[open] canon updates are rough

[interpolating]

WHO: elizabeth + you!
WHERE: Near the forest at first, then generally around town
WHEN: October, just before the event
WHAT: Elizabeth got a canon update, which means she had a bad time. So clearly, she needs a chill hang to come down off that
WARNINGS: Likely to have mentions/allusions to torture and murder. I'm not kidding, she had a real bad time!!

i. forest's edge

[ If you've been looking for Elizabeth, she's been nowhere to be found.

It's been three days at this point, and it might seem like she's one of the few to have left this place. Though if you've talked to Elizabeth about her home, that's probably a sadder prospect than it is a happy one. She's been clear that Columbia is the last place she wanted to go to if she left Chroma, and as it turns out, her worries were more than justified.

If you're hanging out near the forest, you might see someone coming out of its depths. At first, it might seem like someone new, because Elizabeth has had something of a makeover in her time away. Her long hair is cut short, and her silhouette is considerably different with her corset drawn tight to a tiny waist. But regardless of whether you know her or not, just by her posture as she emerges from the trees, it's fairly clear that she's in pain.

As she steps out of the shadows of the trees, it's a bit clearer why, since there are visible cuts and bruises on the skin that's exposed. Her eyes also look darker and sunken, as if she hasn't slept in quite a while. And to herself, before she notices you, she just looks towards the town and shakes her head. ]

I'm... back. Here. Why here?

[ Also, she's probably cold. Oddly enough, she's not wearing shoes. ]

ii. home (?) again

[ Once she's gone away from the forest, Elizabeth heads back into Chroma proper. You can encounter her as she's en route to her house (still very much shoeless), or after once she's found a pair. Though if it's after, she'll be idly wandering the town. Her posture is very much drawn in like she's protecting herself, and her gait is still a bit slow, since that massive bruise on her back is far from comfortable, and there's no need to run for her life here. But she almost doesn't believe that she's here. It's why she's wandering. It feels like if she just stumbles across the right thing, this will break, and she'll be right back in Columbia.

...She almost wants that, in a way. Being here when she'd so thoroughly decided to take matters with Comstock into her own hands feels wrong.

You're free to stop her if you know her, but even if you don't, she might just approach you, so long as you look open to a conversation. She tucks some hair behind her ear, then shrugs. ]

Sorry for interrupting. Can I ask— [ She starts, but she seems to just decide that she's going to ask regardless of that answer. ] Have you ever heard of someone leaving Chroma and then coming back?

iii. something else?

[ If you have a specific idea in mind for how your character might encounter Liz or just want to talk out something different, hit me up! As always, I'm flexible for wildcard options. ]