Intro Log: Don't Wake Tonberry

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for September
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: September 10th-13th
Warnings: Cute monsters, a way to pass the time, and plenty of newbies!

Waking up in Hadriel certainly has its down sides, but if this weird murdercave city is good at one thing, it's keeping people entertained. As you awaken on the hard ground of the colosseum, you might see a rectangular cardboard box lying near you. Ignore it for now, as you get your bearings, but if you get bored? Well, you'll find these exciting and unique board games will keep you entertained!

But how could you possibly get bored, when there are plenty of cute monsters around to keep you company? Sharing the colosseum with all the new arrivals are Tonberries. In addition to their natural cuteness defense, they also carry very large knives. They're slow-moving and look innocent and even friendly, but be careful - one strike from that knife and you'll be a bloody mess. They won't attack unless you get too close, but who doesn't want to hug a Tonberry? And of course, if you attack, they'll counter with extreme prejudice.

Managed to resist the urge to hug a Tonberry? Safely escaped from the clutches of the colosseum, new board game in tow? Awesome! Feel free to go explore the rest of the city! Find a house, find a new monster, or simply scavenge for supplies. Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Hadriel!

► This log covers September 10th-13th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► All characters arrive with phones that have network communication.
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!

Comments

sam | until dawn | open + closed | prose or brackets

[sedula]

you sing the words but don't know what it means (coliseum; open).

... This is just not OK.

Sam wakes with a start, heart already pounding as she bolts to her feet, still in flight mode, pushing herself into movement against the loud protests of her sore, tense muscles. She's fairly certain the blast she detonated in the lodge was enough to stop the remaining wendigos from continuing their pursuit, but her brain hasn't yet acknowledged that she's safe - which is probably a good thing, considering that this isn't the mountain, the burning lodge is nowhere in sight, and there are other things afoot.

The board games scattered along the ground get only a cursory glance; the tonberries are a much bigger, more immediate threat. Sam doesn't know what they are, exactly - they're not people, and they're not wendigos, but that doesn't narrow down the pool of possibilities much - but she's not keen on sticking around to find out.

"You have got to be kidding," she mutters, and takes off toward the nearest available exit.

another line without a hook (citywide; open).

Well. This isn't the mountain, but that doesn't help Sam determine where she is, either. Once she's safely (ha) outside the coliseum's walls, her pace slows to more of a dazed wander than a run, and she probably cuts quite a figure as she makes her way through the city's streets - bruised, bloodied, singed, with that headlamp still turned on and strapped to her head.

Any passersby are met with a slightly apologetic smile and a single question: "Hey - mind helping a lost girl out?"

you said you read me like a book, but the pages all are torn and frayed (ud house; closed to ud cast).

Eventually, Sam makes her way to the house where her friends - her very much alive friends - are located. Woozy with adrenaline and still only half-believing this is real, she inhales a deep breath and knocks firmly on the front door and waits to be admitted. Once inside, her greeting is simple: a wave; a hesitant smile; a quiet "Hey, guys."

city!

[hollowly]

He's seen some interesting things since first arriving in the murdercave - but he has to admit, a girl with a headlamp strapped to her head and looking like she's been put through the ringer a couple of times has to be near the top of the list of more than just interesting.

Which of course means that he's going to try to help her in any way he can. ( Resident handy-moose to the rescue, or some such nonsense. ) He meets that apologetic smile with one of his own, open and friendly in a way that makes him entirely approachable. "Sure. Where are you trying to go?"

Might he suggest a trip to the clinic? His sorta-girlfriend can heal you up quick as anything.

[sedula]

"I'm not really sure ... " Sam glances to one side, then the other. Nothing about this place makes sense yet. "I guess that doesn't help much, huh - you kinda have to know where you are first before you can figure out where you want to go, right?" It's not a good joke, and she doesn't even laugh at herself. Where Sam wants to go is home, thousands of miles away from Canada and the mountain and the wendigos, but that doesn't look like it's happening any time soon.

"Sorry, I'm really lost here."

[hollowly]

He wonders, briefly, if he'd looked that lost when he'd first arrived here. He remembers it all, even with as long as it's been, and he'd definitely felt it - but he's always tried to teach himself to school his expressions into something more neutral when in situations like this, just so he doesn't give anything away.

Besides. It has to say something about him and his background that he'd settled in so easily. So quickly. ( That is the life of a Winchester. Unfortunately. )

It might not be a good joke, but he's in the habit of making far worse than that, and he laughs a little in response. "Usually. I can tell you where you are, at least. You're in Hadriel. And ..." He trails off for the smallest second, looking a bit sheepish. It's always a gamble on how the newbies are going to take the next bit of news.

"You're kind of underground."

[sedula]

Underground. Well. It's not the absolute worst thing he could have told her, but it's not the best thing, either. Sam's heart plummets, thinking back just a few hours ago to the wandering she'd done down in the mines underneath the lodge, the clammy chill of the air, the echoing amplification of even the smallest sounds against the rock walls.

"Guess that explains why I can't get a signal on my phone." Again she smiles, but it's a mask for all the trepidation she feels washing over her in waves like the ocean at the beach back home in Los Angeles.

colosseum. brackets bc I'm lazy and phone

[snowballers]

[ Wolfie licks him awake; Mike's face down in the dirt. He coughs; standing feels more difficult than it should be. The smell of the air's changed, no skittering of the wendigo on the walls. ]

[ Shotgun, machete, giant fuck off wolf, all accounted for. He looks around and catches the tail end of what seems like Sam's shirt disappearing into one of the tunnels. Exactly her size, too. ]

Hello?

yes good, perfect

[sedula]

[The only reason Sam halts in her tracks and turns back around is because that sounds unmistakably like Mike's voice, and that - well, it's just not possible. Right? Sam watched what the wendigo did to him in the lodge with her own eyes, after all. But in some ways, she still hasn't fully processed it - her brain knows the truth of what she witnessed, but her heart refuses to accept it.

Maybe that's why she turns back around to investigate - some far-flung grasp for hope that maybe, maybe what she saw was wrong. Sam steps back into the doorway, squinting into the distance.]

... Mike?

[snowballers]

[ The outline of someone emerges from the tunnel, and — ]

Sam!

[ He makes a beeline for her, Wolfie following at his heels. ]

What the hell? I told you guys to wait at the lodge!

[sedula]

[It's Mike.

It can't be Mike, but somehow, impossibly, it's him. Sam's field of vision wavers for a moment; she takes a deep breath and forces her eyes to focus.

It's Mike. And ... a dog? No, not quite a dog. Something else.]

The lodge?

[Sam shakes her head. She blew it up. She didn't exactly see it happen, but she felt the blast, the heat of the flames licking at her back. Then nothing, until she woke up here and now.

Something about this isn't right, and considering what's happened in the past several hours? That says a lot.]

Who's your friend?

[She nods, indicating the wolf. Clearly, that's the most important question at hand.]

[snowballers]

[ She looks at him like she's seen a goddamn ghost instead of the shaken but determined person he'd seen just not half an hour ago. ]

This is Wolfie. It's all right, he's trained. He belongs [ belonged ] to that old guy with the flamethrower.

Sam, what's going on?

UD house

[unfollowing]

It's hard to leave Matt's side when you know what this place does, know it can snatch him away just as unexpectedly as it dragged him in here. It's hard, but it has to be done, because there's no use starving yourself to death when the food isn't being tampered with. So eventually, Emily uncurls herself from Matt, gets dressed, and goes downstairs for at least a glass of water.

She's on her way to the kitchen when Sam knocks, and even though they'd already run into each other (before Matt, because Emily hasn't left the house since she got back here with him), seeing Sam is like watching the sun rise and part the darkness.

"Hey. Come on, I'm getting some water. You should have some too."

[sedula]

"Water?" she repeats, dumbly. Right - hydration is important. When is the last time she drank water? Sam can't remember. It's one of those habitual things she doesn't even usually think about. But it's a sensible suggestion, so she nods.

"You're right." All she can think about is wading through the water in the underground mines with Mike, soaked and cold to the bone. Her clothes are dry again now, but Sam still feels that phantom chill, and she wraps her arms around herself as she follows Emily into the house's interior, taking in the details of the place.

[unfollowing]

Shit, Sam's taking this hard, Emily thinks as she leads the way into the kitchen. She's taking it hard, and she's trying to act like she's fine, which is just about the shittiest idea. Shithole cavetown will wear her down eventually. Emily just hopes it doesn't break her.

She's quiet as she gets them each a glass of water, letting Sam have a few seconds to herself, her back to her just re-arrived friend so she can have some privacy too. When she's done, she lingers a bit by the sink, then heads for the table and sets Sam's glass down.

"Here. You should sit, you've probably been walking around a lot." And since she just came off the mountain, she's been running, too. Running, holding stock still, blowing up the lodge...

Goddamn.

"We're safe for now," Emily adds as she takes a seat herself. "Arrival day is only really bad in the colosseum."

[sedula]

The silence between them in the kitchen feels heavy, much heavier than silence - an absence of words - should have a right to feel. Sam pulls out the chair nearest the glass of water, flinching at the sound of the chair scraping along the floor, and sits at the table, eyes focused on the liquid inside the glass.

"Safe?" One side of her mouth quirks up in a half-smile. "I don't think I'm ever gonna feel safe again." There's a dry note of levity in her tone, like she's making an attempt at passing off her words as a joke, because if she can joke about the horrors she's witnessed over the course of the past day, surely she'll be fine, right? But wendigos aside, Sam also suffered at Josh's hands - terrorized, drugged, bound and abandoned in that dark corner of the basement where Mike found her wearing nothing but a damn towel. Sam wraps her hand around the glass of water and brings it to her lips, gulping back a mouthful. She can't tell if she's actually thirsty - what's important is going through the motions of what she should be doing.

"I talked to you before, didn't I? It wasn't a dream?"

[unfollowing]

Well, that's not a lie. You don't feel safe in Hadriel. You just come to know when you're in a lull, when things are less fucked up than they can get. You learn to wish the next event comes from Delight or Hope (even though he sucks at making people feel hopeful, at least he's not torturing them the way Rage and Fear and Sorrow can).

There's really nothing Emily can say in response to that, so she nods and takes a drink of water. By the time Sam asks her question, Emily has set her mug back on the table.

"Yeah, you did." It does feel sort of like it was a dream, though. Everything before seeing Matt feels like one long nightmare that has finally come to an end. "And everything I said to you is true."

Especially the part about her not being crazy.

"Who else from back home have you run into, by the way?"

ud house

[meatbrained]

"Sam?" Matt arrives into the living area of the house sometime later, after Emily falls asleep. The sight of people he knows to not be dead back home? Very welcome. Today has been a long, long day, and as grateful as he is for all of Emily's affection, he's pretty glad to have someone who should be chill, right?

"You, ah, you been here long?"

[sedula]

In contrast, everyone Sam's seen who she recognizes from home, with the exception of Emily, is dead, and that includes Matt, unfortunately. She barely had time for this terrible truth to sink in back on the mountain, and now, seeing Matt alive and in front of her again, it feels like a distant almost-memory. And she's fine with that, really.

"Hey, Matt." She smiles at him, even though there's sadness hazing over her eyes. "Nah, just got here, actually. You?"

[meatbrained]

"Same," he answers, giving himself a nice, comfy spot on a couch that looks entirely too weird to be a couch made by anyone who's actually seen a couch, but all the same. It seems like a lot of them have turned up now, but Emily's been here so long, and Hannah's been here a while too.

Hannah. Fuck. He still can't believe that.

"It's... pretty crazy, huh?"

[sedula]

"Any more crazy than what we've already seen?" Being kidnapped by gods that want to use them for their emotions seems like a vacation when compared with what went down on the mountain. Sam smiles like it's a joke, but they both know it's not really funny.

"You're OK though, right?" Because that's not what she knew to be true back on the mountain.

[meatbrained]

Oh yeah, he... he hasn't got that far. It'll be fun! Promise! The craziest he's seen is a freaked out Chris and Ashley.

(FUN!)

"They got me," he admits, showing the bandage on his thigh, "but I'm alright. You? You, uh, look..." like you've been through the wringer.

ud house

[thechoiceisyours]

It's weird, seeing Sam again; it's been a long time since she was in Hadriel and even longer since the mountain, but since she's been here before there's a sense of familiarity to seeing her enter the house. A good familiarity, for sure.

"Hey, Sam." He says, voice quiet as well, but warm. "It's um, good to see you, even if the circumstances kind of suck."

[sedula]

She's sitting on a couch - what's supposed to be a couch, she thinks - in the living room, giving herself a few quiet moments while she mentally pumps herself up for a pair of conversations she knows she needs to have with Beth and Hannah. God, Beth and Hannah are alive, and they're both here too - how fucking strange is that? Sam welcomes the distraction Chris' voice provides, turning a smiling face up to greet him.

"Hey, Chris. It's good to see you again too."

[thechoiceisyours]

Chris gives her a small smile in return, moving to take a seat on the far arm of the weird couch. "How're you um... How're you doing? Adjusting can be kind of... Weird."

It would've been bad enough not coming from all the horrors that happened on the mountain, but that just makes everything even more surreal. Or at least it had for him.

[sedula]

Something small that shifts behind her eyes betrays the smile she holds on her face when she answers him. "I'm fine." It's a lie, but it's one she has to keep telling, because not only does she need everyone else to believe it, but she needs to believe it, too. There's no way she'll survive this place if she can't hold herself together. Fake it 'til you make it, right?

"Definitely gonna be passing on horror movies for a while, though." She forces a small laugh - it's funny, right? Or if it's not exactly funny, the fact that she can make a shitty joke about it means at least it's not as earth-shattering of an ordeal.

"What about you? Emily said you've been here a while, right?"

[thechoiceisyours]

It's easy to see through the lie, especially since it's a lie they all tell; no matter who is here or for how long or through what, they always say they're fine.

But he doesn't call her on it, because that won't help right now. So instead he shrugs a little at her question, ignoring the first part of it himself. "Yeah. It's been um, ten months." It's still weird to think about the fact that it's nearly been a year, and yet that night on the mountain still often feels like yesterday. He manages a grin, though, continuing. "Still uh, not big on the horror movie idea myself either."

Although he's pretty sure no amount of time is going to help that.

But back to more important things. "So you've talked to Emily; has she uh... Filled you in on everything, or...?"