Field Mission 3: Brushing the Sun, Part 2

[balancemod]

I couldn't be more proud of you all. NAVIGATION 1. THE UNRAVELING (CTA RESULTS) A. EVERYONE GET THE HELL OFF THIS CRAZY THING With the Bureau quickly packing up and getting the hell out of dodge, four Reclaimers — Kaede, Komaeda, Minato and Lion — made an honest attempt to evacuate the dwarves and goblins still on board. They were mildly successful in drawing half of all the goblins into their fold, but the dwarves were much more resistant. Ultimately, only five agreed to leave behind their precious forge. Bread and Barry were also handily convinced that it was time to leave. Their chosen method here included a lot of falling with style. With a little help from Lion, a breeze is whipped up to give the trip down a bit more wind resistance. Even though they didn't convince as many as they would like to leave, this is still a very large logistical effort — you may help pass out treats to help evacuees float down. You may wrangle up any stragglers that wander too far away from the group. Ultimately though, everyone who agreed to evacuate, as well as the Reclaimers who are helping, will be able to safely make it to the ground. Except for one. Upon ensuring that Good Girl Cocoa makes it down safe, Minato will find that there are no more magic treats to help him safely evacuate, too. And when Maru perishes, so does he. Additionally, Barry does go down with the evacuation group, but by the time Maru crashes to the ground, he's no where to be found, and presumed dead. This also means that very nearly every dwarf and goblin who refused to evacuate also perished. B. A CHAT WITH A TIRED SPIRIT, AND AN UNRAVELING Akira, Zelda, Maya and Sayori are assigned to try to take on the Whomping Willow so they can reach the forge it's guarding. With an insanely good hit from one of Zelda's Light Arrows, the tree is stunned — and with the unfortunate curse of sentience that drives it, it is humbled by the raw power, and elects to speak to the group. The Whomping Willow is several thousand years old, and so, so tired of this enchantment. After revealing the wisdom of the Beastmaster class, Maya is able to disenchant it, effectively reducing it to a simple willow tree once again — and with the help of a few Persona users, they are able to successfully transplant it to a small alcove in the Quad of the Moon Base. What does this mean for Reclaimers? Well, you now have some very comfortable shade to relax under. You have a monument to your successes. If you happen to know a druid with Speak with Plants, it'll also dispense some of the wisdom it's accumulated over the millennia in the form of advice. Meanwhile, Sans and McCree, with an easy entrance to the forge, make quick work of unraveling the yarn, setting the dwarves trapped there free, and successfully convincing them to leave the forge behind for their own safety. And as they continue to make this mission look outrageously easy, they manage to unravel the yarn without causing damage to themselves and the forge. It's done so well, in fact, that the falling apart of Maru is less of an explosion, and more of a controlled, structured demolition. It's actually quite a spectacular sight, for those of you on the ground to witness it. Like a ship slowly descending to the earth and breaking apart some 100 feet above it, it feels as if the entire planet shakes upon impact. Debris is sent flying in all directions — later reports that make it to the Director's desk indicate that mining equipment was found some 20 miles away from the impact site. Unfortunately, another Reclaimer is lost in the unraveling of Maru. McCree perishes while trying to escape — but he dies a hero. C. ON THE GROUND Two teams — Franziska and Wash, and Akechi and Ryuji — are sent out to try to locate the yarn and, being as buff as they are, try to clear out as many surviving monsters as they can. Along the way, Akechi manages to steal a priceless weapon off of Hethi, the guardian spirit of the paper mountain that once stood on Maru. Also along the way, Akechi says some really cute social link rank-up shit to Ryuji, which in turn causes his Persona to turn into a bear. Later on, Franziska manages to convince Hethi to move to the Netheril, effectively becoming Vista Virs' new guardian. She's so convincing, in fact, that Hethi sees this as a divine intervention, and Wash and Franziska are both incorporated into the mysterious guardian's origin fable as divine advisers. Both groups also find survivors of the fall, and safely evacuate them to Phandalin. While Ryuji and Akechi manage to blast through entire hordes of monsters with little injury, Wash and Franziska are not quite so lucky. Nobody perishes, but the both of them will probably need some assistance. Finally, with the help of Cocoa and her nose, Akechi and Ryuji are able to locate the yarn, and a recovery team from the Bureau retrieves and delivers it straight to the Director's hands. Congratulations, Reclaimers. Your third mission was a smashing success. 2. THE BEFOREMATH AND THE AFTERMATH D. EVERY NOW AND THEN I FALL APART You're only as good as your backup, as they say. And the Reclaimers who are not currently attempting to fetch a wayward overpowered ball of yarn are going to have a lot on their plates, before Maru comes crashing down in spectacular fashion. That plate does not include Maru itself. Every hour that passes that you do not escape on your own, the ground's stability grows more precarious. You can feel it shifting underneath your feet, like it's straining, trying to contract into itself. In the distance, an ominous rumbling. The land is literally cracking apart, and you do not want to be on board when it finally tumbles down to the ground. ○ Convincing those who could be convinced to evacuate was no easy feat, but for those of you on board with immediately helping, there's a shortage of hands on deck to move people as quickly as possible. ○ Much like how the wildlife scatters for cover when a thunderstorm hits, the fauna of Maru are aware that a disaster is looming. To that end, nearly every single creature that has settled inside the mines have started pouring out into the open, making an already unstable ground a little ... crowded. Bring your best weapon and your best spells to this fight — you're going to need both. E. THAT'S UNFORTUNATE Once you're on the ground, if you choose to dig among the rubble yourself, you may find any last resources that the impact site may have slapped to the surface. They're very small, but gems and diamonds are your highest prize here. The forge, however, was destroyed on impact, shooting a massive burst of magical energy straight into the sky, before it dissipates. Should you happen to find yourself anywhere near the remains of the forge, however, one of the following may happen: ○ You will be turned into an animal of your choosing for two hours. ○ Any remains nearby may suddenly be reanimated, again, for two hours, until the magical energy disappears. Enjoy your goblin zombie apocalypse. ○ A curse might follow you home — think things like tripping over your feet constantly, or not being able to sleep properly, or hell, accidentally passing along the curse to anyone you touch. Dr. Tank back at medbay on the Moon Base can remove this one for you. F. THE TOWN OF PHANDALIN The aftermath of Maru's collapse can be viewed from Phandalin, a nearby prospecting town that is now host to a host of floating island evacuees. Well, a whole lot of dust can be viewed, anyway. For those of you who arrived here with said evacuees, or simply evacuated here yourself, consider yourselves put on something of a mandatory two-day vacation. The orbs back to the Moon Base just can't seem to get past the dust choking the air directly above the town. Phandalin is on the small side, and inhabited mostly by prospectors looking for valuable resources deep within the nearby mountains. To say that this is the biggest influx of visitors they've ever had is an unfathomable understatement — and while they are hardly a settlement built for tourism, they're more than willing to take your coin. Or any remnants of Maru you happen to have on hand. Now is your time to rest. Gather your bearings. Or, work more, if that's more your speed. ○ A small group of dwarves need to figure out where to go next, after all. Will you help them find a place to stay in town? Or will you help gear them up so they can set out on their own, once the dust (literally) settles? The blacksmith in town can't make anything new on such short notice — but he does have plenty of tools and weapons for sale. ○ Should you make your way to Stonehill Inn to escape the dust, you may find a Kenku in a corner, ignored by the other patrons as much as he's minding his own business, mug at the table in front of him. And should you decide to engage with him, he'll lean forward, closer, voice so husky it could pull a sled. "Oi, you're one of those visitors, ain't ya? You know what happened. With all the dust." There isn't a particularly discernible tone or expression here. If anything, he sounds on the brink of a personal revelation. "You've seen it then, right? My house. Where the hell's all my stuff?" (Some of you already know who this is — it's Jingler, the owner of the shack on Maru that is now part of a heap of sod and brand new landscape not too far from Phandalin. He is a completely pilotable NPC, meaning you are free to use him how you like for your threads. All you need to know is, he's a bard, that shack held all of his most valuable treasures, and Garfield owes him a lot of money. He won't say for what, though.) ○ Finally, not too far from the town square stands a fortune telling machine. It goes largely ignored by the regulars passing by, and if you happen to ask, it's because of one of the following reasons: It's a waste of money to begin with, or it's a waste of money because it keeps spitting out the same fortune. Pop a single gold coin in the machine, and it'll print out your fortune. It's true that it seems to be running on repeat, though, because you're guaranteed to get one of the following two fortunes: Disaster has invited itself to your doorstep. Or, Mild fortune bears down on you like the sun. Another thing that's guaranteed: Whatever fortune you receive will have to manifest in some form. That's rather unfortunate for the ... more unfortunate ones. G. A REPRIEVE IN THE ORCHARDS An old half-elf by the name of Daran Edermath tends to an orchard just on the edge of town. It's a bit of a locally hidden gem for Phandalin- the old, retired adventurer turned vintner keeps the trees well nourished and tended to all year long. It's spring time here in Faerun, and naturally, there should the crowns of budding apple blossoms coming up and ready to take shape. But wandering in here, you'll notice that they've developed into beautiful looking, ripe apples. Daran is one of the oldest living people in Phandalin and while he hasn't been around long enough to know what happened to the Lost Mine of Phandelver, he does seem to wear a sort of smile when he hears about it. See, in his youth, he snuck down there with only an apple for rations to his name. He doesn't know how he stumbled upon it, or even how he really made it past the monstrosities that lie in there. But Edermath farms remembers. Those apples that are perfectly colored and perfectly ready to eat? They're all the result of that one apple he dipped into the forge. Must be about 100 years ago. The sweet scent of cider, sauces, and butters fills the air in almost every direction. It's a time to relax and enjoy the days before returning to base, and he's more than willing to trade a few silver pieces for a bucket of the stuff. For those of you with a little more adventurous taste buds, Daran offers you to try an apple from a tree that grows many different colored fruits. He'll explain that there's a little bit of magic in those too, but nothing that'll hurt you. Give it a try, see what happens! These will last up to 24 hours. ○ Red - your senses elevate far beyond what a normal human should be able to accomplish. You can hear, see, smell, and touch better than you ever have before. Take a walk out into Phandalin after the dust settles. The color and the scent of the flowers should be amazing. ○ Green - you become incredibly pensive, seeing insightful things about your life that you haven't noticed before. You recall past events with a crystal clear level of understanding, to the level of being able to close your eyes and remember details that are minute- like the sound in a memory you forgot, or the way the breeze felt on a particular day. ○ Yellow - you feel lethargic. Enough to probably take a nap wherever you're currently standing. It's not a bad thing, but if you've been feeling really stressed lately or pushed yourself in battle quite a bit, waking up is going to feel about as refreshing as humanly possible. ○ Blue - you become incredibly confident with yourself. Things that might have scared you to say or do in the past feel like small anthills compared to the mountains they once were. You speak your truth when you want to, you fear nothing and become closer to your true self. ○ Pink - you're hit with a wave of affection. You're all about hugs and hand-holding and being close to people you care about. It provides a sort of blissful state that makes you want to be around other people. Eventually, though, the dust will clear, and with the jutted earth and remains of Maru in the horizon, you'll board the orbs and return to the Moon Base. Because a true rest after this mission is waiting you back home. You could say it's going to be quite the retreat. 2. OOC NOTE Congratulations on successfully reclaiming the third Grand Relic! We hope you enjoyed exploring, and ultimately unraveling, Maru. For people new to the game, you may notice that there isn't an RNG thread. CTA logs generally do not have one, just to give us mods a bit more time to work on the interlude, and the next field mission. You can check out our calendar to see what's coming up next! The TDM will be posted Monday, April 29. Reserves open Wednesday, May 2 and applications open Saturday, May 5. blurb code by photosynthesis

Comments

[gotyourbach]

Of course!

[She's almost shocked that he would ask that. She might not have been there personally for all of it, but she has absolute faith that Lion, Minato, Nagito, and all the other Reclaimers did their very best to evacuate everyone. They're all part of the same team, after all! And the Director can talk about recovering Relics all she wants, but when it comes to saving lives... she's certain almost everyone here would be willing to pitch in to help as many people as they could.]

I know you all did everything you could.

[napstar]

[ He nods. He expected that answer. He takes his time chewing through the stewy bread before talking again. ]

Then... do you think you're better than us?

[gotyourbach]

[She's not sure where he's going with any of this, so she lets him eat his soup without interruption. She rubs her eyes roughly with her sleeve, sniffling as she tries to catch the stray tears gathering in the corners.

Then he asks that question, and it's absurd enough that she snorts a humorless laugh through her nose and shakes her head.]

N-No way... that's definitely wrong.

[napstar]

[ He nods again. ]

If we did our best and you're not better than us, then... you couldn't have done more than we did. You'd have to be better than us to do more.

[ #logic ]

[gotyourbach]

But-!

[#Logic. She's been out-minigamed with just two pieces of evidence, and it brings tears of frustration to her eyes again.]

Y-you're right, but... I promised Kurusu-kun. I-I told him I'd try to be better, to- to make up for what I did, b-but if I can't even protect you, then...!!

[She covers her face with her hands, fighting back a fresh wave of tears. He's here, alive, he can talk to her, he doesn't think she did anything wrong, but she can't erase the sight of him falling to the ground.]

I just want to protect everyone!

[napstar]

[ What she did? He wonders what Akira told her. Minato's not sure how trustworthy that guy's advice is, considering he was in Velvet Room jail. ]

You did try... Not everyone wants protection.

[ He won't bring attention to her crying. She doesn't need to feel self conscious about it. ]

[gotyourbach]

...

[She doesn't have an answer for that. If she can't protect everyone, how is she supposed to make up for killing Rantaro? If she can't even save a dear friend like Minato, what good is it? She just keeps grinding her palms into her eyes, trying to force herself to stop crying.]

I just... I can't, [her voice cracks, falters and breaks for a moment. She bites the inside of her lip and rubs her eyes.] I don't ever want to see something like that happen to you ever again.

[A beat, then she chokes out a laugh.]

I wanted to come comfort you, but instead it's the other way around... you're so kind, Arisato-kun.

[napstar]

[ Ah, ok. That's different. He imagines the, uh, ending wasn't pleasant to see. There there, pat pat. Except he doesn't reach out and touch her. Just watches her cry a bit before awkwardly mushing his stew around, trying to think of what to say. ]

... Sorry about the mess.

[gotyourbach]

[Is he trying to make her laugh? If he is, it works, though it's more from confusion than anything funny. She scoots her chair back and just slumps over, pillowing her head in her arms on the edge of his bed.]

Don't apologize for that... apologize for making me cry over you if you're gonna apologize.

[It's a mumble, her own sad attempt at humor. She kind of wants to grab his hand again, but he doesn't have enough hands to spare one for her right now.]

[napstar]

[ If she took his hand he'd stop eating for her. As it stands he just scoots over to give her more room on the bed. Her climbing onto it seems like the next step.

He eats more stew, pushing the spoon aside with the bread to get at the chunks under it. He's not sure what to say to that, really. He's not going to apologize for choosing Cocoa's life over his own, and he knew how he was going to die when it happened. He's not going to take that back...

He'll pretend not to have heard her. Yeah, that's probably the best thing to do here. ]

[gotyourbach]

[She isn't going to climb into bed with him when there are people around! If they were alone, maybe, but he scoots over and she interprets it as him scooting away to get more space.

But that's fine. She keeps her head where it is, pillowed in her arms and hiding her face.]

I told you... I had nightmares, right? [She asks for confirmation, more to check that he remembers, because she certainly does.] Before the Director saved me, I was...

["Being executed" is the right phrase, but it implies she did something wrong. Which, she did, but it's still so hard to say. "Dying" doesn't encompass it at all though.]

...Being killed. I never wanted anyone I care about to go through something like that.

[napstar]

[ He nods. He remembers her remark about nightmares.

Ah. Similar to Shinji and Goro. Goro had said some people were dying before the Hunger arrived and they had clear memories of their near-deaths. But things that happened after the Hunger arrived were blurry and covered in static. It's why Minato can't say if he was dying or not before being brought here.

From the phrasing, it sounds like Kaede was actively being killed by someone else. But there's a clear difference in his mind between having your life taken from you and giving your life for someone or something else. That's why Shinji was a hero.

Okay, time to word this. ]

... I didn't mind it.

[gotyourbach]

...

[She glances up at him without lifting her head from her arms, giving him a wan attempt at a smile.]

Yeah. That's what I tried telling everyone before it happened, too. I thought I was prepared for it, but... nothing could have prepared me for it, not really.

[She rubs her eyes against her arm and sniffles, dragging in another breath.]

Umm... I guess what I'm saying is, it's okay... not to be okay all the time.

[She definitely thinks he's just trying to act cool.]

[napstar]

[ So, she was okay with being killed until it happened? Does that make sense? He doesn't know right now. All he really knows is that he's perfectly fine with what happened to him if it meant that Cocoa lived... ]

.... I'd do it again.

[gotyourbach]

...

[She doesn't have a quick reply to that. She just buries her face back in her arms again.

She'd accept her punishment again if it meant that all her friends could survive, too. She'd had the chance to escape after starting the killing game, stopping the timer that was marching all of them toward their deaths, but... the people here are different from her friends. No one here knows who Rantaro was; it's easy for them to forgive her for the death of someone they didn't even know. She can't expect her friends from home to forgive her, to let her walk away from starting something like that.

That is what she's done though, isn't it?

It's hard to reconcile those two feelings, understanding why he did it, and why he might be willing to do it again, with how much it hurt to have him gone. Even if it wasn't for very long, it had still hurt.]

Please don't. [It's a quiet plea, spoken into her arms instead of to his face.] Let me... let me do it for you, Arisato-kun. If... if we hadn't been able to bring you back, I just... I was so scared I'd never see you again. If it has to be someone, let it be me. Please.

[napstar]

[ What's with this admonishment?? ]

You volunteered for the same thing!

[ They volunteered for it because they knew Reclaimers could come back from the dead, right? They were equally likely to die! Minato just ran out of the hover snacks. It's not like they had the time to spend 6 hours getting more. ]

I didn't die to make you unhappy. I died to save Cocoa-chan. I'd do it again.

[gotyourbach]

[She sure did volunteer for the same thing! She's being hypocritical, and she's only somewhat aware of it. She thought she understood that casualties could happen in the line of work they've been assigned, but it's different when it's someone she's close to, instead of hearing about it happening to someone else.]

You're so noble, [she mumbles instead, unable to really put that feeling into words that don't sound so awful.] I thought... I thought it would definitely work! And if anything happened, it would be me...

I don't want to die. [She's very firm on that, though her next words pretty much contradict it immediately.] But... I was going to be killed anyway. If it had been between me and Bread-san, then... maybe I'd have been able to make up for what happened-- what I did to Amami-kun.

I know why you did it, I just wish you hadn't had to.

[napstar]

[ She's looking for redemption by death then? He doesn't care enough to have an opinion on that. Better luck next time he guesses. But the "I thought it would definitely work"? That's ridiculous. He heaves out a sigh before talking, dropping the last of the bread into the bowl. He probably won't get his point across, his pain and lack of sleep not letting him think things through as well, but since he can't sleep he might as well try. ]

It did work. It was in the plan. It worked.

[gotyourbach]

[She hums quietly, a little note of dissent that she doesn't put into words. It was in the plan, but it wasn't supposed to actually happen. It wasn't supposed to happen to him!]

Next time... [she mumbles finally into her arms.] Next time, I'm gonna make sure we have a better plan.

[napstar]

We accounted for every possible failure. The plan worked.

[ How can you do better than that? ]

[gotyourbach]

[That gets her to sit up so she can glare at him, tear-stained face be damned.]

You died! I can't let that happen again!!

[napstar]

Why not? I'll come back.

[gotyourbach]

[She punches his shoulder. It's not a good punch, nor is it even really that hard. But she punches him nonetheless.]

What if you don't? What if- what if we can't find a priest like this one? What if something happens to your bracer, and they can't bring your soul back? What if you can't come back?!

[She punches him again, and again, punctuating her demands with them.]

I won't plan for that to be an inevitability! I won't!!

warning: physical abuse

[napstar]

[ Normally the punches wouldn't hurt him since they're lighter than most friendly jabs he's received, but he's already sore all over and each hit brings a wince of pain out of him, making him curl and tense up with each hit. It makes it even harder to concentrate on what she's saying. Something about breaking his bracer? Ugh, this is so frustrating. If he was well rested and not in pain he would be able to read her better and empathize with her. He knows this. Instead it feels like he's choosing all the wrong things to say.

Even when she stops he stays tense, expecting more, not foolish enough to believe that was the end of it. ]

[gotyourbach]

[She's waiting for him to argue back. She's expecting him to argue back? Her fists are still clenched as she waits for him to try saying something like it was part of the plan or even I didn't mind it. It's wrong! He's wrong!! There's a weak point in his argument that will break it all apart, she just has to find it!

But he's tensing, and curling up, and he's not fighting back. "Does it hurt?" she'd asked, knowing that of course it did. And here she is, hurting him. Even if it's not intentional, that doesn't matter right now.

Her hands go to her mouth to stifle a gasp, a cold rush of guilt sweeping away all the frustrated anger from before.]

I-I'm hurting you. I'm sorry, I...! I'm really sorry, I wasn't thinking, I just...! I'm so sorry, Arisato-kun, I didn't mean to!