Lunar Interlude 4, Part 2

[balancemod]

Now is the winter of our discount tent. NAVIGATION 1. THE TOMB OF HORRORS "The Tomb of... Horrors?" "Yes. It's a tomb. And it's filled with horrors. Lucas, were you paying attention at all during the staff meeting yesterday afternoon?" "Yes, but... that doesn't... sound very safe, Lucretia." "The Space Mittens. The Architect's Pen. The Yarn of Earth's Binding. They've already faced way worse than what's down there, Lucas, and it's mostly harmless. Just a few exercises to get them closer to each other. Learn to work as a team. Build rapport. Support the new Reclaimers. It'll be safe. Edhyln's been working on it for weeks." "Edhyln?" "Yes, our Bureau Beholder Best Buddy. He actually likes to be called BB, for short." "Our... WHAT?" A. COME ONE, COME ALL Lucretia stands in front of the Tomb of Horrors. Several Reclaimers have done their best to help clear the path from the main campground straight to the mouth of the cave. She stands in front of it, explaining how this works. Essentially, you form a team- the makeup is completely up to you- and go through the tomb. It's meant to build character and bolster relationships between the Reclaimers. Mostly, it should be challenging, fun and edu-taining at the same time. You look up at a pretty dingy sign that's been painted onto wood, hanging above the portcullis that keeps entrants out. It reads, "Enter Colleagues, Exit Best Friends." Lucretia states that the tomb can only hold one team at a time, and it takes a little bit of effort to set it up in between runs. Fear not! You'll all have your chance to enter. Lucas has created some really cool technology to live stream your encounter onto these floating orbs that can be viewed from the campgrounds. They connect to your bracer, too. You can provide live commentary if you'd like; it'll appear inside the tomb itself as floating digital chat for everyone to see. Lucretia's not incredibly happy about this new invention and worries that it'll hamper the experience a little bit. You, on the other hand, are almost duty bound to make her regret her decision to allow it. Before you enter the Tomb of Horrors, a wooden box is neatly organized for your team. The lid is left open, and you're instructed to leave all your magical items behind. The focus is teamwork, after all- not cheesing it with OP artifacts. OOC Note: Feel free to set up a separate top level for interactions from other Reclaimers who might be watching your trial. The top 3 streamers who receive the most comments will receive a Fantasy Gachapon token each! We will stop tallying comments on May 31st, at 11PM EST B. THE FLOOR IS MADE OF LAVA (Note: Image over there not an accurate representation of this trial; I just thought it looked super neat.) Room 1 of the Tomb of Horrors is carpeted in a red, soft texture. There's a leader board that appears on the other side of the room that states: "THE FLOOR IS LAVA," and the second you and your team enter, pixelated faces of your countenance will appear below the warning, and a tally of points will begin. You'll notice that once you've entered, the portcullis drops and you're essentially forced to undergo the trials within until you've reached the final room. About 6 inches off the ground is a series of five 6½ foot long planks of wood, the ends of which are resting on small, circular metal pegs built into the ground. They make a zigzag pattern over a span of 30 feet, and you notice that below this series of planks, or essentially this low ropes course, is that soft, plush red carpet. This seems really, really easy. What gives? Lucretia's designed way trickier Tests of Initiation than this. However, if you... for any reason, touch the red carpet even once, the screen on the other end of the room will flash and tally a point deduction from your team. You'll earn one TEAMWORK PENALTY (TP). This seems silly. When everyone is across, you'll hear a noise over the loudspeaker remark: "we all walk the same path in life, and it's easier with help from your friends!" C. THE WOODEN WALL Room 2 contains the second trial: a giant, 15 foot, 7 feet wide, several feet deep wall made of wood. There's no way around it, as it seems to vivisect the entire room. It also doesn't come with rope, anything to help you climb over it, and honestly? It's a little on the slippery side. Getting above and beyond it is your challenge. If someone falls down from the wall, you'll earn one TP for your team. At the end of the trial, you'll hear a similar voice from a loudspeaker: "sometimes life throws obstacles at you, and it's easier to get over them with your friends!" D. THE TOTEM OF CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM The third room of the Camp Balance teamwork exercise leads way into a circular room with a small metal statue on a wooden pedestal. The statue depicts cartoonish representations of your party makeup, and when turned over, you see the familiar logo of Fantasy Costco written smack dab on the bottom of them. The far side of the trial reads: "THIS IS THE TOTEM OF CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM." In order to pass, you must give at least one piece of helpful criticism to your teammate. You'll take turns, and if the criticism comes from a place of pure personal truth, it'll light up gold. If it comes out of mockery, disdain, or condescension, it'll glow red hot- to the point of burning your hand. You'll also earn one TP for that one. Once all four totems are lit, the exit becomes apparent. "Good advice makes for good friends!" E. THE ARENA You step forward into the next room, and it looks very similar to the arena back on base... only it's been retrofitted to look like a McDonald's ball pit instead. You wade forward, as someone stands in the middle, a sheet over their face to make them appear to be a spoopy ghost. Oh no! It can only be vanquished by true teamwork! What will you do? The figure flings a ball at you, and depending on the color, you feel a light effect that resonates with a similarly colored element: ○ Red for fire ○ Blue for ice ○ Yellow for lightning ○ Green for wind It's not hard to take down at all. Have a little fun with it, why don't you? Or don't. The person under the sheet is getting a little ticked off with how you're not taking this trial seriously. If your team managed to score even one TP, he'll stop midway through the fight and rip the sheet off. You know those weird feelings you've been having at night while wandering around the campsite? That's because BB, the Buddy Beholder, has been around, watching all of you and trying to have a good time. He's not a very good beholder... in that, he's not very great at being a beholder. His eyestalks emit a kind of nauseating feeling that can cause confusion, blindness, paralysis- the same things you experienced back at the cabins. One of two things happen, here: "You're not taking this seriously! You were supposed to walk out of this becoming better friends. I think I know just the thing to help you become closer." (You've scored at least one TP) "Congratulations! You've earned the grand prize!" (A treasure chest drops from the ceiling, and when opened, shows a banner with the word "FRIENDSHIP!" printed onto it. This, too, has a Fantasy Costco logo on the bottom right of the flag.) Either way, the ground below you begins to tremble, as it seems all the balls in the ball pit start to suck through a vortex and the floor gives way. You're about to experience the real Tomb of Horrors. 2. YOU'VE REACHED.... THE END? For those of you who clearly did not take BB's cooperative training program seriously, he is extremely insulted!! Some of these tasks were meant to be interpreted more metaphorically, something to consider while forging stronger bonds with your colleagues, not just stomped through or made fun of. This is IMPORTANT. This is FRIENDSHIP. (Note: He is not mad at all of you sweet Reclaimers who enthusiastically tried your best at his workshop. But this is a team-building exercise, which means you all MUST do everything as a team). And clearly, as a team with the majority sorted into the fighting-based paths, the only thing you lot will respond to is actual danger. F. COME ONE, COME ALL... AGAIN? The little kid gloves are off — or, at least, they're off as far as a kind of ineffective beholder is concerned. The moment you regain your bearings deep down in the Tomb of Horrors, you'll find yourself in a dimly lit, dank corridor. The air is thick and unpleasant to breathe, like it reeks of magical energy, like maybe this tomb actually belongs to someone more sinister than a kind of goofy eyeball monster (Let's be clear about something, though: Goofy eyeball monsters are usually a lot more dangerous than BB is). You'll have to make your way to the end of the corridor, fumbling your way through the dark as the ground slants downward, deeper into the tomb — because any path action you have that might conjure light curiously doesn't seem to work in this area. It'd probably be best if you all held hands or found another way to safely navigate the corridor. Or not — because at some point, one or more of you will misstep, or suddenly, it will become apparent that the corridor, twisting far above the bottom of the tomb below, doesn't actually have any walls. And just like that, one or more of you will suddenly be gone. G. BIG BASS FISHIN' That's how easy it is to die and throw an entire mission off balance, isn't it? Maybe that's the actual message that little exercise was meant to convey: that you must be willing to keep moving forward even when your teammates have fallen. But luckily, much like the Bureau has plenty of diamonds on hand for Revivify, that fall wasn't fatal. It was pretty painful, though. Also, you're soaking wet, because you fell in a lake. It's cold, expansive, dark as all get-out down there and a little bit salty. In any case, those who slipped to their Tomb of Horrors death and those who managed to squeak down the corridor themselves will be able to reconvene at said lake, their lightbearing spells intact again, and have a rest at series of stones set up as a seating arrangement. There's even some fishing gear there, since your next trial does involve some BIG BASS FISHIN'. After a little while of reeling back and reeling in some ... honestly pretty boring baby bass that wouldn't even make it to the pail for measuring, something appears to emerge from deep within the middle of the lake. Something ... about human-sized, actually. Something kind of pissed. And it is intensely focused on you. That sure as hell is a Skum: A dangerous aquatic monster that specializes in biting and raking with any number of sharp appendages to eviscerate its foes. For this encounter, though, the Skum is going to pick only one target to attack, and will continue doing so. Your job here? Work together to protect the person who was unlucky enough to be spotted first. H. FREAKY FRIDAY Perhaps the most egregious of exercises puts you in a plain stone room, split into four stone hallways, effectively separating you from the rest of your team. It seems innocent enough when you pass through the entrance to your hallway. At the end is a door, with a speaker — approach it, and a pleasant-sounding voice will ask the following question: What is it that you value most? Maybe that question sounds familiar. But if you haven't noticed already, it'll suddenly become apparent when you try to answer: You are not currently in your own body — it seems you've swapped bodies with one of your teammates. Which means, of course, that your own, personal answer, the thing that you value most, isn't going to cut it. You might want to break out your bracer for this one and message your other teammates. Because this exercise is kind of a really weird way of forcing you to learn more about each other. I. BB The final doors swing open, and as you pass through to an empty room, the final area before the exit, you'll feel something of a snap, as you're returned to your body. That's not disorienting. Neither is coming face-to-face with the mastermind behind the very clearly aptly named Tomb of Horrors himself — BB, a beholder, an enormous floating eyeball sporting even more eyeballs, because all the better to see you, and all the exercises he built to encourage cooperation, with, of course. And look at how or mildly surprised/vaguely pleased with himself all those eyeballs are at your success. "You made it! Oh cripes, I'm not supposed to be in this room right now?? So ... that's pretty much ... it? I've got a comment box over by the door if you want to leave some feedback — I don't claim to be a dungeon master or anything, but I thought some of these exercises were pretty all right, and. "............ "Oh, what am I saying. You're going to want to fight, aren't you?" You have a couple of options here: ○ Yeah, you can fight BB if you want! Just a word of warning, though: Even though he is kind of terrible at being a beholder, subverting the usual alignment, uh. beholden. To beholders. He is still a beholder. When he decides to fight, he can be incredibly dangerous. You'll want to mind the lasers and the biting, but where BB shines in particular is his wide arsenal of status effect spells. He is the one responsible for all the weird effects happening overnight at the camp — and if you can think of a weird effect, any at all, he's likely got a spell for it. Don't kill him, though! He's got more Reclaimers who need to make their way through the tomb. Actually, he'll probably make a hasty, floating exit if you harm him too much. ○ You can leave a comment in the comment box. Positive or negative, you'll be receiving a reply in the form of a dramatic retelling of your adventure through the Tomb of Horrors in a large and very loopy script. It's unclear how exactly BB wrote it. Regardless, when you do leave the Tomb of Horrors, you'll find a box with a tag addressed to you on a table by the doorway. Inside is about 300 GP — plenty enough to buy yourself a new weapon or way too many snacks from Fantasy Costco — and a note. "This all seemed awfully silly, didn't it? But I do hope that you were able to learn a little bit about each other today." 3. THE GREAT BONFIRE J. THE END OF CAMP BALANCE Now that we've sung camp songs, played potato sack races, enjoyed a month of relaxing with friends, and made some good (?) memories down in the Tomb of Horrors, it's time to wind down from the activities of Camp Balance. Lucretia calls everyone around the campfire the night before return- and it's meant to be a rather joyous occasion. Food of innumerable styles and quantities are laid out and kept fresh with a charming ward- burgers, fruits, veggie dip, a jello mold that no one will probably touch... you name it, it's there. Tonight's celebration is one to mark unification. She thanks everyone for everything they've done up to this point, and humbly asks that they continue to do the outright unbelievable things that they've accomplished since coming here. It marks a half way point for the war she's waging to rid the world of the Grand Relics, and more than that, it marks almost 6 months since some of you have come here. Through bonds, new and old, and through hardships shared and vested similar passions and goals, you've made this journey possible. And she wants to reward that. There's music in the air as Johann plucks some spiriting songs on his violin. Spears for s'mores run iron hot in the huge bonfire centered around the midpoint of Camp Balance. It's a calm last farewell to the month you've had here- enjoy it in the hot springs. Go for a walk and take in the clean, crisp sea air that envelops every direction of the land. Swim in a nearby lake. Find some new friends, old friends, romance, good discussion. The world's your oyster. And as one last treat, Lucretia pulls out her staff, and stamps the floor. Into the sky shoot rockets as fireworks explode into blooms at the skyline. They'll make you feel somewhat nostalgic, and whether that's by the magical entrails they leave behind as they die out, or the warm feeling it brings in your chest to see them. Either way, it's a night to remember, for sure. K. AN OMINOUS VISION And just at the tail end of the celebration, as if bad luck waits for no one, there will be a deafening silence that pervades the entire camp. A gut feeling will fill your heart with dread, something that you recall, something that you're familiar with... but maybe can't place your finger on it. It seems as if the entire world comes to a still: no wind, no rustling of grass or sounds of crickets in the forest. It stops, and so do you. As you look up into the sky, where there should be a canopy of now-familiar stars... are eyes. Millions of them in varying sizes and widths. And they watch you, unblinking. The intensity in which you feel your very soul pervaded into is terrifying, and almost as quick as it started, it ends. Looks like we've been found, adventurers. The Hunger knows we're here. 4. OOC We hope you enjoyed this month's corporate retreat, and that you learned a lot about your fellow Reclaimers! You'll note there's no RNG thread this go-around. That's normal! We are working on your next mission, so we need a little bit more time to work on that over the next few weeks. Don't forget, there's a reward for the top level that gets the most amount of niconico video flyby's, in the tune of 1 gachapon token to the top three livestreamers. Also, please remember to turn in your activity for May — you have a little over a week left! As a reminder, you can turn in two bonus threads for two path actions this month. New players only need to check in, but you can also claim your small reward for the initiation thread as well as two bonus threads. blurb code by photosynthesis

Comments

[napstar]

[ He has been entrusted with Gundam's hamster now. This is strangely reminiscent of Cocoa, who he died for. Except he had the death experience first this time around. At least, he hopes he doesn't die again. The resurrection is kind of a pain in the ass.

In a few minutes he can barely make out what's around them, and... ]

No idea.

[ In Tartarus they were supposed to be going up. And, theoretically, if they fell down into somewhere they should be trying to go up, but downwards could lead to an opening near the bottom of a hill or a cliff. Or it could get them into terrible danger where they all end up dead. And, as noted earlier, resurrection is kind of a pain in the ass. ]

Is there an up? [ Besides where they just came from, anyway. He can't make anything like that out. ]

[gundamned]

[Gundam's only known Minato for a short time now, but he believes that if anything threatened Ribo-N he'd get himself killed first before he let her perish. He's heard the stories of Minato saving Cocoa from peril.

Gundam stretches his arm out, reaching for a wall. Being taller he's probably got significantly better reach than either Minato or Kaede. He can't feel anything on either side of him in the darkness though. It must be a rather wide hallway.]

Even if I were to fill the corridor with fog to see the dimensions around us, the darkness prevents us from seeing how far it takes for the cloud to fill the space. A most vexing conundrum.

[Gundam's scarf is pretty lengthy though and gives him a much wider range than holding Minato's hand. He doesn't mind being the one to veer off a bit to reach out further into the darkness especially if it means locating a wall.]

[gotyourbach]

Maybe if we just keep going, we'll start heading up eventually!

[Kaede pumps her free hand in the air, though the others probably can't see it. She can tell where Gundam is by sound, at least; even if she doesn't have a hand on the child leash, and even if their footsteps are echoing, she can kind of get a general sense of his location. SHSL Pianist ears.]

Tanaka-kun, are you... heading to the side? [She starts drifting that way.] Do you see something?

[napstar]

[ Kaede. Gundam didn't even say it cryptically that time. He doesn't try to stop her, but he does give her hand a squeeze to get her attention. ]

Don't get too close.

[ Down doesn't seem like a terrible idea. There has to be a bottom somewhere, which means a wall! Though it could take hours to reach... ]

Let's keep going down.

[gundamned]

[She hears his footsteps in the darkness but listens to nothing he says. Typical.]

Have you suddenly come into possession of the All Seeing Eye?!

[How did she know that?]

[gotyourbach]

Ummm... no. Definitely not.

[She squeezes Minato's hand back. Don't worry!]

It just sounded like you were getting farther away from us, so I thought something got your attention!

[napstar]

She has good hearing.

[ Minato is going to keep his team moving in a downward direction with light tugs and nudges to keep them moving. He's not trying to rush them, just keep them making progress. ]

[gundamned]

Hm. [That's debatable.

The longer they walk, the more the darkness of the corridor is starting to wear. The scenario is somewhat remiss of the trope of the endless corridor Sonia spoke about in her favorite films.

Films that would give him definite nightmares.]

... Is it possible that this path won't end in any sort of resolution?

[Gundam veers more deliberately this time. Reaching out and feeling for a wall, in spite of Kaede's super hearing probably giving him away.

That's human nature isn't it? When a child can't sleep because of the terror of their nightmares, they walk down the hall... their fingers trailing for the wall. Seeking out some semblance of comfort in the dark on their lonely journey to their parent's bedroom.]

[gotyourbach]

Mmmnnggghh...

[She pouts when he dismisses her, but is reasonably content to walk in silence as they keep moving. She's keeping an ear out, trying to figure out if there's a better direction than another just from sound, but she isn't a bat!]

No way! There's definitely a way out, we just have to find it!

[He veers, and Kaede drifts to follow after him. Again, maybe there's something interesting that way! Since there's certainly nothing in front of her.]

[napstar]

[ Children...

Ok, even if the situation is dangerous he likes spending time with his friend like this. And Gundam is growing on him too. It's very reminescent of his friends in SEES, Junpei and Yukari in particular. It's nice, and the silence and darkness don't put him off at all. If he didn't feel the need to be on alert due to the situation he'd find the whole thing quite relaxing.

The length of time they've been down here without running into anything makes him just a little complacent though. When the scarf in his hand suddenly goes taut it catches him off guard and he goes stumbling after it as it drags him along. A moment before he can get his bearings the ground under his feet disappears. His grip on Kaede's hand tightens, dragging her with them. They free fall, a familiar sensation to Minato, but without a view of the ground beneath them he doesn't know when he'll die this time, or how to protect his friends.

Wait. Where's the hamster?

He lets go of the scarf to locate Ribo-N and grabs ahold of her just before they all hit water like a bunch of rocks. ]

cw: drowning

[gundamned]

[Gundam's not unfamiliar with the sensation of miss stepping. Even the Supreme Overlord of Ice has walked down a set of stairs and not quite judged correctly where the last step happened to be. Except in this case there is no step at all. In an instant Gundam's plunged downward and accidentally yanked the other three with him.

The lake below should really be a huge relief, because falling like that into anything else would have probably killed them instantaneously. For Gundam though, it's more of a slow and prolonged death. The Supreme Overlord of Ice isn't very effective against the element of water. He can't swim.

Struggling in the water he can't even shout out or wave for help. Every time he manages to push himself up and gets his mouth to break the surface it's spent on a gasp for air. Yet the tiny mouthfuls of air aren't fulfilling in the least and as he sinks under again, his lungs feel like they're desperately burning. There's nothing to breathe under the dark, murky water and it's closing in on him like he's...


...going to die again. Isn't he.]

[gotyourbach]

[One second, she's wandering over to try to investigate what's caught Gundam's attention. The next, there's a sharp, painful jolt to her shoulder as Minato's tug yanks her over, and she's in freefall. She screams, her whole body tensing up as if she's expecting to feel rope around her neck again. Minato's falling. She can't let him die again.

She doesn't have a lot of strength, but she has a lot of determination and even more adrenaline. Before she can second-guess herself, or even truly know if what she's doing is going to help, she's yanking back on his arm to try and at least position him above her. If she can absorb even a little bit of the impact for him, then--

Splash. She hits the water and it stuns her for a second, then she's clawing her way to the surface, coughing and spluttering and gasping for air as she treads water.]

Arisato-kun! Tanaka-kun!!

[napstar]

[ He's died again. His mind blanks. But Kaede knocks into him on her way to the surface, making his body draw a breath that he chokes on.

He's clutching a hamster in his hands.

Fuck! He bolts for the surface, holding Ribo-N out with an extended arm so she can break the water's surface first. Fuck fuck fuck! Once he's above water he's coughing out what he took in earlier. It feels like whole minutes but he's able to answer Kaede's call a few seconds later. ]

Akamatsu-san!

[ He feels Ribo-N stirring, trying to climb up his arm. She's alive! Thank goodness! He places her on his head and starts gently swimming towards Kaede's voice, only mildly aware of the stinging of the impact on his body. He doesn't have far to go before he bumps into her. Her maneuver in the air kept them close when they landed.

Where's Gundam? ]

1/2 cw: drowning

[gundamned]

[It's probably only been a few seconds, but it has felt like an eternity to Gundam under the water. He doesn't want to die, not in this meaningless way endangering Minato and Kaede -- not like this. Would anyone even be able to recover him? Would his bones lie at the bottom of this lake, serving as his eternal tomb? Ribo-N wouldn't have the means to exist anymore without him either.

His limbs feel so heavy and his chest is ready to burst for just some semblance of air, but Gundam musters up everything he has left in him to kick for the surface of the water just one more time. To gasp for one more breath.

It's not enough though.

Gundam's bandaged fingertips barely break the surface of the lake, before he's sinking this time for good. It hurts. It hurts and he's tired. And he's sinking so far now... it's just getting darker.

And darker.

And d a r k e r...]

2/2

[gundamned]

[Ribo-N shakes dry on top of Minato's head. It sure is good she's not a real hamster. They're not supposed to get wet. It messes with the natural oils in their coat. It's why they get sand baths instead.

She didn't know that either, but Gundam does. And he made a contract with their patron so now she does too.

Just like she knows something's definitely wrong right now.]

...

[Looking out over the lake from Minato's head she can see the tips of some familiar fingers reaching out, before sinking back down. She knows those fingers and the bandaged cursed arm they belong to.

Ribo-N gives a fierce yank to Minato's hair to get his attention, before jumping off his head to the last place she saw Gundam go down.]

[gotyourbach]

You're okay!

[Kaede can hear Minato nearby, over the sound of her own coughs and gasps for air. Thank God. She couldn't bear it if he died again when she was right here.]

Tanaka-kun?

[Everything is echoing. She can't tell what's the sound of her swimming, or Minato's swimming, or Gundam's swimming. But he hasn't answered, and the relief from knowing Minato's okay is short-lived. Where is he?]

Tanaka-kun!!

[They're swimming. Everything's wet. Even if Prestidigitation works, will anything catch? She grabs the edge of her cloak and tries to wring it out, humming frantically to herself. A few sparks try to catch on the edge, fizzling out in the water.]

No, no, no, no, no--

[She wrings out her cloak a little more, fingers shaking as she keeps trying to light the edge of it. Finally it catches with a brilliant flash of light, bright as a torch.]

Can you see him?!

warning: suicide

[napstar]

[ Why hasn't he surfaced yet? Minato's looking around by what little light Kaede has mustered, mindful not to whip the hamster off his head. He's already grabbing his Evoker when Ribo-N roughly tugs his hair. Hey! Don't eat it!

Then Ribo-N jumps into the water and paddles with determination... Did she see something? He's a much faster swimmer than her so he scoops her up and follows her pointing until she stops, getting excited.

He nods at her, message received, before placing her back into the water. In a flash he's firing the gun at his temple, and he's under the water before Orpheus is even fully formed. They both dive under, covering a larger area than either could alone. Minato's practically flailing his arms, feeling the water haphazardly, searching for any sign of Gundam or what could have taken him under. He's down here somewhere! He has to be!

A piece of cloth brushes his arm and Minato's on it in an instant. He starts dragging the body up to the surface--Gundam doesn't seem stuck to anything--when Orpheus finds him too. He isn't terribly deep but the weight of the larger guy is tough to handle. The two of them together shove Gundam over the surface, where Orpheus takes over carrying him.

After a gasp of breath he calls out to Kaede: ]

We need a shore!

1/2 cw: drowning

[gundamned]

[Unable to stop himself from sinking deeper, Gundam's lungs finally give out. He draws in an involuntary breath of water and somehow it's even worse than just not being able to breathe.

This is it then? Just a matter of waiting. Waiting... until the darkness of the water becomes the darkness of unconsciousness... and darkness of unconsciousness becomes the darkness of death.

Kaede and Minato finding their way out without him... it's not a death befitting an overlord.









And then something grasps hold of him from the abyss.]

2/2

[gundamned]

[In a moment, Gundam feels himself being propelled upward. Being without air for so long is disorienting and he doesn't understand how or even why he's suddenly broke the surface of the lake.

He chokes, coughing up water as he tries to take in air. It's the only thing he can really focus on aside from the pain and discomfort of having nearly drowned.]

[gotyourbach]

[The balled up cloak is starting to singe her gloves. She's panicking as Minato and Orpheus both dive in search of Gundam, at once terrified to let the light go out and terrified that the fire will burn through her gloves. All she can do is tread water, trying to keep an eye out for Minato and Orpheus while casting about frantically to try to spot land. An island, a shoreline. Anything.

There are tears in her eyes as she whispers for the fire to get larger, consuming more of her cloak to brighten up the area. It's enough to cast light on the shore, marked with some kind of sign she can't read from this distance.]

T-This way! Hurry!

[She uses her other hand to ball up more of her cloak to keep the fire away from her gloves; she can't swim without letting go, so she has to wait for Minato and Orpheus to bring Gundam to shore before she can risk heading that way herself.]

[napstar]

[ Minato sees Kaede gesture. He can't quite make out the shoreline himself but he has total faith in his teammate. Orpheus starts toward the shoreline with Gundam while Minato spends a bit more time swimming around, trying to locate Ribo-N again. He finds her quickly enough; she's trying to swim towards Gundam herself. He scoops her up and heads for the shoreline, outpacing Orpheus but arriving not all that long before they do.

He crawls out of the lake drenched to the bone, feeling much heavier from all the water his clothes have absorbed. He deposits Ribo-N on a nearby rock on the shore. Then he waits for Orpheus to arrive with Gundam.

Come on... Come on...

Gundam's deposited on the shoreline coughing, which means he's still alive. Minato's not a medical expert, but he knew one back home -- well, he knew someone that decided to study to become a doctor. Close enough. He can guess what the best thing to do here is. Probably get him on an incline so water can leave his lungs. That seems logical, right?

At Minato's instruction, Orpheus lifts up Gundam's legs far enough that his torso's on an incline on the ground, though it does leave Gundam's neck at a weird angle.

Yeah that's probably fine. ]

[gundamned]

[Gundam continues to choke and cough as he's deposited on the shore, spitting up water gracelessly. Eventually his frantic grasps for air in between his coughing fits settle down. His chest and throat and nose burn from the intake of water and his entire body just feels so ridiculously heavy.

He's never felt so uncomfortable in all these layers in his entire life.]

[gotyourbach]

[As soon as she sees the others make it to shore, she doesn't so much dismiss the spell as drop both the cloak and her hands into the water, choking back a sob. Her hands hurt a little, and her cloak is definitely a wreck, but they're all safe. For the moment?

It takes her a little more time to get to shore than it did Minato and Orpheus; she's not that strong of a swimmer! But she's doing the best she can, and makes it while Gundam's still spitting up water.]

This test isn't fun anymore...

[She crawls on her hands and knees over by Gundam and Minato, kneeling by the two of them at a total loss.]

Arisato-kun, what can I do to help?

[napstar]

[ To help? Gundam's still coughing up water. Short of some kind of machinery he doesn't think there's much more they can do to help him with that. Orpheus is still holding Gundam's legs up.

Maybe dry their clothes? Can she do that? Maybe start a campfire. Using what? Everything they own is wet. And he doesn't expect Gundam to be able to help them with any of his demon powers, considering he nearly drowned.

-- Actually. ]

Healing word?

[ It's worth a shot ]

[gundamned]

[After Orpheus situates Gundam on the shore, Ribo-N scrambles over to check on him. Gundam's vision hasn't quite focused entirely yet and for a moment he thinks he really has died again and his hamsters swallowed by the hunger have come to take him across the rainbow bridge with them.

Except all his hamsters look remarkably like the same hamster.

And that hamster isn't a hamster.]

...

[Gundam shuts his eyes and reopens them again, his vision finally settling on one -- albeit blurry-- Ribo-N. Gundam weakly reaches out to pet her, feeling a sense of relief wash over him that she's tangible.

If she's still here then he's alive then.]