FOREST SEARCH [ closed ]

[swordfucker]

WHO: Everyone who signed up for this mini adventure here!
WHERE: The forest
WHEN: 8/12 Early Afternoon
WHAT: Everyone went missing on the 11th, and this is the first place that most people suspect. So, they're having a search! After all, the island isn't visible in the water, yet, and this is way too many people missing. Time for some adventures.
WARNINGS: Violence in certain groups! Let me know if your group has any other warnings to add as they come.

[I will be PMing each group with the information I received from the mods! I wanted to have the link to the log in the PM, so here's this first, but expect those group PMs shortly.

Please remember, if you have any questions from the scenarios, choose one person in your group as the go-to person to ask the mods questions, so they can keep track! Thank you! And please tag your characters into the log so I don't have to add all 17 tags thank you very much.

Remember, everyone enters as one group, but gets separated by the forest! For a recap and ease of access, here's the general overview of the forest that applies to everyone, from the mods:

---

To begin with, the usual forest disclaimers apply: it's entirely up to the characters how far they go and what they experience out of this entire scenario; we'll be outlining the entirety of it for each group, but if they decide to turn back at any point, that's perfectly fine.

The first thing they will notice when heading into the woods is that it feels as though there is some strange, uncanny whispering, but it is just too low for them to catch any words. Nonetheless, the deeper they head in, the more irritating it will get. It will also feel as though someone or something is watching them, though they will catch no glimpses of anyone in particular.

They can find animals out here! All of the animals out here are some sort of strange mutated creature, but will act like regular animals otherwise; for example, a deer with bat wings will still flee when they approach, whereas a bear will likely still attack, even if (or maybe especially if) it has the ability to breathe fire.

And, of course, each and every group will be split up by forest shenanigans; as soon as they step into the woods and walk, they will suddenly realize that there is nobody but their group beside them. There's no warning, nothing happens -- one minute they're with everyone, and the next, they're with their small group and nobody else. Uncanny!]

Comments

GROUP ONE: Noctis, Bruce & Giorno

[swordfucker]

[nascere]

[ It's unnerving when everyone else disappears around them in the forest -- but then again, Noctis is no stranger to the unnatural shenanigans of this place; hell, there are furniture that can talk, werewolves and all manner of strange goings-on that you'd think he'd be used to it by now. But he isn't, and the unintelligible whispers going on around them don't make things better.

He looks over at his companion, then, an unfamiliar new face, then towards the depths of the forest. The low buzzing in the back of his head is threatening to be a headache, and that's the last thing he needs when he's out looking for Ignis and Nyx, a cold dread settling in the pit of his stomach as the seconds wear on to minutes. ]

'm Noctis, by the way.

[ He offers, because might as well, right? There's only the two of them, and -- it feels like there's one more somewhere, because he can't shake the feeling that they might be followed, maybe? Or is that just a figment of his imagination? He doesn't really know.

But this situation keeps getting better and better. ]

[tropism]

Giorno.

[ he can feel it, too. his stand is telling him that there is someone else in here. he's not going to react to it right now because for all he knows, their situation might just be similar to theirs. in time, he thinks, if there is a need for a confrontation he's willing to have one.

he doesn't think he's seen noctis before in town or talked to him. what a weird name. giorno stares at the trees in the horizon, dark shadows blocking the light and making shapes out of nothing that shouldn't be there. it's good that he's not alone. ]

You're looking for people too, right?

Let's go and search for some time and then meet up with others in the town. [ a pause. ] I don't like the idea of being here for far too long.

[nascere]

[ GIORNO IS A WEIRDER NAME

Noctis nods, his jaw set. The stranger's guessed right -- he's looking for people he cares about, and the absence of Ignis and Nyx keeps him on edge. They're missing for some reason, and Noctis is starting to hate the things that this town comes up with. ]

They just disappeared, right?

[ He asks after a moment, sharing Giorno's sentiment when it comes to this forest. But they must be here, right? Where else can they be, that they've disappeared so suddenly? He pauses when the whispers seem louder, looking around, before he gestures in deeper. ]

C'mon, let's go here.

[tropism]

Yes.

[ and he follows. giorno is a city boy. he grew up by a port, sure, but he's lived in the city all his life. being in the forest ... it feels like one can get lost so easily in this sea of trees. giorno is a few steps away as he tries to look through the clearing for any clues, and he casually says, ] Do you go hiking often? Because I don't.

GROUP TWO: Phoenix, Yosano & Izuku

[swordfucker]

[thoushaltnotdie]

[ Yosano, being new to the tricks of the forest, is instantly put off when the rather large group she's with suddenly vanishes when they're in the thick of the forest. It was kind of funny, in a sense, since she was just thinking to herself that they could get more accomplished if they were split up. She never voiced this, since it wasn't important at the time and she saw the merits of having more people together.

Of course, she immediately notices that she's not alone, since the other two are merely a few feet in front of her. So, she saunters over to them quickly so they, too, don't mysteriously vanish on her. ]

Come on, guys. [ Well, she won't look a gift horse in the mouth. She doesn't even give them much of a choice to even consider going back to try and regroup or anything, putting her medical bag on her arm so she can push against their backs and urge them both forward to continue onward. ] We're here to look for the others, not dawdle here.

[heirofembers]

[Phoenix had been hesitant about putting himself out there to find he people who disappeared. Not accustomed to making social ties, he doesn’t know anyone particularly well—just a few by name—and the thought of having to fight whatever took them made him uneasy at best.

But Guren had reassured him that non fighters are just as important in rescue efforts as the ones who do, so he caved. And then the larger group disappeared and Phoenix stopped walking momentarily. He has never experienced the forest either.]

What?

[He’d barely opened his mouth when he starts being pushed forward.]

[inheritance]

[Noticeably, Izuku doesn't look at all surprised when the forest begins to cut each group off from the others, though he does look frustrated. His friends are missing. He doesn't have time for the forest's tricks.]

I guess there's no helping it. [He mumbles under his breath before straightening up and squaring his shoulders.] Wait, Yosano-san! Before we go further, we should be a little more familiar with each other's abilities. There's a really good chance we're going to run into something while we're looking in the forest. If we have to fight, we need to know what we're all capable of.

GROUP THREE: Minato, Yata & Kaoru

[swordfucker]

[messianic]

[He knows he probably shouldn't be doing this right now. Minato's felt the opposite of well lately, but he still feels okay--he mostly feels like he's come down with some sort of cold or something, his head stuffed full of cotton and his limbs heavy. It's fine, right...? So long as he can still summon his Persona, he can still help, and too many people are missing to back down now.

He can't even say he's surprised when the others disappear as easily as that; his teeth grit together, expression growing more serious, but ultimately he just takes a deep breath and looks at Kaoru and Yata.]

... Do you two want to keep going? It'll be riskier now.

[But... worth the risk? Maybe, if that's where their friends were kidnapped to.]

[queenofminiskirts]

[She's felt awful and, because colds could turn into a terrible problem, so she had run to Shiho. At least, she knew from that that this wasn't a cold.

She was frowning because the last time this happened she nearly got eaten by banshees but at the same time...]

I think we should keep going. I don't want to turn back if there's even a small chance they might be somewhere in the forest.

[skatebird]

[ Yata, too, is dwelling on the last time he went into the forest and how quickly things got out of hand back then. He's not really thrilled by the idea of continuing, but... ]

Yeah.

[ He agrees with Kaoru, even if he's far from buddying up to her. ]

... But if some weird old woman offers to tell your fortune, you should turn her down.

GROUP FOUR: Percy, Nanjo & Kyrie

[swordfucker]

[hydrokinetics]

[Forests usually don't bother him too much. This forest in particular isn't even the creepiest thing he's dealt with and it's easy enough to ignore the ominous, looming trees above him as he takes a step into the woods.

It's less easy to ignore the fact that literally everyone else seemingly vanishes and leaves him with two people he's not even really familiar with, giving him a moment's pause as he turns to face his two companions.]

...so show of hands, who wants to keep going and figure out what that's all about?

[crowsigliere]

Maybe the fact they've been split up is obvious to some folks, but Kyrie seems perfectly willing to keep walking, only pausing to turn once Percy decides to speak up.

"Eh? Why would we stop now?" He'd asked for a show of hands though, so he quickly sets to raising one over his head--which... hesitantly lowers as he notices their small group. He blinks, scanning the area with wide eyes. "Ah, where... did everyone go...?"

This trick would be old hat by now if he had his pendant, but for the moment, he seems genuinely concerned. They'd already lost a bunch of people, hadn't they? It can't be good if they're already losing more...

*slams in here let's do it*

[totheno1]

Considering the last time I went into the forest to search, and we ended up separated lead to piece of our bodies leaving...well best not to think too much about about honestly. [Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that but the situation did remind him of that.]

Let's keep going and hope for the best. I believe going back with nothing to show for it would be just as pointless. If we at least manage to finish what we started we can at least say we tried. However, it might be best if we discuss our powers and what we can do.

[But he doesn't stop walking as he speaks.]

I can summon spirits that can grant me various powers. If we are injured, I should be able to heal you.

GROUP FIVE: Okuni, Lupin & Guren

[swordfucker]

[osuni]

[Okuni can get pretty single-minded when it comes to things she's interested in, namely this fun and intrepid adventure into the forest, but even she notices when everyonE ELSE IN THE INITIAL GROUP is just -- not there alongside with them. Her eyes flick around in surprise, noticing that both Lupin and Guren are still there at least, but like what about everyone else? Did the forest just eAT EVERYONE?? Is she the only one who's just realized everyone is missing after the fact, or is that another 2spooky forest thing...

At least she doesn't scare anyone by screaming or grabbing someone in shock, small blessings... She already knows this forest is hella weird, but this is her first time so... She directs her gaze to the two who are lucky enough to remain with her, sounding as always more curious then alarmed.]

Is this a normal occurrence?

[a "this" referring to just about anything, but look... she needs to know. surely, guren and lupin understand what's going on here!!!]

[heartsteals]

[ up until this point, Lupin has been smart enough to not go into the forest like this. What's more, he's even been advising other people not to go in so that further stupid injuries and/or death can be avoided.

But here he is. It had to happen eventually. Too many people that are important to him have disappeared for him to ignore, and why wouldn't he suspect the forest, when it's been the apparent origin point of every other disaster that's happened here? He has his cane with him, and as many bombs and bluffs and whatever else as he can fit into his various hidden pockets. He'll find his friends - and, at the very least, he'll try damn hard not to incur the aforementioned stupid injuries. ]

From what I've heard? Yeah. [ he glances around - no one here but the three of them, apparently. He's a little nervous about suddenly losing sight of Minato, but he'll just have to have faith that he can take care of himself. ] We should stick close together. Miss Okuni, can you defend yourself at all?

[swordfucker]

[He'll go ahead and let Okuni answer that for herself, since he's busy looking around them, trying to find if there's some way to get back to the others— but there's no sign of them, no sense of them— it's as if they're just gone.]

Damn it.

[He pulls out a compass he'd brought back from his world, checking it before he glances back at the other two. Whatever came of that self defense conversation—]

They're all probably fine, but this forest has a mind of its own. It's likely that they're all split into groups like ours. The last time this happened, everyone had something different to deal with. It's dangerous. You could get hurt.

[He pockets the compass.]

If either of you want to go back, you should do it now. Otherwise, you'll follow my orders moving forward.

GROUP SIX: Dave & Gandharva

[swordfucker]

[ditherer]

[a knight of time and a king of water walk into a bar...

which is to say that gandharva—or ruva, as he's still going by—doesn't recognize the person he's stuck with. not too surprising in itself, considering he doesn't know too many people here (and thus, blissfully, is minimally affected by the separation from the kidnapped), so he'll roll with it.

still, the entire situation is concerning, particularly for someone who's never ventured into the woods like this before. he doesn't move forward just yet, instead glancing around, as if he could find everyone else by doing so.]

I do hope the others are all right...

[and by "others" he really mostly means the few he actually cares about, but no one needs to know that specific detail.]

Still, since we're here to find those who've gone missing, I guess that's what we should be focusing on.

[parodeity]

[ dave always tends to look a little stoic, but today he looks...less so. he's been running his hands through his hair and he seems genuinely worried though he introduced himself to "ruva" easily enough as "dave strider, sup". it's the little frown, the tension in how he stands. it's been a day since his best friend disappeared into the wind, taking with him everyone dave knew from home (his brother, jake too) and so many of the people he'd become friends with in chroma. keith's mia. ochako, damian. too many people are just not there.

the house is too quiet without john, and it feels monumentally unfair that dirk has vanished when things have been going so well with making themselves into some semblance of a family.

dave hates it. he takes comfort in the fact the sun locket he's wearing still has color and hasn't done anything strange. if it had to save john's life, it would be doing something. wouldn't it? and their forum names haven't been crossed out. so it's okay.

it has to be okay.

still, his voice is calm when he responds. ]

The woods did this bullshit last time, when we came in exploring. Split us up into neat little groups, and I had to play a game of chance with my shadow. Everyone else is probably okay...with any luck, one of the groups will find at least a clue about where all everyone got to.

[ with even more luck, it'll be them. dave starts forward, but he keeps to ruva's pace, automatically trying to stick to the person the woods shoved him off with. ]

So yeah, let's focus on what we can find. The others can handle themselves. You got any powers?

[ditherer]

[gandharva's not dragging himself along, at least, but yeah, shorter legs than dave, so thanks.

in response to dave's words, he hums, thoughtful. the idea of throwing multiple groups in hopes that even just one of them will find something? it's tad annoying, but he can't say he's not used to it. then again, that might be precisely why he finds it distasteful. he left that kind of life behind.

either way, there's not much of a choice in the matter. he needs to be "helpful", after all.]

Yes. They're mostly water and ice-based, though I can heal as well—myself and others.

[but he'd rather not show off his powers if he can help it, especially on the offensive end. while he's no longer pretending to be weak and helpless here, it's hard to shake off the paranoia of living in hiding for years. hopefully, this human (?) will be strong enough to take care of things.]

... I assume that if you're thinking to ask that, then you yourself have some.