Event Log: Field Trip Part 1

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the field trip event during February
What: The event log for the Field Trip event
Where: Outside of the city, moving toward new and exciting cities!
When: Feb 16th-28th
Warnings: None

After Love's post to the network, you'll find motorcycles and some food supplies stocked and ready for the taking. Your call to action is pretty significant as it's the first time you'll be outside of the city for any significant period of time after being in it for so long.

Nevertheless, you have supplies to pack and a big checklist of things to bring because there sure as hell isn't anything you can use as food or shelter out there in the desert. Hope you have some extra suntan lotion and sleeping bags too- you'll want them after a long day of driving! The travel should be fairly uneventful, but there's always lots of camping and survival skills that can come in handy for this part.

Once you get to the cities, you know your mission: locate the Hope temple and place one of your orbs onto the altar. Then, you wait- survive for another week or so and hope your supplies don't run too thin because there's no food out here. After that time is passed, then you can go home and restore Hope like the lovely little emotion battery allies you are!

► This log covers February 16th-February 28th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you didn't pack enough food or you did a really inadvisable moped stunt, please let us know here.
► If you successfully return with an orb, please let us know here.

Comments

OTA.

[whip_poor_will]

Ravine doesn't venture out into that wide open wasteland with a group.

That's because you wouldn't want her as a traveling companion. Who would? A dead woman doesn't make for good company. Or so some would think. If you're attacked, the likelihood of her being of any assistance is slim to nil. Her scythe isn't any use against the living, and there are only so many spirits that inhabit this planet that need reaping.

So, she goes it alone. And on foot. Free of the searing rays of the sun glaring down on her, the woman in black can be seen near or in the distant haze. One might need to double-take to make sure she's no mere mirage. Especially when they find themselves passing by her multiple times during their trek.

Worse yet, one could be just cruising across the desert when suddenly that woman manifests in the back seat of their rig, humming a little diddy in their ear. Personal space? She has no knowledge of such a concept.

Hope you weren't planning on sleeping tonight.

[ex_matricide319]

[Is this a coincidence, or does this lady keep putting herself in my way on purpose?

That's what goes through his mind as he squints at the dark speck on the sand hundreds of yards away and realizes who it is. It's been a while since he's seen her, or heard those weird bird noises. But that's definitely the same weird woman from before.

He contemplates approaching her. Something tells him she's not in any need of help... but what if she is? It would only take him a minute to fly over to her and check. An annoying inconvenience, sure, and not one he's dying to endure, but... if something happened to her he'd probably feel like shit forever for not taking two seconds to make sure she was alright.

He sighs. And then lifts off from the ground, soaring in her direction. Surely she'll see him coming, but he doesn't attempt to wave or make any other communication with her until he's landing at her side.]

...Hey. [stiffly:] I saw you from over there.

[whip_poor_will]

[A normal person would balk at a flying kid. For Ravine, it's about as normal anything else can be around here, perhaps even more so.]

Ah, yes. I simply thought that I would take the more scenic route.

[Not that there's much to see.

[She pulls out one of the orbs they received back at the city.] I intend to take this to where it needs to be.

[ex_matricide319]

[Kiran isn't trying to hide how he's inspecting the woman more closely, studying her appearance and her general... apparent lack of preparation to make this kind of journey. When she pulls out the orb, he glances at it, and then back to her.]

You've got one too? [somehow, that strikes him as odd. He frowns, but after a moment, takes out the orb he was given to show her in return.] ...um. Have you got enough supplies for the trip?

[whip_poor_will]

[Her mouth curves and a quiet, muffled chuckle escapes her as she places the orb back into the inner part of her coat.]

Oh, don't you worry about me. I have all that I need for this journey. Plus, I traveled pretty far out before to get a lay of the land.

[Sometimes, not having to worry about dying again has its perks.]

[ex_matricide319]

Yeah... [Kiran puts a hand on his hip and peers at her.] Yeah, I ran into you once out here in the desert. Do you remember?

[The questions are burning in his brain. Kiran devotes a paltry few seconds to pondering whether it was rude to ask them, and then just asks anyway.]

So, like, what exactly is your deal then, lady? Do you not need to eat food and drink water or something?

[whip_poor_will]

Of course I do.

[Ravine doesn't forget that easily. Some things tend to get misplaced here and there, but that's to be expected after three thousand years or so. Regardless, she is hardly phased in the least.

[She almost laughs at that question.] Those things are for the living, which I am not. I suppose you could call that my "deal".

[ex_matricide319]

[He blinks. Did he hear that right?]

Uhh... back up. You're not living? What does that mean? You're a zombie?

[That last part is sarcastic as she doesn't look much like the zombies he's familiar with in movies or whatever. Is she immortal...? She's standing right in front of him and talking, so she seems pretty "alive" as far as he can tell...]

[whip_poor_will]

[At that, Ravine actually does laugh. Wow, this kid's a riot.]

Do I look like a zombie to you? [For a dead woman, she does look rather lively.] It means my actual body has been long gone and I am not quite here. Not really.

[Because that's so much more informative.]

sorry for the wait! i'm on hiatus for march

[ex_matricide319]

So you're a ghost.

[He says it matter-of-factly, but he still isn't sure, judging by his furrowed brow. He just can't think of any other explanation for the vague details she's giving him, that's all.]

I mean, I'll be honest, that would probably explain a lot about you... [include maybe why they keep bumping into each other periodically.

he pauses for a moment.]

Mind if I walk with you for a while?

it's cool! no rush, man.

[whip_poor_will]

[There's no need to ask why, or what would make him think that. Ravine is aware of the fact that she doesn't make any effort to hide what she is, if only because trying to be anything else would be rather difficult.]

You're a little warmer.

[Since she wouldn't necessarily identify herself as "ghost".

[She nods.] Of course. I believe we are headed in the same direction as it is.

[ex_matricide319]

... Okay.

[Kiran falls into step next to her. After a short while, he adjusts the bag on his back. His feet crunch against the sand as he walks.

Eventually, he speaks again.]

So if you're not a zombie and not a ghost, what are you then? [his face scrunches up and he's quick to add:] I mean, I'm not trying to be nosy, it's just, like... something I'm going to be wondering about forever until you tell me or I find out somehow.

[whip_poor_will]

[It's not an unfair thing to question. But okay, she'll humor him this time.]

Well, where I come from we are called Psychopomps, though some would call us "Grim Reapers".

[For once, a serious and earnest answer!]

[ex_matricide319]

Uh... okay. And what's that?

[whip_poor_will]

You know the Moirai but not of the Psychopomp? [She says this, more amused than anything.] I have likened myself to Atropos, but I suppose that I am more like Charon than anything else -- a mere guide, usually.

[u s u a l l y.]

[ex_matricide319]

No, I've never heard of them. "Psychopomp" would be a pretty awesome band name though.[He gives her a little grin.

When she compares herself to the Atropos, he assumes she's talking about the Greek legend variety and not the band of evil magical teenage girls that he knows from his world. For a moment, he pauses to try to remember what the old legend and Charon are about.]

So, you're dead, but you also help other dead people get to the underworld?

[whip_poor_will]

Ha! Yes, I suppose that it would be.

[Ravine wouldn't be surprised if there is a band by that name. It'd definitely be death metal.

[She nods.] There are others like me, although our numbers have dwindled in recent years.

[Of course, by Ravine's definition, "recent" would be the last few centuries.]

[ex_matricide319]

Huh.

[So it turns out her story is surprisingly simple. Although maybe it just seems that way to him at the moment... he's not sure what to make of what she says about her kind's numbers dwindling.

She didn't seem upset about it, though, so... why not ask?] Can I ask what happened?

[whip_poor_will]

[She tries to keep things as simple as she can. Ravine doesn't see the point in making this a long, drawn out anecdote.]

To be honest, I am not entirely certain. I believe that a slowly dying world may have something to do with it, and even we have expiration dates at some point. We weren't born the way we are.

[ex_matricide319]

[That just fills his head with even more questions. Not born the way they are? What does that mean? Is that the ghost-ish part or something?

Kiran doesn't say anything for a moment. Then he shrugs his shoulders and looks over at her with a grin.]

Well, uh... at least one of you left because you got kidnapped by a bunch of asshole gods in another universe, right?

[whip_poor_will]

["Ghost-ish" would probably be a most accurate way of describing their kind. They're dead and ethereal in nature, and yet not the same as the spirits they are to reap.

[Ravine manages a smile at Kiran's response.]

Yes, I suppose this is one mystery solved.

[She doesn't sound too bothered by the prospect. Things could be worse, right? Right.]