WEEK 5

[killerwaves]

WEEK FIVE

21 Vacationers

The weekend sure was something, wasn't it? Tempers flared, explosions burst, and some were treated to an immersive sand bath experience. Come Monday at least, things seem quieter though not in the unnatural still way—the distortions on the islands have receded sometime in the night (with some impressive firework-like booms that may have stirred your sleep, at that; and the waves seem a little higher this morning) and the various amenities on the island have been made orderly again. Though, as always, some traces remain in the landscape; the waterfall looks like it has seen better days, though it's no longer in danger of coughing up debris on your head if looked at wrong.

This week like the rest brings new locations for you to explore, on Kakapo's Nest though it seems like only one of them really fits the vacation vibe. Hope you like snow!

!

WEATHER ALERT:

Bulletin:
Starting Monday morning and continuing throughout the week, pollen counts will be elevated. This is expected to last until late Thursday

!

TASKS:

Breathe Freely:
Enjoy the great outdoors with a fellow vacationer! It's never too late to appreciate nature.
(REWARD: RARE!)

(( Yes, only one task this week which is memshare with someone else. Have fun!
REMINDER: Task submissions are due Friday by 9 PM EST/6 PM PST. ))

(( OOC: Murder proposals are due by Tuesday at 4 PM EST / 1 PM PST, for the current week's murder, which is the last week of standard murder, week 6 being endgame!!

Also, as always, your admins can be contacted for a chat. ))

MONDAY • TUESDAY • WEDNESDAY • THURSDAY

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Comments

[divector]

appreciated

[ might be written flippantly but he means it ]

well i guess they count as friends
hyuga likes cooking and gardening
yukinami likes finding cute and pretty items and faster ways to destroy rubble
pretty different, but i like their company

[passetemps]

Yes, I suppose so.

...In any case, that collection was not part of a pursuit so much as a bit of an odd compulsion.

[ but where else was he going to keep his lint balls ]

[divector]

Hmm, what do you mean compulsion?

[ He tilts his head to the side, looking like he's quite not understanding that. ]

memshare ♡

[chrysaline]

[ If we all survive this execution and the memshare mines! Here for chasm, plan edition. ]

[passetemps]

Something I feel inclined to do without much of a conscious, rational reason for it. The explanation I gave you was simply my best theory.

[finalforte]

[She has the picture, and the boys have left. It looks like, slowly but surely, students are exiting the building.

Will she continue exploring?]

[finalforte]

[The girls look up as though only just realizing he's there.]

"Um, who are you?"

"We're trying to talk here? Go away!"

[The younger Kanon looks up, startled, her gaze flitting nervously between the girls and Billy.]

[divector]

Ahh, I see. Well, as long as you do like it, why not? Enjoying the little things is pretty important. Or so I heard.

[butcherspice]

[Billy folds his arms and gives a sardonic smile to the girls. He's a bit curious what his presence does here, and whether they'll register him as being as out of place as he is in the setting.]

Were you now? What sort of goss is so spicy that you can't risk bein' overheard in the middle of the fuckin' classroom?

[He glances at the younger Kanon. Ugh. She's almost pitiable like this.]

Heard somethin' about money--drew a short straw and got footed with the bill, lass?

[allworknoplague]

[False modesty doesn't raise self-assured children. Or something?]

Ask Shigaraki for gossip about his posse next time. Since he's got so much free time.

Outstanding in the field. Those back home are born with quirks -- that's abilities to you -- and hers is very similar to mine. It would be impossible for her not to stand out at that age.

[diabolizes]

[ He sighs, hugging her back. ]

I doubt it at this point. What purpose would it serve, other than to generate more resentment in me?

[finalforte]

[Kanon looks away as one of the other girls steps between them.]

"We're just going out to karaoke, geeze! Besides, she's the one who offered to pay."

[The girl looks at Kanon, who, after a moment of hesitation, nods.]

[diabolizes]

it is, yes

but there isn't much that can be done at that point, other than continuing on no matter what

even if a single-person path is a lonely one

cw: gore

[diabolizes]

[ The old woman doesn't answer verbally, but looks towards the valley, lit with torches as a light rain settles over the area, drizzling over the figures carrying heavy loads along the path to the valley. From here, you can see that they're sluggish and sickly pale.

Wen Qing charges ahead and is stopped by an overseer, who starts to question her. She tells them that she's looking for someone, but they only tell her to get out, even waving a branding iron that looks suspiciously familiar to the brand scarring your chest to encourage her to leave.

Even as the overseers deny seeing anyone similar to her brother, Wen Qing continues to provide a description, pleading with them to tell her where he is. ]

Why don't you go looking for him? Everyone we have is here.

[ You finally step forward. ]

I'll grant you that all of the living are here. What about the rest?

[ They tell you that no one would dare take a life, but you don't believe them and instead pull the flute from your waistband. The sight of Chenqing clears the crowd around you as they back away in fear, having heard tales of what your flute is capable of. You bring your lips to the flute, playing a single, shrill note before pulling it away from your lips.

Before long, someone in the crowd asks: ]

What's that sound?

[ A flurry of shrieks and shouts accompany the crows as they scatter again, revealing shambling figures in tattered clothes slowly making their way towards you.

In the front is Wen Ning, deathly pale and with part of his chest caved in. Wen Qing runs over to him, desperately feeling for a pulse, but when she doesn't find one, she starts to weep before the grief overtakes her and she faints, falling back against you as you catch her. ]

...Who killed him?

[ Your tone is soft and even, but the overseers hurry to deny any wrongdoing. All you can do is smile. ]

Do you rerally think that I wouldn't be able to tell how someone died? At this point, you better just tell the truth. Who killed him? Step forward on your own, or I'll have no choice but to kill everyone here. I'd rather kill someone by mistake than let the culprit off the hook. No fish will slip through the net if you're all dead.

[ Fear seizes all of them. ]

The Jiang Clan of Yunmeng and the Jin Clan of Lanling are on friendly terms right now... sir, you can't...

You're very brave. Are you threatening me?

No, no, of course not.

Congratulations. You have successfully exhausted my patience. Since none of you will tell me, let's hear his answer.

[ Wen Ning's corpse jerks and he grabs two of the overseers and holds them high up in the air by their throats. ]

Wen Qionglin, make everyone who did this to you suffer the exact same fate. I give you permission to repay them in kind!

[ The scene quickly turns bloody, screams piercing the air as Wen Ning rages about, killing as many people as he can get his hands on. You pick up Wen Qing and calmly walk through the scene, unbothered, until one of the captives stops you and tells you about a house where people are held captive.

You thank him and immediately head in that direction, kicking the door open to the house once you get there. Immediately, they recognize Wen Qing.

That's confirmation enough for you and you start to order them on horses. You're taking them away from here.

And just like that, the memory shatters into nothingness. ]

[mysticpowerbroker]

[ ...Ah.

What an unpleasant memory. But, all the same one that Merlin is watching as every single moment passes him by.

Why wouldn't he? He is committed to seeing this all through to the end.

But, it isn't like it will make him think adversely of Wei Wuxian either—not at all. Even as he induces a kind of unforgettable bloody rage in Wen Ning's corpse, blood and gore following in his wake while Wei Wuxian moves with his unconscious friend.

Those actions are justified.

Though, when it finally ends, he wonders what Wei Wuxian thinks of these moments now... ]

[butcherspice]

Coulda swore you said somethin' about an old geezer...your gramps loaded, Kanon? Or is there somethin' else going on here...

[He feigns not entirely knowing what's going on, noting that the other girls are pretty tacky. Must be where Kanon got the ideas.]

[finalforte]

H-huh? I don't...

[The other girls home in like sharks to blood, however.]

"Huh?! Are you holding out on us, Crater?!"

[butcherspice]

[Whoops! Turns out these girls are morons as well as vapid and rude! Sorry past Kanon!]

Load of vultures, ain't ya? You were the ones talkin' about old men, what was your bright idea for karaoke money?

[finalforte]

[Almost reminds you of someone, huh?]

"Huh?! Were you eavesdropping on us?!"

"What the hell?? Go away, creep!"

[The flurry of responses seems kind of defensive, too...]

[chrysaline]

[ She gives a nod, a sigh just a little out of sync with his. ]

No. There's nothing in those memories you need. I think I'm a little glad you could forget.

[microtransactions]

a single person path, huh...

i do wonder what happened to the other three, if that's what became of their 'strongest'

Josh - Ordination, remix (1/2)

[chrysaline]

[ Your life has always been a fairy tale. You learned that at your mother's knees; you learned everything there, from the stories she read you.

There was a beautiful princess, bright and curious and loved by god. She was born with a precious blessing that set her apart from others. And because of that, she lived a charmed life in her shining castle, surrounded by jewels and treasures. (Your castle is twenty strides long and fifteen wide. It is not like the castles in your books; but then, those probably aren't real. Like the princess, and dragons, the sky, the god who loves you but has never answered you. That's how stories are.)

The princess had to stay locked away because there was too much evil in the outside world. If she were to venture outside, if she were to meet people other than her mother, if she were to doubt god's love, if she were to fail to grow up good and instead learn to hate people — then, her blessing would become a curse. In the stories your mother tells, the princess falls into a deep sleep and waits for her prince. It feels strangely unfair. Blessing or curse, pure or fallen, there is no difference. She waits and waits and waits in her castle tower for someone to come. She is never more than a pretty ornament in someone else's story, a passive receptacle of a power or a curse not her own. A moral lesson. ]

[diabolizes]

...In the same way, I think it's a good thing that your memories are fragmented as well.

[ He also thinks that there's nothing there that will serve her well. ]

[diabolizes]

perhaps seeing the other one fall led to them severing their own bonds with one another

cw: domestic terrorism, death

[chrysaline]

[ The day of the ordination dawns like a fairy tale itself. The first ascension of a cardinal in forty years; Perion Sov Vasilios, the man who will succeed the Pope. The hero of the people. Your friend, someone who looked at your divinity without envy and who wanted to help you find the truth of it.

You're nervous. Not for Perion, who shines effortlessly in front of the crowds. He loves the people, and they love him. You're still a little scared of people — you're scared of them being afraid of you. But you're excited, too. To face the world on your own terms, to hold onto that fragile sense of peace and pray that you can make this into a true blessing: for all the people in the world to be as happy and carefree as they are today.

The prayer is still on your lips as you hear the first cacophonous rumble. The ground itself shakes with the force of it even before the screams reach where you're standing by the gate as the knights frantically try to usher you into shelter. ]

The castle wall has fallen!

It could be an attack. Get the crown princess to safety—

[ It doesn't even register that that means you until Lira and the knights grab for you. Your mind is a tumult of chaos, thoughts cascading one into another. You know how many people were standing there. How many must be hurt. If you let them detain you here, how many more will die.

The lightning comes more easily to your fingertips now. You've never willingly used it on another person; today, you can't let that reluctance cost lives. It's Helio who spares them from injuries you're already apologizing for in your head when he thunders up on a horse, flinging you over the saddle in front of him as your heart soars. You didn't think he would understand. But with his help, you'll be invincible...

You are going the wrong way. ]

Marquess!! Please turn the horse around!!

Calm down! Are you trying to commit suicide? Are you out of your mind?

I'm of sounder mind than anyone! I want to save them!

[ For a moment, he hesitates. You know Helio — war hero, tactician, loyal to the bone to one person only. You know the calculations he's making, and yet you still hope for that one second. Then he spurs the horse onward. ]

Be rational, Psyche! What you were trying to do was too risky. The crown prince wanted to keep you in the palace to prevent you from displaying your divinity outside. Even if you get to the accident site, even if you use your divinity, he can kill the witnesses and fabricate the truth.

[ You know it's true. Even if you make it there — even if you can heal dozens, hundreds, until whatever source your power comes from at last runs dry and leaves you a hollow shell — they might all still die. Eros might kill them afterwards for his convenience, and anyone else who happened to see. They might still kill you, turn on you and tear you to shreds as the monster you are, before Eros can ever get to it.

The hesitation weighs on your heart like an ache, and Helio is still talking. ]

Do not be sad, Psyche. Letting a hundred people die right now may save ten thousand in the future.

[ Anger kindles in your chest. It burns away the hesitation, the doubt, the fear. What time do you have to be afraid? The lightning sparks at your fingertips again, easier each time. ]

What use is saving ten thousand people later? Who cares if the world becomes a better place? For the people who die today, their worlds disappear today. I'll save both. The hundred, and the ten thousand!

[ The lightning ignites, searing past Helio's shoulder and knocking him from the horse. You're sorry for your friend. But in the moment, your whole world is the feeling of the reins in your hands as you turn the horse towards the site of disaster and ride past rubble to where the knights are already laying out broken bodies. One at a time. A hundred. Ten thousand. You don't care. You will do this. ]