into the woods

[parodeity]

WHO: Dave Strider & Keith. Keith like Madonna, there's just the one name that matters.
WHERE: the well --> the forest, because dumb teens
WHEN: Noon on the 18th onwards
WHAT: "yes we are going to have a nice chat and perhaps tea" several hours later "OH GOD WE WERE ATTACKED BY SHADOW MONSTERS AND WILL NEVER FEEL HUMAN WARMTH AGAIN" that seems to sum it up, so you know what.
WARNINGS: the aforementioned idiocy, dave is liable to swear, they don't even bother to have their gray food snacks probably

[ noon at the well, because it's the creepy easiest location to find and meet by (they need better landmarks) and then "away from the well, because yeah". this is the entirety of the plan they'd made the other day, although dave had mentioned tea they definitely don't have and meant water they do. spending time conversing with someone not yourself is probably better than wandering around an empty house ignoring the impulse to check your eyes, ignoring the knotted scars under your shirt. at least, dave figures that's probably the case? and keith is weird and kind of reminds him a little of a less talkative karkat, and has a cat mecha in another world, apparently. he might also be dead, too.

so keith's a good option for "let's be losers in the same vicinity and thereby be not so loser-y" and dave shows up with the painstaking punctuality of a time player at the well.

there's a certain deliberate carelessness involved in perching on the side of said well, but it's not like he has to worry about falling in. flight helps, there.

whenever keith shows up, dave lifts his left hand in an absent wave. ]

Yo. So, I didn't actually gather up any gray food or water for this, but we can go find some if you want?? Or we can like...attempt to be semi-useful and do some more explorations. There's that huge-ass forest, maybe there's a bush with berries on it somewhere. Not that I know the difference between poisonous berries and not poisonous ones, but I'm pretty sure someone here should know...or we could test it on an animal we plan to eat. Wait, shit, that sounds mean actually? Not that it'd matter in the long run if you were gonna eat the animal. Except if it died of poison I think then you wouldn't eat it and it'd be for like, no cause? I'm rambling, sorry, hey, how're you today.

Comments

[parodeity]

I'm not gonna just leave you! [ and there's something fierce about the way that he snaps that out, for a guy who isn't usually fierce. because he failed jade, didn't he, just before he died - and he's not going to let someone else die or be hurt by him not being there.

so he doesn't lift off, doesn't even really consider it, because the only option had been if he flew off with keith ]

[lonered]

[Keith curses under his breath. He doesn't want Dave sticking around and getting hurt because he can't handle himself. But they might both be in over their heads here. He makes his way over to where Dave is standing. Or tries.

Except one the shadows gets a hold of him, and it doesn't seem to have any trouble with its grip -- despite being completely unaffected by having a sword swung through it. Why is this his life.]

Get... off! [This is a problem.]

[parodeity]

Hang on - [ dave knows swords don't work but maybe at least - he tries to swipe at it to distract it, but then one of them touches him, and

dave hasn't felt this cold in ever. not even on lofaf. it's like ice seeping into his veins and he gasps, quietly, and tries to pull back. ]

[lonered]

[The chill is enough to stop Keith in his tracks. It feels like all the air is just sucked out of his lungs it's so cold, like every muscle in his body just tenses and locks up all at once.

He feels dizzy. This is not a good sign.

And he's already looking for Dave, ready to yell some warning but it's clearly too late. Damn it. His vision is swimming. This seems like a really disappointing way to die, out in the middle of the woods having his life sucked out of him by a shadow thing. ...and having dragged someone else with him. That's the worst part.]

[parodeity]

small>[ yep. this is the end.

and dave thinks that to himself, and thinks fuck, john and terezi will get so mad at him -

but the end, after life fizzles out in ice cold nothingness, actually continues.

to waking up blearily outside the forest again, on the ground. ]

[lonered]

[Not... dead. Keith is honestly surprise when he opens his eyes to find himself staring at. Well. Colorless grass and dirt and... he's a crumpled mess on the ground, isn't he? But he's up quickly because,]

Dave?

[Oh hey okay. He's there too. And breathing? ...they're out of the woods. What. In the hell. was that.] ...you okay?

alas small tags my ENEMY

[parodeity]

Never better, dude. [ this would be more believable if he didn't just let himself remain sprawled on his back, staring up at the grey sky from behind his shades. ]

What the actual fuck was that.

Re: alas small tags my ENEMY

[lonered]

I... I have no idea. But it was messed up.

[Super messed up. And Keith is still sitting. He feels like he got the wind knocked out of his lungs.]

...did it get a lot colder out here? [Or is it just him? It might be just him. Here goes the shivering starting up.]

[parodeity]

I think - no. I think it's us. [ he's looking at his own hand as he drags himself into a sitting position. dave kind of feels like he's on lofaf again, befre jade lit the forge, all the snow and ice around him.

but he's not. ]

When they - touched us, I felt cold, back then. You?

[lonered]

Yeah. I... think so. I was a little worried my life was flashing before my eyes. But yeah, really cold.

[Somehow even colder than he feels now which honestly doesn't seem like it ought to be possible. He shakes his head to clear it. A deep breath. Okay. Well. They're alive, so there's that.]

Why'd they let us go?

[parodeity]

...Maybe it was just a, uh, really dramatic way to say "hey, keep the fuck out"?

[ since...yeah. they could have been killed, but for some reason they weren't.

[lonered]

Yeah. Really dramatic.

[And look Keith is the guy who sets off explosions and shows up wearing a bandanna as a mask and kung-fuing people in rescue attempts. So he knows drama. And this is beyond even him.]

There's definitely something out there they don' t want us to find.

[There is no way in hell he doesn't go straight back out here at some point.] We should probably try to get back. Think you can make it?

[parodeity]

[ he hauls himself up to his feet, a little slower than usual but still surprisingly graceful. ]

...I think so. You need help up?

[lonered]

Nope, I've got it.

[Keith stands as well, wondering if it's really possible to feel like his blood has been replaced with ice water even with the suit he's wearing that is supposed to keep him temperate in fricken outer space.]

Been through worse before. ...I think.

[This sucks though.]

[parodeity]

Yeah? Like what? [ the whole dying thing he...assumes...because like DITTO... ]

[lonered]

The Trials...

[Is the first thing that comes to mind. That was... honestly the most beat up he can remember being and still standing. And he subjected himself to that willingly. Mostly.] But I survived that, somehow.

[And they let him join the club.] Wow did they suck though.

[parodeity]

...What were the Trials?

[lonered]

Uh... the Trials of Marmora. Basically this gauntlet where you just keep fighting more and more opponents to try to earn the right to awake your blade. And they're all Galra, which means they're big. And strong. The whole group's slogan is "knowledge or death" and then they start messing with your mind on top of everything. And if you pass, your blade responds.

[He draws out his dagger now, holding it up as in a flash of purple it changes into the long, curved sword form.] So... I passed.

[parodeity]

"Knowledge or death" sounds like the catchphrase of a really intense group of librarians.

[ but, huh. ]

...That's pretty impressive. Our version of a "trial" to go godtier involved less...choice, I guess.

[lonered]

Sort of like that. But huge and heavily armed and intensely secretive. And really purple.

[But yeah basically librarians.]

Less choice? What do you mean? What was it?

[He's being nosy. But at least he's acknowledging that to himself.]

[parodeity]

[ hm. dave doesn't really mind explaining, but he does know it'd give away what had happened to vriska and john at least once, too.

still...

keith probably won't spread it around. and it's just a fact. ]

You can't hit godtier without dying at least once.

[lonered]

[Keith isn't the type to talk about other people's business -- unless said business is going to cause some terrible trouble. But this isn't that.]

At least once.

So, uh... don't most people only get the once?

[parodeity]

Yeah, normally. There were...mechanics in play to make death not quite so permanent if you died in very specific ways. Like. There were ways to come back. The last time I did there wasn't any of those ways backing me up, but.

[lonered]

Huh. That sounds... complicated. Really complicated. Is this something normal where you're from? Or did you wind up in something pretty unique?

[Because Keith sure gets how that works out. Most people on Earth where he's from stay the hell on Earth and know nothing about aliens and wars and Voltron.]

So... death only has loopholes sometimes.

[parodeity]

It's normal for Sburb players. But uh, yeah. Normally you have one backup life if it kicks in, if you're a player - a dream self you can flip to if another player activates it in time. [ via corpse smooching ] The other loophole is for god tier players. We're conditionally immortal - that is, I was. You only die for good if your death is ruled "just" or "heroic".