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

MEMSHARES

[idologue]

[ I'm doing personalized memshares for everyone who requests one, which will be compiled in the comments here! If your character would like to approach Lacus about the memory they saw, you can either start a thread in response to the memory or PC me - depends on your preference!

... or tag my other starters and just have it come up there, I'm not picky. ]

Haruka

[idologue]

[ Suddenly you're in the hallway of a spaceship (you know this, intuitively, because you've known all your life). You're peeking in through someone's open door into their room. The man inside is familiar to you. He's watching a concert video and hasn't noticed you yet. The song that is playing is rather upbeat and the performer has sex appeal and energy to match. It's a high tension idol concert, full of fanservice. The crowd goes wild for it.

And the singer looks just like you. Her face, her voice, her hair... You'd have a hard time telling the two of you apart yourself, if it weren't for how differently she moves. She flaunts her body, excitedly, and she looks so happy that it makes something inside you twist.

The man in the room is pleased by what he sees. He mutters his praise out loud, even. ] Hmm, yes. Very nice!

[ You can't stand it anymore. You step into the room, your smile bright like a finely honed dagger. ]

My, which part is it exactly that's nice?

Well, it's like... [ The man startles and whirls around, almost falling over onto his ass. ] L-lacus?! When did you enter? This is my room!

Yes! [ You increase the brightness of your smile and the cheer in your voice. His flailing amuses you, but you won't let him know that you harbor any such impure thoughts. ] There was something I wished to talk to you about. I called out to you, but it seems like I wasn't heard so I let myself in. [ You're lying. ]

Ah... I see. Sorry about that.

I wondered what you were so occupied listening to... so it was that 'Lacus Clyne's live performance.

Huh? Oh yes! First and foremost we must know all about the enemy!

[ You make an impressed noise, ready to really dig in the knife. ] Wow, as expected of Commander Waltfeld! You purposely give of the impression you're carefree, but really you are investigating further by yourself! [ This description suits you better than it does him, which adds to your private amusement. ]

[ He mumbles something about it being easy when you have an interest (you can easily imagine what part of her he's interested in). You pretend you couldn't understand him, and he pretends it's nothing. ]

Everyone in the audience seems so lively... I wonder if everyone prefers this sort of arrangement...

A-ah, yes seems like it. Young people like this sort of thing.

Will you watch for a moment?

[ Before he can really figure out what you're going to do, you begin her song. You steal her movements like she's taken your whole appearance, to the best of your ability. Waltfeld does not yet seem convinced, but easily gives advice for you to improve your pop style dancing.

It will be useful to know this one day. Under the guise of playing around, you are studying the enemy. ]

Billy

[idologue]

[ The sky is going to fall. Even if you didn't know for certain that the remnants of a space colony were about to drop into Earth's orbit, the unnatural darkness of the sky and the red reflection on the sea would have clued you in to coming disaster.

Two years. It's only been two years since the war stopped and you were allowed to live in peace. And now it's starting all over again.

But there's a gentle smile on your face. There has to be, because a group of children between 5 and 12 look up at you expectantly, with big confused eyes. ]

Now, come here everybody. Please follow me.

[ You say it the same way you'd call them on a trip. One of the girls recognizes this and proudly announces: Oh, I get it, we're going shopping! Another complains: I still wanna play though...! You can't help but smile, despite it all. These children trust you. You want to do right by them.

But then you notice that one is missing from your group. The Reverend is there, the kids are all there, and Ms. Yamato is there, but... ]

Kira...?

[ You look around and you find him standing by the seaside, staring up into the sky. Following his gaze upwards, you can see it. Like shooting stars, like comets, the debris is entering the atmosphere. And then there it is: red, burning red, a giant foreign body. A dead colony, a graveyard, a warning. It's returning to those who wronged it.

You usher the children into the bunker under the church. You call for Kira to join you. The children grow restless. 'Do we hafta stay here forever?', a boy cries out. ]

Everything will be fine. We will only be here for a little while.

[ You say it in your same friendly tone, always projecting a calm sort of safety. (God knows, these children deserve to feel safe for once.) Just as you say it, something shakes the earth and the lights flicker. The children are agitated. The first tears start to spill. You hold the two next to you tight, you mutter that it's going to be alright, over and over... but that's not enough.

So you do what you do best. You sing, with all the wishes in your heart. You sing like a prayer, like a lullaby. Listen to me. Listen to my voice. Hear my message and hear my promise, you beg silently. Above you, your house falls to dust and you know it. ]

Combining this with Beach prompt for fun

[butcherspice]

[A few feelings in this memory hold some familiarity to Billy: the pain of being tossed right back into a war when you thought you left those sort of things behind, the dread of a force larger than yourself crashing down and destroying everything, the energy it takes to put on a brave face so that people look to you for leadership.

Not everything is familiar though. Billy would not be as gentle if he were in this situation.

There's something about how Lacus is still able to be kind and try to preserve those childrens' innocence. Despite everything around her and how people enduring the same have given into their worst instincts, she still tries to be good.

It reminds him of a few people. All of which are better people than Billy deserves.

Once the memory fades, he looks over at Lacus and her Mr. Pink-topped sandcastle. There's probably some irony in going from a crumbling city to a sandcastle.]

...the kids make it out?

[idologue]

[ After surfacing from her own version of this recollection, Lacus involuntarily finds herself looking towards the sky. It's blue and beautiful as always, of course. Thank god. She exhales and then turns to Billy with a nod.

So he's the one who got this one, huh? ]

They're all doing fine, thankfully. The damage was minimized by efforts to break the colony wreckage up into smaller portions - and they landed far enough away that the damage to our own town was limited to resulting waves crashing inland.

[ Other regions were hit much harder. Lacus feels comparably lucky. ]

Temenos

[idologue]

[ The theater is dark. You're on stage, in your full live concert outfit, and the lights shine only on you. There is nobody here, at least nobody you can see. You're not singing for them anyway. This one concert is for yourself. Your retirement concert, the final goodbye to your old life. It is a prayer that your decisions will be worth it.

You sing as you wait.

The song is just finished when a familiar mechanic voice comes to your ear. Haro! Haro! Lacus! says Mr. Pink and he jumps from the seats onto the stage and into your waiting arms. ]

Why, hello, Mr. Pink! [ You are genuinely delighted to see him. But after that greeting, you turn to the audience, to the boy who has come with your friend. ] I was certain you would bring him here. Thank you very much.

[ Athrun looks at you with a grave expression on his face. There is a gun in his hand, though it is not pointed at you - yet. ]

Lacus.

Yes?

[ You smile sweetly, as if you don't know exactly why he's giving you that look. He comes running, jumps onto the stage and comes to stand in front of you.

This is an inevitable confrontation (18:00-21:40). Through it, Athrun looks at you with eyes full of betrayal, confusion, fear. He looks at you like he's seeing you for the first time, and maybe that is true.

Athrun has never looked at you, not really. You like Athrun. But he is no partner for you, not like this.

And still, he decides to protect you. Your gunmen shoot down the assailants and as you watch them bleed out on the stage floor you think that it's good that none of these weapons had to be used on Athrun. You also feel sorry to the stage for being desecrated like this. Now your life is truly stained with blood. Now you cannot go back.

So you smile at Athrun and say goodbye. You leave to fight the battle only Lacus Clyne can fight.]

Beelzebub

[idologue]

[ You're crammed into the cockpit of a mobile suit. Your clothes bunch up awkwardly under your flight suit and you have to angle yourself awkwardly to fit - after all, you're sitting on the pilots lap. His name is Kira. You met him only a few days ago, but he is a good person. He's going to set you free. You won't be a prisoner, you won't be leverage in this war. You'll get to go home.

The mobile suit stops, in the middle of space. In front of it is another mobile suit. Kira points his robot rifle at him.

Athrun Zala... is it? Kira speaks and his voice seems strained. Athrun was his friend, once. He told you.

That's right - that one's Athrun's voice, over the intercom. When Kira demands that he open his cockpit, he complies. Kira opens his as well. In the vacuum of space, the three of you can now look at each other - small figures in an endless cosmos.

Say something, Kira instructs gently. He can't see your face. He must be convinced that it's you. ]

Oh... I see. Hello, Athrun. It's nice to see you!

[ Your tone is conversational. You add in a little wave, for good measure. Damn it! says Mr. Pink, always by your side. It's enough for Athrun to confirm your identity. Kira lets you go, pushes you through empty space so you can float towards your fiancé. He was kind to you. ]

Thank you for everything, Kira. And Athrun, you too.

[ You smile at the both of them. It's your privilege as a civilian - you get to smile at these two enemies, with the same fondness in your heart for each. Maybe it's seeing this that makes something inside Athrun flip a switch.

Kira! You come, too! He's pleading. There's no reason for you to remain with the Earth Forces!

When Kira answers, you feel as though you can see the tears swimming in his eyes, even though he's so far away already. Believe me, I don't want to fight you. But aboard that ship are people I want to protect. My friends are aboard this ship!!

You can hear his despair. Next to you, Athrun's breath hitches. The tears have reached him, too, but he won't let them flow. Then I have no choice. The next time we battle, I will personally defeat you! He declares it loudly.

You hear a similar resolution in Kira's voice when he responds: The same goes for me!

As Kira closes his cockpit and his machine begins to drift away, you feel your heart ache. There could be a world in which the three of you are able to laugh together, but the war has ripped this world to pieces before it was even born. The war is forcing them to pick sides - and you decide that you can't do that. You can't pick a side and wish for the survival of one over the other. ]