⇨ 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

FIRST HALF OF EVENT | OTA

[betheman]

[Check it Twice | Camp Trip START]

"Hhhhmmmnnnn..." Gongenzaka has a rather lengthy list in his hands. "...Tent?"

"Grn!"

"Candles?"

"Grn!"

"Fire kit?" he continues down the list, absently checking himself for the crown of flames.

"Gan! GrrrrrAN RAN RAN RAN-!" The man jolts as his Granbull abruptly breaks into irritated barking, following her attentions and flinching.

"AUH-! NO, NOT FOR YOU-!" It is not Suzu, that Gongenzaka is scolding. What he scolds is certainly about as tall as her, however. It stands on awkward, digitigrade bird legs, with the body and head of what is most absolutely a scaled up crow. The rest of it, however, is scaled- long, long tail, and now flightless bat-like wings due to its own weight, the thing appears to be a cockatrice.

If a cockatrice was, well. A crow. "KrrRRR~" the thing trills, attempting to take apart a set of shiny pots. It is easily pulled away by its new owner.

"No-! There shall be no stealing..!!"

His camping trip, most certainly, is not going to be easy.

[How to Catch A Furry Trout | Mid-day, Various Days]

Out on the water, Gongenzaka has a certain advantage for sleeping. Being able to walk right out there and sit, he can simply carry his line and tackle and get ready- and he does, in fact, know enough about fishing to catch his meal. Curious members of the loch-pod croon and visit, but otherwise leave him alone as he appears to scowl at his back. "HrrMrmnn..."

The reason why is relatively clear when he holds part of his fishing line. Which has been chewed through. The offending chipmunk stares, impassive. "...You did this, didn't you," he grumbles, the chipmunk chattering back. He sighs, carefully removing the hook from the severed line so he can re-assemble it all, handing the piece of string back to the chipmunk. "While I, the man Gongenzaka, understand this is no longer harmful for you, I would prefer you not eat my things..." he mutters, as if it could even understand.

Well. Hook and bait re-applied, he closes the tackle box to set back upon his back and stands. "Hmmn-! Saah, let us catch our meal..!" And the line is flung-!

Hopefully nothing hits you.

[Make a SPLASH | Day OR Evening]

"HRRRAAAAOOOOO-!"

SPROSH-!

Gongenzaka may not be the one most associated with letting loose and having some fun, but at some point while camping, he's convinced to do just that. The canonball formed jumping into the water might as well be a small meteor- after making certain he wasn't carrying anything that would do poorly in the water however, he wasted no time launching off an outcropping of rock to create a massive pillar of displaced water.

"Phrrr!" Of course, making nothing but canonballs is ridiculous, and Gongenzaka gives a slight dog-shake as he swims a bit. Swimming is not something he's done often, at least not in the last number of months. Typically, he'd be walking upon it after all, lost in meditation. Occasionally that still happens while on the trip, in fact- the sea creatures of the lake and even various mothmen are drawn with curiousity in the evening hours, as his aura causes a pale ice blue glow to emenate off his form above the water.

During the day however, it's play time- and if anyone is a bit unlucky when he comes back...

"PfffFFFRRRR-" Well, no amount of 'steadfastness' can resist partway turning into a turbine in order to shake free as much excess water as possible.

Flexibility means it's Worse, for that matter.

[RUNNING THROUGH YOUR DREAMS... | Evening D67/68]

While it is not all he dreams about, he dreams at least once, of being Small again. It was a strange experience, his time in Wismuth- and while a few nightmares had been focused on how much better or worse things would have gone if he was a foot tall again, the night he dreams about it with a tent covered in strange white things goes quite different.

He is running through the flowers in the Summerlands again- a dream that's happened a lot after rather awkwardly refusing to tell Yuuya about what he was so embarassed about in the Summerlands in the first place. But where the tall grasses and flowers had been so massive that they came up to his elbow there, this is not the case for him now.

No, Dream!Gongenzaka is tiny and small and squeaky, and therefore stuck carving a trail that he jumps out from occasionally. And occasionally-

"Hrpp-!" There is a sudden, shocked squeak, as he encounters something (or someone) unexpected in the process.

[WILDCARD]

[All of Gongenzaka's activity for now (like Carly) will take place in the first half of the Camping Trip; so up until the Dream Plot end. While he'll potentially try and patrol around a bit, he'll be mostly convinced to actually relax and enjoy himself (A struggle, I know,)- so hit me up for plotting!]

Wildcard Dreaming

[hippocarnival]

Warnings and mushi sightings were heeded by Yuya, but not enough to actually dodge the infection. Were he a more lucid dreamer, he'd probably recognize the way things change as he wanders straight into Gongenzaka's dream.

But he's not. He doesn't think twice as he walks up the steps, following the lanterns in the dark to the festival. Because that's what he's sure it is, because his usual t-shirt and baggy pants are exchanged for a white and red yukata. All of the ways the carnival changed him seem to have disappeared, and immediately he's just home.

[betheman]

Home has never looked better- though some of the patrons appear to be more monstrous than not. More than a few Superheavy Samurai can be spotted wearing curiously fitting hakama-

Gongenzaka himself is among them, hooves and paws neatly at rest on the ground as he struggles to catch a goldfish. "Hmnhhh..." He is well focused...well focused...he just needs to act perfectly to catch the fish and not break the pon....

[hippocarnival]

There's Gongenzaka--Yuya was probably supposed to meet him and Yuzu here, right? But Yuzu isn't here, maybe he came with his mom...

The mental scramble to remember what happened moments before is forgotten as Yuya carefully moves around to Gon's side to watch his goldfish catching attempts.

"Get that one," he almost whispers, pointing to an extremely small and quick one. Whether keeping his voice low will actually avoid startling Gongenzaka is to be determined.

[betheman]

Truthfully, while the dream is in Maiami, he hasn't thought of Yuzu showing up. His homesickness had limits, it would appear. "Hmnn-! Very well..!" He replies automatically, and with a swoop, the fish is in the pon. "MNH-"

At which point he realizes that he hadn't spoken. Jumping (and nearly losing the fish), he turns. "Mn...Yuuya! Are you here for fish as well, then?" he asks.

Notably, these goldfish appear to have...fur, now? Well ok then.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya grins up at Gongenzaka, less sorry about having startling him since he managed to successfully catch the fish. He hasn't even noticed the fur yet.

"You think I should try?" He pushes his sleeves back (but they fall right back down) and wiggles his fingers over the pond. "I think Core would just eat them if I take them home, but maybe I can help you catch more?"

[betheman]

"Hmnnn, even from a tank..?" Idly, he finds himself dipping a finger into the water, eventually petting one of the fish. Cute. "I, the man Gonenzaka, had considered adding them to the pond at my home...they would probably grow quite large, aah?"

[hippocarnival]

Core is smart enough, and now they have two more cats. Yuya won't endanger the fish like that.

"They have to if they have all that space." Yuya stands up on his toes, trying to see how many fish Gon has caught as is. The problem is Gon is absurdly tall as a result of the carnival, and Yuya stretching and holding on his arm isn't getting him a good enough look to tell. "How--many do you have? You can get an extra prize, right?"

[betheman]

The struggles of the multi-pet household. "Aaah, the pond is fairly expansive..." He blinks, looking at his pon. "Including this one.... ...I, the man Gongenzaka, have one.

"Though, I have been told that success by a certain number ensures a chance to fish for turtles instead." Exciting.

[hippocarnival]

"Turtles?" Yuya taps his chin. Turtles could live in the pond too, probably, but it'll definitely take more than two fish to get there.

"How many?" He leans back, holding his hands out for the pon and pot. "I can help, I'm good at this!"

Yuya is okay at this, but he's apparently extremely confident in his goldfish catching abilities in dreamland. Moreover, he wants to prove he can help Gongenzaka.

[betheman]

"Aah, turtles..! We need to catch at least five fish, however...so..." So here comes the pon and pot, and the fish start swimming around a little more quickly.

"Are you ready..?"

[hippocarnival]

Yuya nods enthusiastically, leaning over the pond a bit as he watches the fish swim around, looking for ones that are less clumped together.

"All right, here I go!" He dips the pon into the water, scooping quickly... and not as successfully as he pumped himself up to be. He moves the pot a little closer as he repeatedly pokes at fish to try and flip them in. It takes a couple minutes before he finally tosses one into the pot. "That's two! Now we only need three more..."

But repeatedly poking at the fish starts scaring them away, and Yuya has to lean more precariously over the pond to try and get another one.

[betheman]

"Aah! Hopefully the pon will hold out...." He scans the water, before swiping at another fish- it's quite bouncy, and Gongenzaka finds himself holding his breath as he hurriedly gets it into their pot. "HNMN-!!"

[hippocarnival]

Yuya's confident it will. He narrows his eyes as he scans the water, and then with a rapid movement scoops the pon under the water and flips two goldfish straight into the pot at once.

"That's five! Now we can get you some turtles--whoa!" Yuya leans back quickly, standing up straight--and then stumbles backward, teetering dangerously as he moves too quickly.

[betheman]

"Hmn-!" Gongenzaka moves rather swiftly to catch the other- and of course, chokes when he remembers who's holding the pot. "AUH, C-Careful..!!" THEY NEED TO GET THOSE TURTLES YUUYA-

[hippocarnival]

Yuya is swiftly caught by Gongenzaka, flailing a little but thankfully without risk of dropping the pot now that his balance has been secured.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" He laughs, craning his head back to look at Gongenzaka with a wide smile. And waits for Gongenzaka to pull him back upright, since he's already grabbed ahold of him. "We can get some turtles now, right?"

[betheman]

"Aauh, we can now attempt the capture of the turtles!" he cheers, standing up properly to grin. For a moment, that's all he really does- look at Yuuya, and grin, and-

And abruptly, as often happens in dreams, they are no longer at the fish-catching booth. Instead, they're standing at a wall of various tags that can be written on, with their own slips of card and ink pens (which seem oddly fancy and european), and various oversized growths of bamboo nearby.

"So then, how is your own wish coming..?"

What do you mean they were catching turtles no THEY WERE WRITING WISHES OBVIOUSLY

[hippocarnival]

Yuya smiles back at Gongenzaka, straightening the pot in his hands as he sinks into the moment. The whole dream is heavy enough he doesn't notice anything change around him, not until suddenly he's not looking at Gongenzaka, but the wall.

"Uh--" He blinks rapidly, looking up at Gon before focusing on the blank tag in front of him. He presses one hand to the wall and leans in. That's right, they're supposed to write their aspirations down.

Yuya furrows his brow, before he thinks he has it and perks up, starting to write. But instead of Kanji, all of his movements seem to turn into unintelligible squiggles.

"I, um, uh..." He panics suddenly and completely forgets what he was going to write. "It's okay!"

[betheman]

"Hmm? Are you having trouble, Yuuya?" Gongenzaka seems blissfully unaware that he's having any issue at all. Possibly because this was his dream in the first place, but he as well has nothing but messy scrawls on his bamboo.

He is of course trying not to look at Yuuya's either, since reading other wishes is extremely rude. Momentarily, the worry persists, before he frowns a little. "...Do not tell me... ...you ran out of room...?"

It's a wild guess but hey he can see it happening!

[hippocarnival]

"No..." But he's going to if he keeps scratching out his illegible squiggles. He stares at his paper, as if he's going to magically remember what he was trying to imprint onto it.

"What's yours?" It's bold, but at least he's not just trying to read it over Gongenzaka's shoulder. It's easier to deflect the topic back to him than admit to having so much trouble over this.

[betheman]

"MNH!?" Gongenzaka, suffice to say, is immediately covering his. "It is not meant to be seen..! To read another's wish is to bring ill fate, after all..!" he protests, sounding almost as though he actually believes it for a moment.

[hippocarnival]

"That's why I asked instead of looking at it." It's definitely different if you openly share your wish.

Yuya absently pushes the back of the pen against his mouth as he stares at his own wish slip. Half a tag left, and no ideas. It's kind of embarrassing--he doesn't want to look back and see if there's a line forming behind him.

"I'll tell you mine." Once he... actually knows what it is. Is this just nosy?

[betheman]

Well as much as Yuuya asked, he's still going to grumble as he hides his.

And then, rather swiftly cram vines in his ears. "AUH-!! No!! That does not change my opinion Yuuya..!" he insists, shining red. "We are not going to look at each other's wish..!"

[hippocarnival]

Yuya's eyebrows raise up into his bangs. Gongenzaka's more traditional than he is, but it's still kind of funny watching him get so flustered about it. Yuya doesn't put the same stake in the reality of it, but he supposes he won't disrespect Gon's privacy.

"This is really serious to you, huh? That must be a really important wish if you won't risk it for anything." He grins, just a little teasing as he leans over to nudge Gon with his arm.

Then he winks. "Maybe you'l get lucky and it'll come true tonight!"

[betheman]

"Of course it is! It could well be real in some fashion or another!" he blurts without thinking- would he say it awake? Not quite like that, not at all. It would probably be more along the lines of, 'in another world, it could work like that', but this is a dream after all.

And slowly he finds himself uncovering his as he focuses more on Yuuya. "....Tonight..." He sighs, and nods. "Aaah... ...if such a wish could be true so quickly... ...it would be incredible.... ...Yours as well then, neh?" he adds, knowing full well that Yuuya's own wish isn't quite 'written' yet.