Event Sixteen.

[awashmods]

Pity the poor step-sister those big feet she’ll never stuff in a size-six sonnet, her flesh so fulsome the slipper seems effete, unworthy of the labor spent on it.

t's yet another day in which a bunch of characters ended up in the bottom of the well. That sucks. Of course, when you get up and start heading over to see if they're getting out of the well okay... you might find that it's a lot harder than expected. Thanks to that new ball gown, or the rags you've been put in, or your new coat of fur, or the puppets, trying to drag you right into a totally different adventure. You're the one starring in a fairy tale now, and it's not an easy life to live. It's just a little distracting, probably. But don't forget the poor newbies at the bottom of the well, standing in freezing cold water (and don't worry, the puppets will go down into the well to grab you too). Welcome to Awash's sixteenth event log, everyone! Further information on this event can be found here at the OOC post. You are welcome to make your own logs and posts for this event! If there are any questions, please ask them here. Thank you!

Comments

[shizun]

I. Bottom of a Well. WTF.

[ To say that Shen Qingqiu was confused was an understatement. His expression, however, does not show his same baffled confusion as he looks around at the myriad of people surrounding him. Excuse me? Who the fuck are you? He doesn't recall being hit by any spell to knock him out -- also, what demon knocks a person out only to put them in knee-deep water at the bottom of a well? This is a well, yes. Great deduction, me! Explains JACK. SHIT.

Holy shit! It is fucking cold! He does, at least, notice that there are rope and ladders to allow a means to get out of said well. Which means that people have fallen down here before. His words come out slowly in his head as he pauses to note that a lot of these people are not like the other. Excuse me? Hey. You. Where are you from? Are you sure you're in the right story? That's right, there were some people that were dressed fairly modern.

Seriously. What the fuck. He would like to ask the system what exactly is going on, but he doesn't have the time to do so. Rather, he does, but he decides that's hardly pressing business when he looks back up to their "exit." Something unhuman is crawling down the ropes. IT'S CRAWLING DOWN! IT'S CRAWLING DOWN! WHAT DOES THIS THINK THIS IS?! THIS ISN'T A PARTY! DON'T COME JOINING US WITHOUT AN INVITATION, OKAY!? ]

We have company. [ His tone calm and in control. He makes a gesture with his hand to summon his sword, but -- No?! NO?! Did I not pack it?! Isn't that a rookie mistake! ROOKIE MISTAKE! ROOKIE. MISTAKE! Right. No use crying over spilled milk, or missing swords. He instead attempts to summon energy into his hand instead. ]

Stay behind me.[ He doesn't know any of these people, but like Hell, he is gonna have it on his conscience that he let some creatures touch them! ]

II. Out of the Well. Into a Town.

[ Wringing out his Peak Lord robes is something that he would like to do, but there is no elegant way to do it. It's hiking up one's clothes and showing off too much leg to be considered poised and graceful. Nor is it very tasteful to violently shake his leg as a means to remove the water from his person by force. So instead, he has to stand in his partially wet clothes. What the fuck is going on.

Time to get some answers. ]

III. Uh, hello, roommate. [ closed to asano_san ]

[ None of this makes any sense to Shen Qingqiu. Airplane-bro, how is it that I ended up in some AU fanfiction that you wrote?! An isekei featuring the scummiest of the scum, Shen Qingqiu?! Are you perfectly all right?! Shouldn't this be where Bing-ge comes in and papapapa lots of girls from different dimensions and expands his harem of over three-thousand?! Why is he here?! What did you do! Why didn't you warn me?!

But he doesn't think the last part is really fair to blame on him. It isn't like Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky could warn him about this! If this was some secondary story that he worked on a whim, how was Airplane-bro to know that Shen Qingqiu would be dragged into it while Bing-ge is where he is! Because who cares what a scum villain is up, right?

He looks around his new abode -- kind of surprised that he even has an abode to begin with. There is a laptop and he's very tempted to mess around with it, but he isn't sure how! This isn't a situation where I can just jump onto it and be like, 'Oh yes, I'm very well-versed in this technology!' That's breaking the fourth-wall here! Completely! Utterly! It's demolished! I can't just touch it like I normally would. Even I know some things have time and places and set-ups! But I really want to see if it has the Internet! ]

All of this is still very new to me, but I appreciate you allowing me to join you in this house, Keigo Asano. [ He brings his hands together show of respect to him. Let's start with that. As always, his expression does not betray his inner screaming. ]

IV. Wildcard.

[ The fairytale options got its own log! But wildcard for Shizun. Hit me up on saltandburn or PM if you got any ideas. ]

III

[asano_san]

[More than anything, Keigo is happy to have a roommate again. He's come to learn that Roxas and Kei slipping away with no warning was just a thing that happened sometimes, but he hasn't been able to completely avoid passing thoughts along the lines of, "He was so annoyed with me, he found a way out of Chroma just to get away from me!"

As a secondary concern, he's happy they had moved his dragon to the cave before he got that new roommate.

The past month has been strange.

Keigo bows in return. It feels stiff, like he's out of practice, what with the mix of people here and a lack of real authority figures. Really, it started from the moment of his arrival. It was hard to remember to be polite when he was dumped in a well in another world.

Thinking back only fuels his resolve to help Shen Qingiu adjust.]

It's no problem! Let your more experienced roommate help you with anything you need to know!

[shizun]

Well, there is one thing I'm curious about ...

[ That laptop. That laptop. No, I don't want it to be explained to me! I know how to use it! Will there be upset in people's hearts in seeing me not ask? Can I pretend to just be stuffy so I don't have to pretend I know nothing?! I just want to surf the web!

But... ]

... Keigo Asano, I have noticed that ... there is little color here. [ When I first came here, I thought the grey color was due to the fact we were in a dark well. Yet when we exited, I saw that there were patches of discoloration everywhere. What the fuck is up with that? ]

I may have apparently found where I am to stay, but this place is still very mysterious to me. [ I want to crawl in my bed and go to sleep. Hello, goodbye, weird day. See you later!! But he is also a little surprised -- he is talking to someone from Japan and he's from China, yet he understands him perfectly. Universal translator? How? I don't get it. But I assume that it's the System automatically translating. In hibernation mode or not, I appreciate this feature a lot. Five stars. ]

What it is that you can tell me about this place?

[asano_san]

[Oh good, an easy question.

That is impossible to answer because where does he start?]

This town is called Chroma. I wasn't here when it happened, but I heard we voted on it. It didn't have a name because there weren't any people living here until we started showing up in the well. Or maybe there were but a long, long time ago.

[That phrasing reminds him of something he could mention and pulls him slightly off track.]

A lot of things have to do with fairy tales!

[Oh, Shen Qingiu mentioned the lack of color. He might as well bring that up, too.]

We're trying to bring back the colors. Sometimes we don't bring back the right colors. There are blue geese out there! And someone gave me a jar of blue cinnamon once!

[Yes, key points.]

[shizun]

Chroma, huh?

[ Are you fucking serious? Well, that's definitely the kind of name that Airplane-bro would come up with! He doesn't quite sigh but nods in an understanding way. Well, it's the kind of name that grows on you, anyway. At least, they didn't name it Lacking Color Ville. Heh-heh. ]

Perhaps? A well and a town does not come from nothing. But it is mysterious that it was suddenly abandoned. [ Even with the amount of people in it, it still feels like an empty place. Spooky. Can we really call it a town? Isn't this a village? He feels like he is splitting hairs so he lets that one go. ]

... that is quite odd, too. Do we know why the colors are getting [ Messed the fuck up? ] distorted?

[asano_san]

[Keigo has no idea. Shen Qingiu is asking the wrong Chroma citizen for serious theorizing.]

It might have something to do with us having colors. Like we're blue because we were assigned to houses in Bluo. Then there's red and yellow.

After a while, your color on the forum-

[Keigo stops himself. Considering his clothes, unless he's a cosplayer, he'll have no idea what he's about to explain. Time to back up.]

You see, we have these things called laptops. They're like...books, but electronic. Er...magic! And you can write inside them.

II

[noholdsbard]

[ Well Tristan’s getting a whole world of leg anyway—and very suddenly, as everything goes dark all around him at that moment. Being suddenly thumb-sized is a strange and exciting new experience, as it turns out!

It is then that he pipes up from somewhere within the vicinity of Qingqiu’s ankles— ]

Excuse me, but you’ve nearly stepped on me. [ Honestly, he’s surprised that he isn’t squashed straightaway given his luck, but maybe it’s for the best…he might accidentally punch a Tristan-shaped hole in Qingqiu’s poor wet feet. ]

[shizun]

[ It would also not be dignified to hike up one's robes screaming, "Who said that?!" Like some dainty housewife from an old cartoon that saw a mouse. But in his heart, his robes are hiked and his leg is lifted and panic is vibrating wildly in his chest. ]

Oh. I see. [ He kneels down and attempts to not flinch at having his cold, wet clothes touch the cold ground. ] It seems you are in a dangerous position. May I?

[ WHAT THE EVER LOVING FUCK IS GOING ON? He holds his hand out for the tiny man to climb up on it. HELLO?? WHAT? Just what?! ]

[noholdsbard]

You have my apologies for troubling you like this. [ Seeing as how he’s got nothing better to do but to climb onto the palms of strangers at the moment. At any rate, Qingqiu does not strike him as being anyone particularly threatening. Up close, Qingqiu might notice that Tristan is in decidedly strange garb—with fine clothes sewn from cobweb and thistledown, and a small oak leaf perched upon his red hair like a hat.

Tristan, for his part, regards this newcomer curiously. Another one from the Orient, and quite a dignified and levelheaded man to boot! ]

Though I am happy to note that you do not seem entirely surprised by this. [ For a newcomer, anyway. So cool, Qingqiu!! ]

[shizun]

It is no problem. [ With his other hand, holding his fan, he lightly waves off the apology. Let's see? Is this like Gulliver's Travels? No, all the other buildings look to be the same size so guess not. So what the fuck?

His gaze settles on the clothes. You got me. I am stumped. I got no fucking idea what is going on right now. Within his thoughts, he hears a single Shen Qingqiu -- himself -- slowly clapping. Clap, clap, clap. Bravo. Bra-fucking-vo. ]

This matter is ... [ He smiles, warmly. Almost apologetic. ] ... a small one. Nothing that cannot be handled when two people put their heads together. [ Ahahaha! A small one!! A small one! That is good!! ]

[noholdsbard]

Hahaha, yes, a small one indeed. [ For the town, anyway. Granted, outright transforming him like this is a bit alarming, but under the circumstances, he’s not rendered totally powerless by it. ]

It is, in fact, a trivial enough matter that we can disregard it for the moment. [ Although Qingqui has that wise, sagely air about him…nah, he shouldn’t risk it. Foreign magic is hard enough without the town muddling everything up for seemingly the fun of it. ]

You seem to have just arrived. [ The sogginess kind of clued him in. ] Perhaps I can direct you to my home, where you can dry yourself off by a warm fire.

II

[troubadamsel]

[Well, a wet man standing in the middle of nowhere is going to get some stares. Eventually Maribelle shakes her head, and walks towards him.]

You'll catch your death of cold like that. My home has a fireplace, if you want to rest a while.

[shizun]

[ The look he gives her is passive, almost peaceful. Yet he feels within his heart eyes overflowing with tears and snot running down his nose. Thank you. Thank you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

He brings his hands together and bows low. ]

I am in your debt. [ Lifting his head, he makes a small gesture. ] I will follow your lead.

[troubadamsel]

[She merely waves a dismissive hand and begins to walk, so he can follow.]

Don't worry about it. This is such a common occurrence that it was only a matter of time before someone made a similar offer.

[shizun]

A common occurrence? [ Say what?! What sort of plotline are you writing, Airplane-bro. This is the sort of thing that should be like ... once-in-a-lifetime happening! It shouldn't be so common that people are already just accepting of it! ]

Is there any reason for it? [ His head drops just a little. But even if I ask, it's a problem for a golden-halo protagonist to handle. ]

[troubadamsel]

The short version... how best to put it...

Everyone here has been unwillingly taken from their realms and placed here to restore to the town to its former glory.

ii.

[ganbattetsu]

Hey, you're gonna get acold just standing there!

[ without even asking or providing any answers, tetora is taking him by the arm and taking him to somewhere warm and indoors. ]

[shizun]

[ Whoa, whoa, whoa!

He's a little surprised to suddenly have his arm taken and being dragged somewhere. Hello?? But he supposes that it's better than staring out to the town and attempting to figure out what the fuck he is going to do. ]

I apologize for the inconvenience. Though, where are we going?

[ganbattetsu]

Someplace warm, of course!

[ As for such a place, let's go with... The library! It's public, quiet, and nerdy! Er, it's a good place when your smart or not smart. Shizun surely is one of the two. ]

You're new too, right? You looked kinda lost out there.

[shizun]

Of course.

[ An easy agreement! He pauses to look toward the library that they're going toward. Hm!! This place is ... more modern than what I initially thought! (Also! Very rude!! Shizun is the smartest!!) ]

I am also new, yes. I was merely attempting to get my bearings, but I thank you for being willing to help those that just arrived like myself. [ What a nice welcoming party! I can't really complain about it! ]

And your name is? [ If I don't ask now, I may end up not asking it until later! I'm already getting pulled along that I might get pulled along through the conversation without realizing it!! ]

[ganbattetsu]

[ Tetora is not too smart, so it's fine, shizun can be the smartest!!! There are lot of books in here, obviously... Maybe they could be helpful, but for now, they need to have valuable introductions! For less awkward and being dragged along. ]

Tetora! Tetora Nagumo. It's no problem, even if I'm not sure what's going on, it ain't bad to help. Mm, sorry pulling on ya though... That is probably impolite.

[ Yeah, he realizes that now. ]

II

[good_ideas]

[That is neither dignified nor a particularly good way to remove all that water from his person and Shiho is here to Judge.]

....Are you a dog or something?

[shizun]

[ Fuck. Someone saw me. ]

This teacher is sorry that you had to see such a display.

[ What can I say?! I don't want to walk around with wet robes either!! ]

But no, I am no dog. Only a little cold and wet.

[good_ideas]

[...."this teacher"?]

You should be sorry. [No mercy.]

Why don't you go into someone's house and borrow some clothes?

[shizun]

[ Such roasting! ]

I hope you mean to say, "why do I not go ask someone if I may borrow their clothes?" The former sounds like you are suggesting that I steal.

[ He decides to lightly tease her. ]