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 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.]

[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. ]

[notjustawriter]

[Well.

Gabriel can't exactly bring himself to look at the burning tree. It actually hits him a little too hard, the idea that there was nothing he could do with these people.

And to make things worse is the idea that the Shimmer is even more incapable of caring about life than he initially thought. Fuck, even von Glower wanted companionship.]

Do you think it's always going to be like this? Arriving too late?

[crestological]

[Well, it’s been a good while since Hanneman actually felt clean, so while there’s water nearby he’s at least going to see if he can wash a spare set of clothes. He... is the sort... who’d pack at least one, okay, and cleaning is mildly therapeutic for him So he’ll be over by the stream doing that, but then he’ll hold a shirt up dubiously after staring at the stream itself for a while and looking over his shoulder to the fire...]

I really do hope it wasn’t the water which caused all that...

[Once he’s done washing his clothes, he’ll lay them out to dry by the fire. Sure, it... it will probably smell like... like bacon. Bacon is a better association than burning flesh.

...

Damn, he still hates this, though. He can’t really watch the spectacle, so he sits with his back to the fire and just kind of watches his clothes dry as he does it...]

...I wonder what our next move even should be. This cannot persist, but...

[Sigh.]