: Yeager hasn't come to his tent like he usually does. When had he started viewing that as a routine to be somewhat disappointed in forgoing? More importantly, what about those words he had overheard Yeager repeating to the fire earlier?

Hm. Time to investigate.

After tying his hair back up, he ventures over to Yeager's tent.]

Yeager, it's Heinwald. I am requesting permission to enter.

[scythegun]

Absolutely horrid. You couldn't pay me to have a deep thought.

[It takes him a moment, but he finally does turn his attention to Kimbley before lifting his shoulders a bit in a shrug.]

It's not every day you run across something this horrible, ja?

[instrumentalized]

[ You're his favourite person here and you're going to have to deal with all of this now. It's your own fault. ]

Oh, really? That is a great relief already. It seems like this is hardly going to be the last time we need to get rid of horrid plant-things.

[scythegun]

[It takes a surprisingly long time for Yeager to respond. He's obviously still awake - you can probably see the flashlight beam occasionally moving in there - but he's very quiet and it's only after a long couple of minutes have passed before he finally speaks up.]

Come on in, then.

[It's approaching his usual light tone, but not managing to hit it properly.]

[notjustawriter]

I wanted to believe there was something we could do for them.

This doesn't feel real. Feels like a nightmare Harlan Ellison dreamed up.

[alchemicals]

...I guess this is pretty high up there on the list of "messed up shit you could do to a human being," yeah. I've done some messed up stuff to people myself, but at least it ends quickly, I don't just leave them like that.

[He shrugs.]

The Shimmer's bullshit getting to you, or what?

[pr159]

[ Immediately after that confrontation, anyone making eye contact with Rideaux is going to get something of a "well, I told you so" look in return. It's not strictly true -- the tree monster wasn't a naturally occurring one, and they didn't actually have to fight the boss at the bottom of the mine -- but close enough, as far as he's concerned. Anyway, the main point is valid: that this whole supposed rescue mission was always a fool's errand.

As things settle down, though, he ends up walking alongside the stream, looking more thoughtful, and frowning a bit at his glittering reflection. Honestly, he'd found himself agreeing more with the Shimmer than with anyone else in the group this time, and he's not really sure how to feel about that. ]

[alchemicals]

Yeah, I'll work on it tonight. It's pretty easy, especially because I've got accelerant to base it off of.

[...He just kind of doesn't tell people what he's got on a regular basis. It's fine.]

Hopefully any plant-things we deal with in future are less... [He gestures vaguely at the burning mass over there.] ...Less that. Whatever we're calling that.

[scythegun]

I think that's the part of it that's most messed up - that it saw nothing wrong with leaving them like that. It felt pain when it was burned, ja? So did it simply choose to ignore their pain...?

[He shakes his head sharply once that's out there.]

I suppose it is. I'm not usually one to get so worked up.