MOD LOG #1

[bequiet]

MOD LOG #1
Packing Up
Content Warnings: General tension
Themes: Survival, exploration, heavy-lifting

At the end of the month, the natives send out a mass message informing everyone of the upcoming trip to 'meet' the Sound Eaters. Preparing for the trip is simple, though labor intensive, and begins with making certain that everyone packs food, water, clothes, gear, and a twenty-pound package of sand. When it's time for the journey to begin, those tasked with watching the sandpaths, will lead the party on the journey towards the Eiffel Tower. It's a slow trip, a careful one. Natives will take breaks every few hours and when the sun sets, help everyone to set up their bed rolls around a few lanterns. The natives will unveil the star mapping feature, with constellations named and general history attached, on the devices. They will encourage those to tell stories, get out food and water, and 'talk' amongst the group before everyone settles into sleep. Out, under the night sky, the silence is more noticeable - there are no crickets or frogs. This process will repeat for two days until the group reaches the end of their destination at midday.

Sound Eaters
Content Warnings: Disorientation, confusion, character and native death, Sound Eater birth and death, body horror
Themes: Survival, exploration, horror, death

On the third day, characters will finally reach the Eiffel Tower, where the Sound Eaters in this area of France have set up their 'home'. Stopping far enough out to allow for communication, the natives will gesture to the ruins of the structure that appears to be altered. Structures are built up and around the metal frame, closing off different sections with a dark material that glints an oily-green in the light. After explaining that the Sound Eaters are influenced by the weather, rain being an issue for them, they'll take everyone closer. Silence is key here. The natives are visibly wary, tense, and uncomfortable but they believe that showing the arrivals what they're so afraid of will inspire them to be more cautious.

Now, as close to the Sound Eaters as they dare to go (less than a half mile), the natives will have everyone crouch down behind various cars and debris. The devices will say only one word, watch. As the sun begins to set and clouds darken overhead, the tower will open up, the Sound Eaters spilling out. They are split up, as the natives refer to it, into classes - the young, the shifting and the matured. The young are extremely sensitive to sound, volatile and aggressive, humanesque in form with features in various state of change. The shifting are grotesque, splitting and reforming, changing from young to matured in a shift that is punctuated by pained screams and the breaking of bones, splitting of flesh. The matured are in control. They command and guide their kind into a circle, where they all bend down, kneeling as something different than the rest comes out of the tower to stand at the center. The wind catches, dusting up red ash from it and blowing the ash towards the group - there's no way to move and it tastes familiar, coats your skin in red. They all grow quiet and a wrapped form, in the shape of a body, is placed at the Sound Eaters' feet. It crumbles, breaks apart and sprays out over the wrapped figured to completely cover it.

The shards of the Sound Eater bubble up and fuse together, creating a shell. Rain begins to fall. Light, but enough to cause the Sound Eaters to begin to move, pushing against one another but not leaving the circle. There's a shrill sound, an offbeat whistle, air escaping a tight space, a desperate inhale, and then the shell at the center splits apart. A Sound Eater died to create a new life. Smaller than the other young, the 'child' climbs up and out, but it's not the same as the others. It's form is generally human. Dark hair, androgynous features. No eyes. No mouth. Standing, it angles its head towards the matured and they move, as if on command, and surround it as it walks into the tower.

( If anyone makes noise at this point, in any way, the coming bad weather and what just occurred, will result in the Sound Eaters only attacking that person - rather than the whole group. They'll drag that person into the tower and out of sight. The character will be reset. )

The natives are upset. Spooked. They've never seen anything like that and they're quick to tell everyone this, followed by a hasty message to leave. As they're moving, the rain begins to beat down and the ground grows slippery. Making it back to the supplies is troublesome and just as the group gets close, one of the natives slips and tumbles down broken concrete, twisting and smacking against the hard surface until they come to a stop at the bottom. Anyone that goes to help will find that the native has hurt themselves and there's nothing that can be done, despite best efforts. The natives will take the time to wrap their friend up, relaying that the Sound Eaters don't attack now that the rain is heavy, and will begin the slow trek back to the community. They'll camp each night, the same as the trip up, but with an uncomfortable tension that no amount of story telling can break.

It's Raining Me- Rain. It's Just Water.
Content Warnings: None
Themes: Survival, fun, noise-making

After everyone is back in Reims, the natives will split off to bury their dead - they will not allow anyone to accompany them. Everyone is encouraged to head back to the community to get a break from the bad weather and to unload their supplies. The following day, the natives can be heard outside. Splashing and making noise, fixing houses, and what might have been a somber event will quickly turn into something a little more upbeat as rain beats down on the city. Children will play and occasionally laugh, stunted in their ability to enjoy themselves but willing to learn from the arrivals. Bigger items will be moved and natives will encourage everyone to do the 'noisier' things that they need to do. When the rain ends, work will resume as usual and soundproofing will be a lot more difficult - the water washed away sandpaths and damaged some areas. Cleaning up will take time but the natives aren't as unhappy with the situation as they just had a moment's respite from the normal tension of their everyday lives.

OOC
From your mods:

Please be mindful of content - if something triggery comes up or if it goes up a rating to say, something sexy, mark your threads in the subject line. We're very flexible and allow any material; we just want our players to be respectful of each other. If you have questions, pp the mod account, use the faq or comment to the appropriate post below. Have fun! The OOC Plotting Post.

NAVIGATION

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Comments

[rockypath]

[She sees his reaction and instantly finds her temper rise at him. When he turns to look away, she very gently smacks him upside the head. Gently enough that it's not going to cause a sound, but enough to get the point across that she doesn't approve of him feeling like he needs to be sorry about anything.

Faith shakes her head at him when he looks back. She's no good at the signing but she fumbles through it. 'no sorry. not your fault.' a beat before she adds. 'idiot.']

[oorah]

[ the smack gets his attention and he turns back to her, confused even while having a vaguely betrayed look!!! it isn't serious because clearly he has no problem with her hitting him. but still. then he looks at her hands and her face, darting back and forth as he understands her message, smiling with a little headshake at the last one. he points to himself and signs again Idiot. he agrees on that one at least. ]

[rockypath]

[That makes her smile right back, a softening in her eyes. It's one of the few actual smiles she's had since everything that went down. She ducks her head a moment. At least that's settled. He's an idiot.]

[She chews on her bottom lip, looking around to see if anyone else is awake. It's just them.
Then she signs again, almost conspiratorially, like she doesn't want anyone else to see the signed words. 'thanks, idiot.'

He had saved her. She hadn't forgotten that. The others had helped but from what she'd been able to tell, it had been his dumb plan.]

[oorah]

[ it was a really stupid plan, but it had gotten her away from kilgrave. he doesn't know how long that will last, but he couldn't stand by and let him hurt her either. he bites into his lip and nods, signing. Welcome. he'd do it all over again even if everything's fucked up now. after a long pause, he looks around too. then cautiously signs: Friends? ]

[rockypath]

[Her eyebrow quirks at that. She tries to remember the last time any guy asked her to be friends and she didn't sense some kind of ulterior motive in it. PB might be fucked up, but he's more genuine than most people she's met. He's got baggage, just like she did, but he's not pretending to be anything he's not.

'Friends', she agrees.]

[oorah]

[ Secret he signs next, lifting his eyebrows. everyone is catching on that he's deep down a NICE GUY or something god fucking forbid, but he'd still like this to stay between them if at all possible. or maybe it just feels better to have a moment that's just theirs. either way, frank isn't questioning the impulse but rather rolling with it. ]

[rockypath]

[She would have laughed if that were an okay thing to do. Instead she'll have to settle for an amused grin. Faith drew her fingers across her lips in a show of zipping them up. His secret is safe with her.

Although now part of her is silently wishing he did have some ulterior motive like wanting to get into her pants. But she's keeping it to herself. She's had very few friendships, so she's afraid of ruining it just because she's horny.

Faith signs to him 'You sleep.' She points to the ground where he'd been resting before he'd startled awake. 'I keep watch?'. Faith points all around them. She's tired too, but he looks like he needs it more to be honest.

[oorah]

[ and what a quick way to ruin a friendship with frank castle that would be. he can't do friends with benefits, and in fact it would never even cross his mind that faith would want to. he's just the dad friend, let him have this oNE thing.

her suggestion has him looking worried. he trusts her, implicitly, though there's always the chance that kilgrave was still a bug in her ear. but relying on people, allowing himself to be vulnerable -- was never a strong suit. he hadn't ever truly done it until micro, not even with his wife. but after a long pause he's nodding, knowing he's less than 12 hours away from being committed. he's seeing things, hearing things. everything is hazy and weird, even he needs sleep like, once a week. who knew.

very slowly, frank lowers himself back down, convincing himself he can hear her breathing even when he closes his eyes. he's stock still like he might have drifted off already, but his hands lift up to sign Thank you. he'd find a way to return the favor. ]

[rockypath]

[Why'd he have to pick the one with the daddy issues? The last one to play the part of her 'dad friend' turned into a giant snake and got blown up. And her actual dad was just a non-factor entirely. But in seriousness, she probably needed it too. Someone like Angel. Someone she could just simply rely on. So she's trying hard not to screw it up. But she's usually a colossal fuck up most of the time.

She sees the apprehension there on PB's face and nearly hits him again. Dude. If she was going to kill you or knock you out to drag you to Kilgrave, she wouldn't wait until you're asleep. She'd just knock you out right here and now.

When he finally lays down and takes her up on the offer, she relaxes too. Good. Faith will sit there the entire night, occasionally glancing down to PB to be sure he's actually asleep. His chest rising and falling in a normal pattern. If he does start to make noise, she'll handle it, but she's really hoping it's not necessary. the dumb bastard looks like he hasn't slept in a year.]

[oorah]

[ it takes him a few minutes, but then he's dropping off into a sound sleep near instantly. the thought of having someone close is a comfort, and even subconsciously he knows he's safe. faith could protect him a damn sight better than he could protect her, that's for sure. kilgrave had proven that pretty neatly, actually.

after a while, he starts to twitch but doesn't wake. in fact, faith may have to wake him eventually. the grip of whatever dream he was having eventually lets go, perhaps not as horrifying as his usual fare, or at least not enough to wake him organically. the rain lulls him back under the tide every time he thinks about waking up, and his body is sick of him putting off its needs anyway.

dawn comes and goes, a rarity for him. he sleeps through the camp coming to life all around them in the morning hours right on until breakfast. when faith finally deems to wake him, whether it be a touch to his shoulder or just whispering his name, he'll wake almost violently, jerking awake and sitting up in one swift motion. for torturous seconds his mind fills in maria's face instead of faith's, her voice echoing in his ears. hey, sleepyhead. his expression spells fear and apology almost in equal measure as it slowly locks onto her. ]

[rockypath]

[She stays near him all night, just like she promised, keeping both her eyes and ears wide open. Faith knows Kilgrave is around so even if she wants to sleep she isn't about to. Faith isn't going to make the same mistakes, she's not going to be complacent. She hadn't listened to Jessica the first time, hadn't taken any precautions. She might not be quick learner, but eventually she did learn.

For most of the night she's lost to her own thoughts. Dark thoughts mostly, but perhaps that's unavoidable. Thoughts of the sound eaters, Kilgrave, Buffy, Angel... are the people she cares about even alive? Or might they show up here too? Or are they somewhere else living the life in another dimension not even sad that she isn't there? Perhaps they didn't even notice? These are thoughts that can't lead anywhere productive, but she can't help them. They always rear their ugly head.

When morning comes, she does finally leave Frank's side but it's only a moment to get some food for the both of them. One of the natives had made some kind of stew. Rabbit maybe? Or some other unknown meat. Best not to think too hard on it. Placing a hand on Frank's shoulder, she doesn't look terribly surprised when he startles awake like he's expecting a fight. It's the weird expression on his face after that she's not quite as sure of. Once he's back to himself though she'll hold up the bowl of food for him, enticingly, eyebrows waggling. The smile is tentative. Hungry?]

[oorah]

[ when he's finally able to push past the vision and into the real world, he serves up a brave smile for her, though there's no mirth behind it. the last time he overslept, something terrible happened, but it's moot in a place like this, isn't it? terrible things happen either way. he hates most of all having no control over it, one way or the other.

frank slowly sits up, scrubbing a hand over his face and holding out his hand to accept the offering, mouthing Thanks as he takes the spoon from her too. it doesn't take him long to dig in, not having realized how hungry he was until just now. he won't pause until he's cleared most of the bowl. ]

[rockypath]

[Nothing terrible has happened while he slept as far as Faith knows. Not yet anyway. If anything shitty happens the rest of their journey it'll be while he's awake, if that's any sort of comfort.

She's eating too, shoveling the stew in her mouth as her eyes flick from scanning the camp and him. Something's up with him. But there's something up with everyone here, isn't there? If she were someone else and not dealing with her own bullshit, she might have asked or prodded him for answers- like a caring friend. But she's never been good at that. Both having friends. And talking about feelings. Once done eating, she moves to stand up brushing off her jumpsuit pants. They'll be moving again soon.]