hadriel_logs | Event Log: Dust to Dust

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Event Log: Dust to Dust

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the Dust to Dust event
Where: All over the city!
When: January 14th-17th
Warnings: A big ol' mess.

It starts off small: the wind picks up, particles of sand and dirt and dust begin to fill the air. You might not even notice at first, not until you have to wipe the dust off your windows to see outside. After all, it's been a long time since Hadriel has experienced weather, and it's never experienced a weather event not caused by the gods before.

But the gods aren't in charge of the weather now, and even if they could prevent this dust storm, they have way too many other things to do. So it's up to you to deal with it, and as the wind rises and the dust storm moves into the city, there'll be plenty to deal with.

Once the storm is at its peak, it'll be almost impossible to see outside - and it won't be safe to go wandering, either. Entirely besides falling and hurting yourself, if you aren't wrapped up well enough the particles in the air will abrade your skin. Love that sandpaper feel! Oh, and breathing? Yeah, better make sure your nose and mouth are covered, or else they'll be full of sand, too. Hope you've got some goggles stashed away to protect your eyes. Luckily, it won't last too long - 'cause you'll have plenty of cleaning to do once the storm is over.

► This log covers January 14th-17th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
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► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you foolishly get scoured to the bone, please let us know here.

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[for the girl]

[Nil is accustomed to sandstorms. The Sundom is a desert and they can rise quickly, biting at the skin like needles, or teeth, blinding anyone who doesn't know how to handle them.

Nil is accustomed to sandstorms. When it begins, he makes sure to cover his mouth and nose, to narrow his eyes against the grains being swept up by the wind, and he goes about his business tracing his steps around the outside of the city from the day before, and the day before that. He walks the same track like a caged animal, already feeling the frustration at this cage beginning to mount, like a pressure in the back of his skull.

Nil is accustomed to sandstorms, but he is not accustomed to the way that this one rages and grows in its ferocity to the point that it drives him to take shelter on the leeward side of a building, crouched down to keep away from the worst of the blasting sand.

A door, swinging open on its hinges and banging nearby, draws his attention. He doesn't need more than a moment of thought to head towards it, near-blinded by the sand flying on the wind.]

[She didn't speak against the roar of the wind, more to keep the sand from her mouth than to keep her words from being swallowed by the noise. She waits until the man is reasonably near before trying to usher him in with a wave of her arm, shirt held over her nose.

The building is in disrepair- she favored the broken down places to the shiny living spaces- but the walls stood firm enough to keep out the worse of the whipping sand. She doesn't mind the storm. Girl couldn't, not after a lifetime of desert living. But she still winces as she brushes grit away from her eyes and coughs to keep the mess from her lungs. She doesn't mind it, but no part of her enjoyed the harsh conditions of the desert.]

You need water?

[She asks once the man is through the doorway, rushing to make sure it gets closed tight again. She kicks a balls up shirt from the wall, trying to use it to seal up the crack under the door. Girl points distractedly to a bottle near a backpack at the far side of the room.]

[Nil doesn't see the girl until the last moment, and it's only the fact that she's clearly a child that keeps him from simply turning around at the door. He doesn't always object to company, but being potentially trapped with said company is another matter entirely. He moves to answer her but coughs instead, surprised at the amount of dust he had managed to inhale in so short a time despite taking such care to avoid it.

The offer, in the end, is accepted without words, though he doesn't take more than a mouthful to clear his throat. Natural suspicion can be overriden when you're certain you're going to choke yourself without water.]

Thank you. [He places the bottle down, lightly, on a table next to the bag and moves back over to the window to watch the sand and dust swirling outside.]

This... is irritatingly inconvenient.

[She backs away once he's inside and she's seen to the door. Girl may have ushered him in, but there's still a tinge of awkwardness and distrust for a stranger. She ends up against the wall near her bag. Girl puts a hand on the table near it, ready to grab the strap and use it as a weapon if needed.

She nods to acknowledge his gratitude. Then again, wit the hint of a smile, in agreement.]

Never knew the desert to care much 'bout convenience. 'least it ain't rainin' acid, you know?

[His eyes are still stinging, but it's a discomfort that can be ignored as he examines the storm more closely. He isn't blind, even so, to the way she gets ready to defend herself. He'd be a poor soldier if he didn't notice those little tells.]

I'm not going to attack you. [He tells her smoothly, with the slightest narrowing of his eyes on the conditions outside.]

There'll be no walking about in this. Not if you want to be in one piece at your destination.

Nice of you to say. Don't plan to attack you either. But we don't know each other.

[Her tone is light, non-accusing, and her hand is still near the bag. She considers it as simple as that. There was trust enough to let him in but being wary has served her well thus far.]

Just got to stay cozy 'til it blows over. This place seems sturdy enough and I got some stuff, so it shouldn't be hard to ride it out.

Hm.

[She's wary. That's smart, and not a quality he often sees in people so young. Children are usually too quick to trust, and while he never has any intention of inflicting harm on them (no challenge in it), it never ceases to baffle him.]

You're well-prepared.

[That's unusual, too.]

Not really.

[She snorts and then shrugs. She woke up here without most of what she'd gathered over the years back home, no weapons, few supplies, only the barest knowledge of the area, no boombox. She's gathered what she could, but Girl's still itchy with how little she has to work with here.]

Just used to the desert, that's all. Live in it long enough and you know how to get by.

[He makes a small, amused sound.]

Yes, you do.

[You see, he's from a desert too, but in all honesty is used to getting by with far less than what this girl has readily on hand. When you're a hunter, you can't afford to carry much around with you.]

What shall I call you, girl?

This familiar to you?

[She tilts her head, watching him with a glint of interest in her eyes. From his response...so, another used to the desert. It's a change among all the city goers and peaceful folk in the city.]

That works. I don't have any name to go by.

I've seen my share of dust storms.

[Enough to know this one has a certain unnaturalness to it. If this girl is looking for someone else who isn't a 'peaceful city goer', she really need look no further than the man in front of her.]

Mm. 'Girl' it is, then. [He doesn't seem to find it strange.] You know, some people would say that it takes a name to truly know who you are. I don't think so.

You'd be one of the few here, I'd bet. Most of 'em freaked when they saw the desert.

[She smiles briefly. Pleased for another desert dweller, pleased by the matter-of-fact response to her lack of name.]

Those people are wrong and you'd be right. A name's got power, but it ain't the only power. Do you go by one?

[Those who can't adapt to the environment will die, and the ones who remain will be stronger for the loss. In his mind, that's the way things work, but he hasn't yet discovered that death isn't something that sticks here in the way that it should.]

Call me Nil.

[A name to go by. Not his true one, but it's been some time since he went by that.]

A name's only got as much power as you give to it.

Nil it is.

[It's the most normal sounding name she's heard since she got her, at least by her standards. Real name or not, it wouldn't matter to her. Any name someone chooses is true to her.]

If it's your identity then it's got a lot of power to you.

[A girl with no name, and a man whose name means nothing. What a pair they make, trapped in safety from the kind of weather conditions that they would ordinarily be entirely used to.]

So it does. You've some wisdom there.

I got some experience, so I ought to have a lil' of that.

[She shrugs, a proud smile flitting over her face. It's been a lifetime since she's heard any praise from someone who hadn't raised her.]

You been here a while, Nil?

[Nil gives the smallest shake of his head to that question. Normally, engaging in conversation with children isn't something he takes part in, but this one has caught his interest in a way that is diverting enough for the moment.]

Long enough to find this place distasteful. [He replies. It isn't the dust storm, though it isn't helping. It's...

Well, it's everything else.]

[In contrast, all the Girl has every had is conversations with people older than her. She's rarely at ease with people, but there's far less tension with this one on one than with anyone her own age.]

So you've been here at least a hot minute. [It's a lame attempt at humor. Girl doesn't show much amusement for it.] Just seems like some of the settled in folks don't realize what a crap situation we're all in.

If you cage an animal and treat it cruelly for long enough, it will eventually accept it as its new reality. The same can be said for people.

[Nil's seen it. In the dark, hot cells of Sunstone Rock, where he had heard one prisoner after another slowly lose his mind to the sun. Nil himself had gone a different way entirely, if you'd believe the words of the prison warden, but some people might think the way that he went was worse.]

In my experience it takes more brainwashin' to make people accept an unfair world than just hurtin' someone enough.

[That is, if she ignores how she reacted to Val and his cruelty for so long...]

Pain can come in many forms. One need not break a finger or pluck out an eye to cause enough torment to break a mind.

[Despite what he says, he doesn't sound as if he's speaking from experience as much as observation. Though, should anyone actually get to know Nil better, they might consider it both.

He glances at her, though, something that she said coming back around to catch in his mind.]

You're young, to have such experience.

Pain doesn't make you accept things for long. Just means you have to wait for the pain to stop before you can do anything 'bout it.

[This comes out a little less sure. In her own experience she'd only been snapped out of accepting things because of other people. But wasn't the lack of other people the cause of that pain in first place?]

Am I? Don't think I'm all that young, at least for where I'm from. 'm pretty much the normal adult age.

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Event Log: Dust to Dust

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