⇨ CAMPING GROUNDS

[ringleaders]

Who: Everybody!
When: Day 64
Where: The Camping Grounds
What: While the Ringmaster attempts to purge the carnival of magical tracing spells and deal with the angry fire fae in her belly, everyone else is getting sent on an emergency camping trip with some unusual local fauna.
Warnings: Camping.

CRYPTIC CAMPGROUNDS↴ You're given about three hours to prepare, after the Ringmaster tells you her plans for the coming week. There is a vast selection of camping equipment at your disposal, and the means to take along enough food for the length of the stay. The wilderness of the planet you're left on is nearly idyllic, but some people just don't like the great outdoors. ► CRYPTOZOOLOGY: As it turns out, the carnival won't be alone here. There is a varied ecosystem of cryptids to be found as well, living in relative peace and mostly reacting to the newcomers with curiousity. More details can be found on the plotting post. You are free to NPC the cryptids as much as you need to, as long as you stick to the behaviours described. ► DREAMSHARING: There is a player plot going on which will allow characters to share dreams! These are specifically more dreams than nightmares, and the mushi-adept characters will be here to help. ► CHILLAX: There isn't any plot twist for this setting, so this is mostly an opportunity to decompress from the last plot and get ready for the future. The Ringmaster will show up occasionally to help with needed medical treatments and check on things, but won't stick around for long.

Comments

[prazerbutterfly]

And just like that, as Allen often did, the teasing moment is over. 9S adds clarity, concise attentiveness, and a picture perfect example of something dull. It's in that moment his grin faces to the normal cheerful one and he looks away out towards the water again.

"So just a companion, hmm? Sounds like a missed opportunity." Not that he gets that 9S will understand what he means. "Assigned and not chosen. I imagine a torn battlefield with all your comrades dead and then some striking young man comes in to assist you would be means enough to at least want him around. At least for company." Unless of course she was that type of woman that preferred to be alone.

The rod tugs hard all of a sudden and his shoulders square against the boat, his heel bracing on the other side and he pulls up gently with a wind of the wheel. It's a delicate dance of pull and tug, freedom and release. He baits the fish, letting it tire itself out before reeling hard. "But I'm not judging."

[prazerbutterfly]

[Oho, so Rhys did have a pair that he could pull out when he wanted to. Funnily enough, it does in fact shut Tyki up and he listens without question as the pup turns serious.

His hands lift in quiet surrender, one clutching a dead jackalope, and he lets Rhys proceed inwards. Sure, sure. Go ahead, pup.]

[prazerbutterfly]

"I'll try not to win too quickly then in that case," he bolsters his own ego in saying. Just look at the way he leans back on the branch without actually tipping over. He takes a delicate sip of his wine and grins around the glass. He could go with a better challenge given he's never truly allowed to unleash, not even around fae.

"I've always preferred face to face contact over a bountiful crowd. So yes, a nice and quiet drink between two is always welcomed."

[seniorvicejanitor]

( don't call him pup, he's not a pup.

he's kind of a pup. and he's even more of a pup when he takes off after the animal and his foot catches a raised root as he runs. he goes flying, screaming as he does and ending up in a heap of limbs and leaves.

the animal scatters.

crap. )

[whattaprick]

Yeah? Might be part of his training or something. [ Lambert shrugs, easily. He's not necessarily up to speed on whatever Childermass is teaching Baker, but yeah.

Also, donkey ears are definitely the best, and Butcher happily takes the vegetable and makes quick work of one, while Lambert snorts. ]

Maybe we should have named him Piglet, instead. [ He straightens, cocking his head at Rin. ]

I heard another person from your world showed up. Seems like a nice kid.

[kingsroads]

Shura has a point. Strange frowns for a little bit, actually thinking through what other things they could use to wager with. They don't have booze, secrets are out...the idea of just playing the game to play the game and not wager anything doesn't really enter Strange's mind.

"Do you have any suggestions?" he asks, still thinking to himself.

[whattaprick]

It was definitely a good dream, but Lambert's pretty sure he and Yuya aren't thinking about the same definition of good here. He rubs at his jaw, stubble rasping over his fingers as he nods.

"That's where he lived, in Portland. He was a changeling, so..." He trails off, shrugging, not sure if Yuya will understand the implications and not sure it's his place to tell, anyway. But more importantly--

"That was Gon?"

[hippocarnival]

Yuya picks up on it, mostly because he remembers the state of a lot of changelings that he helped during the month they were there. They really didn't have it easy.

He laughs. "I told you, what he looks like now isn't how he really is!" Not that Gongenzaka doesn't still have the size and bulk that's unreasonable for a 14 year old, and would be easily taken as an adult. But he's not a 9 foot tall taur beast, at least.

"That's all changes from being with the carnival."

[whattaprick]

"But this needs much less imagination," Lambert answers with no remorse, settling back on his haunches with a fluidity he only wishes he had in real life right now -- not that it's on his mind. The memory of injury and pain is distant right now ... as is the changes from the Carnival. The Lambert here is Lambert looking more like he did when Scout first met him, bereft of horns and tail and baseline human except for his eyes.

"Are you really just going to sit here?"

[kingsroads]

"Then we should head back," Strange says, as if this is the most obvious thing in the world. "And—" but before he can finish the sentence, he catches himself in a wide yawn. Strange looks a little embarrassed as he continues. "And probably get a little rest as well."

After all, it's late to begin with and only getting later. And though he won't admit it, doing an impressive feat of magic like trapping a tree in a reflection has made Strange a little bit tired.

[kingsroads]

"It was even stranger when it happened," Strange remarks, with a wry little smile. "A man sold me my first two spells and told me I was a magician. I cast the first one as a dare to my wife to prove I could. Truth be told, I didn't expect it to work at all!"

Casting his first spell was Strange mostly humoring Arabella, a little bit of levity to make fun of the fact that this odd homeless man told him he was a magician. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect the spell to actually work.

[prazerbutterfly]

[Okay, Tyki did his best to play along but the escaping laughter that resounds through the forest does little for Rhys' pride. He can't stop the way it barks out and he feels a lot better now that he's had a good laugh.]

You can stop now. I'll catch my own dinner. I think that's enough for a show.

[seniorvicejanitor]

You're a terrible person and I hate you.

( plus, he was covered in dirt and leaves and he just hated everything. )

Where's the other thing I caught? I'm having it for dinner. And I'm not sharing.

[bananaspeedrider]

"Uh... well it's kinda complicated. Zarc's plan depended on all of his pieces becoming one."

And then another awkward beat passes. "So. I guess you could sort of say I got eaten." he finally adds. Which would probably bring the Ringmaster's tendencies to mind.

[wild_magic]

Sold him spells? So like wizard spells, he figures, something written down you could do if you read it. It's still funny to think about, just accidentally casting magic without even knowing magic existed or that you could, and he laughs at the idea.

"That must have been really funny! You never even saw magic before, and then you just did it all on your own? Was everyone really surprised?"

[exaomori]

A man so obvious and open that he won't even try to deny the fact that he had no secrets. Shura has to laugh.

"Mm, this place makes it rough! We might hafta to do something easy--whoever loses owes the winner a favor. Borin', but it's better than nothin'." Playing a game just to have fun? who does that?

[bananaspeedrider]

"Hm well maybe..." Yugo looks in thought while settling on a another set of pages that aren't too heavily disturbing.

"You could snap some pictures of these pictures for yourself? Maybe there's someone else that can help you figure these out."

[exaomori]

"My~ It almost sounds like I have no chance!" But there's no denying it, he looks good like that, all cool and confident. It's probably for the best that their connection would be temporary, otherwise he might cause some trouble for Shura. Her gaze lingers on him, trying to figure out just how he was managing to balance his weight on the branch like that. Or maybe she's just really enjoying the wine? Well, she'll probably need to get the bottle in a moment to fill his glass.

"If that's the kind of thing you like, then maybe we should make a wager on our little spar. Whoever loses has to treat the winner to somethin' special. 'Course, ain't much that's nice out here, but whenever we get the chance."

[prazerbutterfly]

"Yes, a good idea. You look like you can use a good rest. You've been through a lot lately," and a peace of mind could do him some good. He won't let Strange burn the tent down either so at least for one night he wouldn't have to worry about that.

Once on the shoreline he'll unwrap the tentacle from around Strange's waist and will keep the other steady so he can step off of it. There's one use of his power to choose that he hasn't used yet in all of carnival, not even to test it out. It's a danger and there is no way to use it without someone dying from it if caught in its path. From what he's seen, large uses of power like that drain energy quickly. "Let's put you to bed."

[dressedtothe]

What is happening.

"Of course I am!" It comes out indignant.

He's wide awake, unlike her. And his systems are fine and not corrupted, so that's fine. He's not imagining things, his memory data clearly shows the sun being in a completely different location and the village not being here when he arrived.

"I'm not the one who's sleeping."

[dressedtothe]

Meh. 9S is quite dismissive of the offer. Strange is the magic guy, not him. If Strange's magic were more like Rita's, based on a form of technology, then maybe he would be more interested.

Moving on!

"Anyway, the real test is seeing if I can break mind control over someone." His hacking technique still needs work, but that's something that can be improved with more practice. But it he can't do what he set out to use the ability for, then that's a whole lot of effort for less than what he'd like. "You think Lambert will give us a hand?"

[dressedtothe]

Hah! When has words ever worked on someone who's raised a weapon against him? Never, that's when. And it especially won't work with unfetterred mind control factored in.

Well, with that vote of permission, 9S gets to work immediately. Without even a word of warning or allowing Papyrus time to prepare himself, 9S raises his hand, a glowing ring of light encircling his wrist, and fires what appears to be a ball of energy -- moving so fast it almost seems to be a beam -- at Papyrus. There will be no physical pain at the intrusion as 9S hacks in and throws his consciousness inside of Papyrus' mind.

Typically on a hack against a machine, he'll come up against their defenses, but their memories -- either those deeply rooted in their being, or ones that are currently on their mind -- typically float to the surface. Echoes of words, more than images, tend to be more powerfully rooted in the psyche, so thus that's the form memories usually take.

[dressedtothe]

No... it wasn't like that at all. 9S knows it wasn't. But he also wonders... if 2B cared for him -- the him who met her during the mission to take out the goliath class machine -- or cared for him because of his previous models.

9S watches Tyki fight with the fish intently, trying to focus all his interest in observing his fishing technique. But even then, he can't quite keep the flatness out of his response.

"Us androids... we didn't have a choice. Orders were orders."

[spaghettimonster]

That's precisely why mind control is so frightening to Papyrus. Normally people can choose to stop fighting. They usually don't, because they're scared or they really believe in whatever made them start, but they can - especially when love and friendship are on the line. He's stubbornly sure that anyone can choose not to kill, can choose to be a positive influence on others, can choose to be a better person, if they try. Experiences with fae have at least convinced him that yes, some people have a very, very hard time of it, and would need a lot of help in figuring out what a good person is... But if the Ringmaster can do it, any of them could. Eventually. If they tried.

But mind control shuts down peoples' ability to try, at all. No power to choose, to work hard at anything but what they're made to want. Even if it's not as scary as his time in the void... There's a helplessness to it all.

Papyrus stiffens at the light like he expects it to hurt, as it looks almost like a blast, but there's no pain to the light, and he frowns as he tries to notice what 9S is doing.

Given the context of what they're doing and why Papyrus is (willingly) doing it, the first things on his mind have to do with mind control. "Please don't do this," gently and broken, denying without any real heat or belief behind it. "But I was on my own," "you want to go back! Where, you'll get hurt you even more?"

But more generally, more deeply, there's the patterns of who he is. Echoing laughter - practiced laughter, "Nyeh heh heh" and other positive statements repeated like mantras to convince himself to believe in them. A static of garbled words, distorted and fading in and out, out which abruptly rises "You didn't even know he was gone."

[anti_nonsense]

"Sleeping?" Rita gives him an incredulous look. "What are you talking about!?"

She looks past him, out at the village, and for the first time, she realizes she doesn't know how they got here. Her head whips around behind her, as if to confirm. Is this Halure? It's not quite right, and she shouldn't be able to get here in the first place. The world around them shudders under the new application of logic, and Rita turns back to face 9S with a look of revelation.

"This is a dream--"

She wakes up. In an instant, the dream world simply vanishes, and her eyes flutter open.