vaeraooc | TDM 001

» arrival.

You were doing--something. Thinking something, walking somewhere, through something, when suddenly you find yourself somewhere else entirely. You've stepped through the Gateway: an empty doorframe in the middle of a large clearing, facing away from the large city known as the Capitol. When you first step out, you're alone. There's the distant sound of a soft tune on the air, like the world itself is humming pleasantly around you. The air smells sweet, pleasant and serene.

A glance around shows a soft, blue barrier surrounding the Gateway, approximately 10 meters away from the Gateway itself, and surrounding it in a wide circle. Attempting to escape from the barrier proves useless, and the moment you step even slightly away from the gateway, it grabs the attention of the Gateway's guardian:

It's difficult to make out her shape, at first. A wispy wind, a few branches swaying in the wind, the sound of breath in one's ear. She phases into existence against the wide of the Gateway, and immediately along with her presence comes a feeling of being safe. Maybe you're more suspicious of it. Maybe it feels comforting. It takes her several moments to fully form, keeping her distance but lips twisted up into a gentle smile.

"Welcome." Her voice is soft, more of a whisper against the wind than sound itself. "I apologize. I can. . I can feel that you do not belong here with us. You are from elsewhere, not quite the Between but not here either." Her head tips to the city, before she continues,

"Please, make yourself comfortable. I will see what we can do regarding your presence."

Her form falls apart, small little leaves gathering at the foot of the Gateway. The blue barrier opens with enough space for you to exit; there's nothing keeping you inside of it, and it will wait for you to exit before closing behind you.

The city's within close enough of a distance to walk to, and it seems to be bustling enough. . or, you could always explore the forest around it. The space between the Gateway and the City. Talk to those who have also walked out of the Gateway around the same time as you had.

» into the city.

The Capitol is bustling. Full of individuals of all shapes, sizes, and colors--beings with four legs, or six legs, or iridescent skin who pay no mind to the newcomers walking straight into their city. It's evident by looking to the buildings within the city that this whole place is new. The buildings show barely any signs of wear and tear, the streets are pristine. The structures are of all shapes and sizes; one may be walking down a block of street and pass by a large skyscraper, and directly next to it, pass by a circular building extremely low to the ground with doors there's absolutely no way someone over two feet tall and with more than twenty pounds of mass would be able to fit through. The signs around the city are in all kinds of languages; some matching those from Earth (English, Arabic, Latin), and several others incomprehensible.

There's some kind of market currently taking place: several stands with miscellaneous items ranging from magical to simple food items line the main street going through the center of the city. Items offered are free of charge; grabbing hold of an apple, or a charmed item will only earn smiles in response from those running the stalls. Stopping a local will get you answers of varying levels of helpfulness: a smile, clicks in a repetitive pattern that sound like it must mean something. The more humanoid members of the crowd may offer a few words, "Ah, you're new! Welcome! Thank you for joining us!" before continuing on their path.

» a particular case. (network)

Several hours after characters are left to wander around the city, they are tracked down by two young, near-identical ( although their appearance keeps shifting, like they can't settle on a hair color, a skin color, a height ) brothers who offer them a sympathetic smile and hold out a YDEX to them, explaining the functionality of it and how to turn on the language interpreter, access the (barebones, new) network they have begun setting up for them and others like them.

They explain how to choose a username, how to access the map functions, point them towards one of the newer apartment buildings on the edge of the Capitol with instructions on how to reach it, and let them know they'll inform the doorman of their situation and that they would be coming to stay in one of the new apartments. They leave with the promise of providing more answers soon, most likely through the network itself.

In the meantime. . it looks fairly empty, there's a few accounts listed as having access to it. Maybe see what's up with the rest of your new pals?

» dreams never hurt so much.

It's one week after the initial batch of arrivals that it happens: something else steps out of the Gateway, something warped. Myra will whisper soft into the ears of newcomers and settles alike: a be careful, she's hurting without offering anything else.

She wanders the city and the construction sites: a young preteen in a massive hoodie and boots, hood pulled down over her face. Get close enough, and you'll hear the sound of her teeth clicking together hard, grinding, before she tips her head back towards whoever gets close and--screeches. The sound is loud enough to hurt, digging painfully at eardrums until all sound around those nearby fades away to nothing, and the girl disappears. Characters will find themselves losing the ability to:

• hear
• speak
• decipher directions / extremely directionally challenged

While they may lose one or more sense, the girl is nowhere to be seen when they turn their attention back to her. Luckily, the effect wears off after an hour and those who were hit with it will regain their senses, as if it had never happened at all.

Trying to touch her proves to be futile, her body phasing through any attempt at physical contact. Trying to chase her down proves similarly pointless: she will walk around corners and disappear behind them, turn around and simply fade into nothing. Her appearances are random, appearing through the Capitol, inside houses, restaurants, only resorting to deafening those who she senses has intentions of moving towards her.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Koushirou isn't really the touchy type, but he also isn't too bothered by it; he's much more focused on mentally translating the comment than anything else. Once he's processed it he patiently ignores the hand on his head, remarking in accented but clear enough English--]

I am lost. Aren't you?

[It's soft, tone polite and not flippant; he genuinely wants to know the answer.]

( is he lost? technically speaking: yes. technically he has no idea how the fuck he got here, where he's at, what the hell is going on. he's got just about as many answers going for him as koushirou does which is--nada, nothing. zip. zilch. )

Nah. ( but he's really good at bullshitting. ) Town's that way, right?

( with a gesture off towards it, easy. )

I ain't lost.

[Koushirou gives him a stare for a few seconds; he's not good at reading emotions by any means, but he does have a good sense for what's true and what isn't. Still, he's way too polite to argue even if he were sure of his assessment, which he isn't; for all he knows, Aidan really could know this world.

He doubts it, but it's possible.]

Is town where you're going?

[Just because it's a town doesn't mean it's the right place to go, after all, and it sure doesn't mean you're not lost. Of course, Koushirou fully intends on checking out the town anyway, but maybe not immediately when there's other stuff to check out first.]

( he wishes he knew what the hell was going on with this planet, honestly. it's just too damn bad he has absolutely no idea what's going on. but it could be worse.

the stupid empathy bond could still be a thing he had to fight with, but that seems to be gone. so he ruffles koushirou's hair, then takes a step away from him. )

Looks like it's town or wilderness, and I'm not a wilderness kinda guy.

[The hair-ruffling is... Something, and he can't quite tell if it's annoying or nice in the casualness of it. Maybe both.

Either way, dwelling on emotions is not really his thing, and so he focuses much more intently on the comment and in regarding Aidan.]

Town could be a trap.

[But he doesn't sound too bothered by that idea, letting his hand drop from the barrier and beginning toward the opening that had been made for them.]

Oh, sure. And staying here could be a trap. And not doing anything could be a trap. And thinking going to town is a trap could be a trap.

( anything could be a trap if you tried hard enough, or something like that. aidan lifts his shoulders, shoves his fingers into his pants' pockets, and starts towards town. maybe it is a trap. but like. what else is going to happen, monsters are going to pop out of the ground and swallow them whole? prison? they're already stranded, far as he can tell. couldn't get much worse from here. )

[Koushirou briefly considers arguing that, while that's true, the likelihood of each of those things is different, but decides not to bother. He's already decided he's more interested in seeing what's in town than he is concerned about a possible trap, so he follows after Aidan at a slightly slower pace, curiously taking in the scenery as he walks.

But, after a moment, he ventures a question.]

What do you remember before you came through this gate?

[He's wondering if that might tell them anything about how they got here.]

I was walking out of a restaurant, eating a to-go bug-protein filled burrito.

( very useful information, he's sure. )

It was kinda shit, but it was cheap. And y'know, you get what you pay for and all. ( ah, but -- ) I was in another world. Not the one I was from but some weird ass one with connected dreams, a destroyed god, glowy bullshit.

[Totally useful; so useful that Koushirou completely ignores it in favor of the rest of that response, which might actually provide some insight into the situation.]

A mundane experience, but an unusual setting.

[Very interesting. That he was in another world, especially one with those sorts of features, definitely seems noteworthy; however, Koushirou's sample size only consists of himself and Aidan at this point, so it's too early to draw any conclusions even if he's gotten totally distracted from the conversation by thinking all this over.]

I know there's some sketchy shit going on back where I'm from, but none of it hits quite like being pulled into a whole other fucking universe.

( hands digging down into his pockets to sift through their contents, searching for--something. he eventually pulls out a vape pen. shakes it a bit before putting it between his lips. mostly to keep his mouth busy, he's not pressing the button to use it. )

And you?

[Koushirou's attention shifts back to Aidan briefly as he pulls out the vape, but immediately disregards it as not interesting. He's looking around at their surroundings as he answers the question.]

I was going through a portal to get to another world.

[And, after a brief pause--]

This one wasn't my destination.

[He'd been intending to go somewhere very different, and it's fascinating that he'd ended up here instead. Although he was aware of several alternate worlds, not just the one he'd been meaning to go to, this wasn't one of them and that's very interesting.]

No? Where were you heading off to then?

( seems as good of a way to fill time anyway. they've got a bit of a walk in front of them, aidan doesn't have anything better to do than hang out with this--redheaded kid. )

TDM 001

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