GOOD MORNING NEW ARRIVALS
This time for real!WAKEY WAKEY.
As the storm finally peters out and characters can once again move above ground it becomes abundantly clear that the landscape has
changed. Where vast expanses of sand dunes once laid is now the half-buried remnants of what looks like some sort of...city? Full of structures. It stretches so far it's really hard to tell. But there is one thing characters will notice:
There are more stasis pods.
Revealed by the sandstorm, a whole new flurry of pods can be found scattered on the way to the city (curiously though, not
in it. Hurry and wake those guys up!
SPREAD THE LOVE. OR ACID.
With the departure of the storm there's even more new arrivals to be found besides those fellow travelers of yours! The
"Seedlings" and
"Cactus" are now both available, the former blown in by the storm and the former uncovered.
The Seedlings are generally pretty harmless. They like to burrow into the sand so only their "Leaves" plant-like leaves remain above ground, and they're quite happy to stay that way until surprised. Then they pop up and trip over themselves a little, before slowing down and wandering aimlessly. When they find a patch of sand that looks comfy they begin burrowing back down.
Pull or yank on their leaves though and you'll find yourself with
a face full of pollen that makes you want to just tell everyone
how super-cool they are. It lasts a while, and then you get a fever and vomit for two hours. Good times.
The Cacti are much less harmless and just...why would you eat them? Everything about this plant is poisonous, and cracking it open causes a corrosive acid-like substance to spill out. It'll eat through everything but...dirt, oddly. Metals and flesh are like hot oil on plastic.
DON'T GET LOST
And last but not least: The Forgotten City. Maybe you want to check out the Hull first for some loot, but maybe that's not such a cool idea anymore? Although it looks like the ship's definitely more powered after draining the suits of whoever went in, now it's started to spread and fill the sinkhole the ship's in. Suits can go from 100% to 0% in just ten minutes--not good!
Lucky for everyone else, it looks like
finally there's
some sort of civilization up ahead. Go on and check it out!
OR DO. THAT'S OKAY TOO.
Go nuts, have fun, and enjoy! (This is the wildcard option)
OOC
The
Flora, Fauna & Resources page has been updated with information on the seedlings, cacti, and crystals! These items are now all available for
Discovery, and The
Forgotten City will be available indefinitely from now on! Characters can take this time to settle & build up a foundation for themselves, explore the area, and of course, harass those poor little seedlings.
We encourage players to make their own open posts for this setting--you don't need to stick to just this intro log! But make sure to make our newbies feel welcome!
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:v hello total stranger
Relief makes him slump a little and he nods.
"Yeah. I thought..." shaking his head, Cloud pulls himself together. Saying I thought I was alone here wouldn't change anything, and while maybe it'd be better if Zack wasn't here, Cloud... can't help being relieved, still. Hesitating for a brief moment, he reaches out to brush covered fingers over Zack's elbow. "... you okay?"
As soon as the question is out of him, Cloud grimaces. Of course Zack's not okay. Why would he be? Just waking up was unpleasant enough...
TOTALLY STRANGER OF DANGER 8D
He pulls back, really looking him over. Noting the odd wet suit he's wearing. That's... definitely not something he's seen before never mind he can't imagine Hojo would fashion him up in something like that for that matter. Zack furrows his brows at the thought. "Seriously, you feeling alright?"
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And maybe it's not so odd Zack would react that way to a question if he's okay. After all, only one of them is a SOLDIER here, and it's not Cloud... and Zack cares. But he does too, so why wouldn't he ask?
"... Um." Grimacing softly, Cloud shrugs. He almost says 'of course', but he can't quite manage it. Not after a week of tense confusion and waiting and then waking up here and it's an alien planet. And he's not wearing his clothes. Neither is Zack, though, so apparently these suits just come with the pods.
"There's... only us here, Zack," he finally says, frowning. Then realises how silly that sounds, and maybe a little childish, because his mom is surely perfectly fine back home, and quickly adds; "I mean, from anyone who was in Nibelheim. There are other people here..."
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Except now he's talking almost as if anyone from Nibelheim had survived and Zack's eyes widen marginally at that. Briefly but there while that sinks in. Then, he's biting his lip with a distant look on his own face. No one form Nibelheim... but other people "here", but... His gaze finally wanders to the incredibly blue sky and the rolling dunes of overbearing desert around them that he can see now, sitting up like he is.
"Where's here...? Corel?" Or maybe Cosmo Canyon? But it looks like neither. And is that- another moon or something?
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"There's two moons, Zack!" Maybe... that's a little sharper than warranted, and Cloud flushes. They don't need him cracking. He can handle this. He thinks he's been doing a pretty good job so far actually, aside from right when he woke up. But it's not so strange to be a little panicked when waking up in a situation like this, right?
"--- no, not Corel. I don't think... anyone knows where this is," he says, more softly this time. At least Elma hadn't. He hadn't... exactly stopped to talk to anyone else, looking for Zack, or... anyone he knew, really, among the pods.
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That's not disconcerting at all.
But he continues on up out of the pod and onto his feet- on his actual feet without feeling like he's going to stagger and fall down -before he's taking in his surroundings in a mix of astonishment and growing unease. "Where the hell...? This makes no sense!"
He's already looking back at the pod before the rest of him follows and he's scanning it over. It's old- so old looking like it's been there forever and that's already got his stomach doing back flips. But there's just the start. There doesn't appear to be the ShinRa logo anywhere.
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"Didn't get... any explanation. Only that message," he says and gestures to the... thing on Zack's wrist. It's sort of like a wrist mounted PHS, he supposes. "And the pods..."
Cloud shrugs. Doesn't want to finish, gaze bouncing between Zack's pod, Zack himself, and up at the sky and then back. The pod look old. All of them do, and while he's both been hoping and not about others, he's been doing his best not to think about what the apparent age might mean, if it means anything at all.
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But it still leaves him biting his lip in discomfort as he stares down at them. Only then does he note the thing on his wrist- with a- there's something on it- Message. That's the message Cloud's talking about. Though it just makes him frown all the more. "Atlas? What's that even about?"
Some help that is, he wants to say. But he stops himself the moment his eyes land back on his friend. No... No, that's not what Cloud needs right then. Or himself, for that matter. That won't do either of them any good getting worked up. And that might be why he's reaching over then to clap a hand on his shoulder. "Hey."
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"... What do we do?" Looking away from his searching glance over the pods spread around, Cloud looks back at Zack, hoping he doesn't look or sound quite as... lost as he probably does. "Why only us?"
Why anyone of those who are here, who doesn't seem to come from even the same planet, he thinks, as they do, too? The thought is mind boggling, and forces Cloud to take a deep breath and determinedly try to not be as tense as he is. It'd been easier when he was just looking for Zack; a simple, concrete goal. Now, it's not that straightforward.
Sure, they need more food and water, and shelter, and maybe the people who were already here have something, but they'll need more. But where to even start...
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But the lost look in Cloud's eyes, in his words, and in his body language? That's more than enough for Zack to give him a strong squeeze on the shoulder.
"I dunno, buddy..." Because he won't lie. He doesn't. "But one thing at a time."
"Besides, it's not only us. You just told me there's more people around here, right? Which means we might find some more answers through them." And he supposes whatever answers they don't find through them, they'll find on their own.
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"Yeah..." nodding, Cloud snorts softly, hesitating because he's a little embarrassed, now, but he hadn't been very clear, honestly. "I didn't really mean everyone here, but there's some here that woke up before us."
A pause, and Cloud looks out over the desert surrounding them, squinting into the sunlight and the ruins in the distance.
"... I mean, why just us? There was a whole village... and Sephiroth." Whatever this is, whatever happened, clearly however potentially dangerous someone can be doesn't affect choice, because Zack is right here. So taking someone like Sephiroth seems like it'd make more sense than... than, him.
Briefly, he wonders if Sephiroth is okay. If his mother and Tifa are. These pods... shaking his head, Cloud looks away from the glare of light on the sand.
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"Hey... Cloud. What's the last thing you remember? You know.. Before you woke up here."
He tries to go for casual in his words, really. He gives it his best shot. But he's always been one to wear his heart a little too much on his sleeve and it shows. In his voice. In his eyes that wince just a little too much in concern. In the hand that gestures loosely in front of himself before reaching back to rub the back of his neck in indisputable unease.
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But why would Zack need to ask that?
"... you okay, Zack? I noticed the disorientation settles a little, after you've been awake for awhile... and while I doubt the dates apply here," pausing with an eyeroll that's not quite as easy as he'd like to pretend it to be, Cloud steps up close beside Zack, not quite enough for their elbows to brush but almost, feeling a little easier about doing this now than he'd had a week ago, "it should've been the thirtieth, right?"
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He remembers once what seems like a long time ago now. Something about trauma he'd heard from Kunsel, information broker he was. How sometimes people would repress things, but if that's the case, this is the first time he's ever seen it at work. It would still be difficult to believe, but considering how much Cloud had been exposed to mako- tons of it at a much higher dosage than what would have ever been allowable in the SOLDIER program... Is that what did it?
Zack doesn't know. He doesn't know in the least, but what he does know is that it definitely wasn't the thirtieth. But as he actually looks back at Cloud then, he finds himself swallowing roughly.
"Doubt the dates apply here, no. Especially if we're on another... planet..." Which gauging by the way he surveys their surroundings again, he's still not quite believing that either.
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"... Zack?" Dropping his hand and looking out over the same surroundings Zack is, Cloud suddenly feels like he's missing something. Or they're having two conversations, but he doesn't know how to ask about that. So he falls back to what Zack's saying, which... well, it is a response to what he said, after all.
"... yeah. It's... I don't get how. But we didn't have an extra moon before." And their moon had certainly not been as large as these two were.
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Sure, they'd known roughly about some things out there, but it had never been any core part of their program. ShinRa really hadn't been that set on something that felt so out of reach, after all. Not when they had plenty of resources in their clutches as it was. Space was no more than a trophy matter, really. A trophy matter that had just become... reality for them.
Zack glances belatedly at that nudge at his elbow. Then back to Cloud and tries for a smile. "Well, at least we've got each other, right?" He wouldn't wish this on Cloud for a hot minute, no. But he's glad he's at least there with him. Good at what he does- he is. But stranded alone in a new world at that? That would be really tough for... well, anyone. Even him.
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Looking back up at Zack as he shifts, Cloud... meets that attempted smile with an attempt of his own. Both of them seem to be failing, today, but it feels especially wrong that Zack can't manage it. Cloud's not sure what he can do to fix it though.
"Yeah. We do," he says and nods, decisively. Tries not to think about how his stomach had churned while he'd been going through the pods, wondering what he'd do if Zack - or anyone else - wasn't among them.
"You know, I wasn't sure... if it'd be right to hope you were here, but I'm..." licking his lips as he pauses, Cloud's next small, shy smile is a little easier, if still rather pale, "glad you are, though. It's not a snowy mountain, but... it's pretty backwater anyway, isn't it?"
It's a dumb, pale attempt at... not really a joke even, and it makes him feel awkward right as he says it, Cloud ducking his head, but it's earnestly meant.
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It's said so automatic in turn. And it's such a dumb joke, really. But then so was Cloud's. So dumb and an echo of a conversation that feels like an age ago. Enough to make Zack pause. Enough for his original train of thought to suddenly crash and burn, left forgotten in the midst of the attempted smile and the attempted reassurance and the attempted humor.
But maybe that's exactly why Zack laughs so loudly, almost too abruptly. Seriously, he's in hysterics and might seem like he's going utterly insane. Because it really is such a stupid joke. It's always been one, but there's something in it that's just so outlandishly normal after so much that hasn't been, that's far from been. It's the last thing he'd ever thought he'd hear him say and that's if he'd ever thought he'd even hear him say anything again never mind have a sense of humor.
By the end of it, he's wiping tears from his eyes. But when he's finished using Cloud's shoulder to hold to to lean on while he recovers, he's got a smile on his face brighter than before and an anchor to his words that wasn't there until then either.
"I'm glad you're here, too. Well- maybe not here, here. But.. aw, you know what I mean."
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"... Zack..?" Staring, Cloud reaches out hesitantly, then lets his hand drop. Then Zack's leaning on him, still laughing, and Cloud's... pretty sure it wasn't that funny. Feels mostly confused, but doesn't dare to move. About to ask if Zack's okay when he finally straightens up, the bright smile on his face answers Cloud's unasked question and despite the fact that he's still confused, Cloud can feel something relax a little at the sight of it.
"... Yeah, I do," he says with a nod, and even if he doesn't, really, know what Zack's talking about, what Cloud thinks Zack means, he certainly understands. Then he grimaces, dragging a hand through his hair. "Just wish... it wasn't so hot."
At least these suits seem to keep the sand from getting inside them. Otherwise things would be... uncomfortable and unpleasant both.
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Probably not.
But Zack's still space invading anyway. Because he can.
"Come on, Spike. It's not that hot." Only it is. It totally is and more and he's actually kinda surprised they aren't roasting even more than he feels they should. The sun's definitely making his hair feel like a desert in it of itself, alright. But the low grumble might spell out something different that's bothering Zack right then.
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Not that he ever needs to do much for them to arrange themselves as they will, naturally.
"Yes it is, Zack," Cloud says, frowning intently, if a bit exaggeratedly. But it absolutely is that hot. In fact... "I'm... kinda surprised I haven't even burned a little, yet."
He'd been trying to keep his head down while exploring the pods, but even now his face doesn't feel more than the sort of regular hot because it's hot out, not because he's turned into a roasted ham in the sun.
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But that's a curious thought. Enough to get him craning his neck and searching Cloud a bit.
"What? Just how long have you been out?"
He hadn't suspected it was that long judging by Cloud's reaction, but... who's to know? But if it's been for a while now... yeah. Why wouldn't he be burned already? No offense, buddy, but you've got skin that screams 'Bake me something fierce' written all over it.
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"An hour... and hour and a half?" he says slowly, frowning at the ground for a moment, "mentioned something about these suits being life support, but I don't think that would have anything to do with not getting sunburned?"
It's confusing, honestly. Unless the sun here doesn't have the same effect it would at home, despite how hot it is.
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"For being something for 'life support', it sure is thin..." he mutters, more to himself than anything. "But I guess they did say going out to space without something might'a been pretty dangerous. Guess it's not too farfetched to think that would include other planets."
Still, he can't help but start to do stretches here and there and... everywhere for kicks. Maybe it's just a little easier to focus on that, too. "Sure is flexible."
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"Doesn't really... seem like something you'd have to wear in space," he says, agreeing with Zack's muttered observation. They're thin and despite that they nearly cover him from head to toe, Cloud feels... a little naked, honestly. Then with a sigh, he stands up and ends up staring at Zack as he goes through... stretches.
Blinking and looking away after a few moments, feeling awkward for some reason he's not sure why for, Cloud's gaze lands on the pod and the rations Zack dug out of it. Didn't Elma say something about the pod...
"It's a good thing it's flexible, if we need to fight. But Zack," stepping back away from the pod again, Cloud looks around. No pods seem to have blown up yet, but if it happened once... "The woman who woke me up said their pods exploded after a while... we should probably move away of these."
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