10/29 --- Δ Haggard Traveler’s Reprieve?????

[gluttoning]

Who: ??? & you!
What: Something's starting...
Where: Δ Haggard Traveler’s Reprieve (Twilight Shoreline)
When: Sunday, 10/29
Warnings: Will be added as needed.

( Perhaps intrigued by the mail allegedly sent by CC Corp, perhaps visiting the Shoreline by chance, gating into the Area goes as it always does, until the music stays cut for longer than it should, and the black, liminal transition screen lingers for a little too long. The seconds tick on. They near turn to minutes. You can't struggle, you can't argue— you can only simply be, and it occurs to you that maybe you'll be trapped midway here, conscious, for maybe forever.

And then you hear static. Your vision warps; pixels strain into words, blurred and unstable. You see them combat for your attention; you see— )



( And then you load in. )

( POST NAVIGATION )
( Sign-in Comment (Mandatory) • How to Play • Mechanics

Phase 1 • Round 1 • Round 2 • Round 3 • Round 4 • Round 5 • Round 6

Phase 2 • Round 7 • Round 8 • Round 9 • Round 10 •
Round 11 • Round 12

Epilogue )

Comments

[justonezero]

[Ah-

Macha's hit strikes him first, and he crumples - not just from the physical damage, but emotional too, tears springing into his eyes. He- he's going to be all alone again. He thought he would be okay (when wasn't he?) but--

Then the effect fades, and he just barely begins to stagger to his feet again... only to get hit with the Juk Doom, dropping him to his knees in a cry of pain.

Everything hurts. It hurts, and he needs food, anything, but-]

H-help...

[...Even if he asks, would anyone even bother to respond to someone like him...?]

[rebelles]

[ Haru finds herself feeling cold, helpless, hugging her arms to herself, but maybe this is a good thing? The fighting can stop, no one will hurt anyone, she can no longer tell who she is fighting for or with, anyway. But hearing Nanashi cry out shocks her back to senses momentarily. She runs to him, kneeling in the sand and reaching for her Core. ]

Nanashi! Hang in there!

[justonezero]

[-!

Oh... Someone really did come to help.]

N-Noir?

[rebelles]

We'll get through this. Don't lose hope.

[ The words are to remind him as well as herself to not let the despair take hold of them. She has to protect him, her guild member, the boy who's trying to hold onto hope that there's a better world waiting out there for them.

Another voice in her mind, however, is coldly telling her that the boy is a threat to Mithrun and must be eliminated. The hand that she extends to Nanashi ends up shoving Nanashi back into the sand. Haru clutches her head as if it's splitting, staggering back. ]

You - you need to run. Before I—

[ Instead of her Heal Core, her hands close around her weapon. ]

[justonezero]

[-And he's pushed back again.]

Wait- Noir?!

[ophidie]

[This is where she's drawn when she's finally able to move again, if only just because seeing Haru act this way makes the least sense of anything she can see, and Miharu thinks she'd hate it if she was in control of her actions.

She bolts over, straining the limits of her debuff, to intervene.]

That's enough. You're someone who helps people, not this.

[Presumably Nanashi was shoved conveniently out of the line of fire for Dosei's wild ride? That seems right.]

[justonezero]

[Dosei's attack hit everyone in front of him and Nanashi is not on the front lines so he's safe!]

-?!

[wait.]

C-confuse status, right?

[He is very in pain and very disoriented right now.]

[rebelles]

[ Dosei's wild ride does catch Haru unawares in what would have otherwise been a confrontation she regrets.

The pain snaps her out of it, but don't worry about her! She's more worried about Nanashi now that she's back to herself. ]

(HEAL) CORE USE 1/3

[ophidie]

[There will always be time for confrontations we regret later, as sad as it is to lose the opportunity to have one now.]

Feeling better? [She sounds about as spry as being completely, 100% fueled by adrenaline can get you...but close inspection reveals that she is acutely shaking. Somewhat hesitantly, Miharu turns her attention away from Haru to address Nanashi.]

I'm afraid I can't heal you with spells, but given that they've left us alone a moment... [Whatever might come next fills her with dread. She'll activate her heal core's Data Drain Type H: All (drain targeting Tarvos if you need to know) for everyone in the area.]

[justonezero]

[Oh thank goodness, he is bleeding by a quarter of his health less now.]

Th-thank you...

[rebelles]

[ Meanwhile, Haru's recovered from the attack, but she's holding her head in pain and confusion, feeling too weak to move. Who does she want to protect again? Which of her feelings are genuine? This is what happens when too many status effects are gripping you at once. ]

It's all too confusing! Please... someone help me.

[ Won't someone tell her what's real? ]

[justonezero]

[He's somewhat recovered thanks to a well-timed healing core, and he can't just ignore a cry for help.

Still bloodied, he reaches out to her.]

Noir...?

[ophidie]

Don't thank me. We got lucky. [Nodding to the aftereffects of the Typhoon Sweep.] Do you need anything else? I still have some consumables; however...

[She's going to pretend that she didn't eat the debuff from entering the arena the minute the Unwise Indulgence went off, but she can at least acknowledge that she understands that eating or drinking anything might instill uneasy nausea in someone.]

[justonezero]

F-food, probably...

[It still hurts, he's still bloodied from the remaining wounds. Somehow, a slash from a large sword and three earth-aligned gunshot wounds do not make for a healthy rabbit.]

Wh-- what about you-?

[deto]

[ jk the wisest thing deto has ever done was fall for nanashi, so he rushes to the other boy's side once he sees what's happened

+0 speed debuff
+0 defense down
+100 wtf oria bro??
+10000 why didn't anyone do anything about mithrun1 before it got like this ffs
+10000000 worry for bun

his priority will be to check on nanashi first, everything else after. noir gets a grateful nod from him once he's there ]

... Yoshi?

[ said quietly, hands reaching out to keep him steady ]

[justonezero]

[He needs that right now - he's heavily injured, squishy healer versus an Edge Punisher and a Steam Gunner is not a very fair matchup all things considered.

Moving hurts right now, but his eyes go wide when Deto approaches, and he reaches out to cling to him at the first opportunity.]

Akira--

[He's normally pretty good about using Deto around others, but not right now.]

You're- you're still here...?

[Please don't leave. Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave--]

*pretend i wrote that both harus get a nod from him, thx sisters

[deto]

[ he doesn’t care about the name slip; only yoshi is allowed to call him akira anyway. so it’s only right that it comes out of his mouth now ]

Where would I go without you? [ when you’re right here? he hugs yoshi briefly, as tightly as he dares ] I… can’t tell how hurt you are, so let me know what you need. I can be your legs while you recover.

[ yoshi can piggy-back him or get carried bridal style if he wants ]

I’m not leaving you.

[justonezero]

[The wounds have been healed somewhat from Miharu's healing core, but he's still clearly bleeding, still clearly in pain.

Despite that, he still holds on tightly to Deto.]

Just- need to heal more. You really aren't?

[Desperation in his voice.]

[deto]

[ he’s worried as hell, but that note in yoshi’s voice settles something in him. he doesn’t know how this fight is going to go, he doesn’t know what’s going to happen to everyone here

there’s one thing he does know. he brings their foreheads together, eyes flickering close at the touch before determination flashes in them as dark eyes stare at yoshi ]

Tempura and croquettes.

[ his promise ]

[justonezero]

[Tempura and croquettes. Not really what you'd expect to hear at a time like this, but it does seem to get him to settle down, even if the pain and the grief haunts the edges of his eyes still.]

...When he struck me with that sword... for a moment, it made me think you left. Like...

...Like you realized I'm not worth it.

[And it wouldn't even be wrong.]

[deto]

[ sounds like… it’s time to take yoshi a little further from any guys with any swords. he tries to be very careful about scooping him up ]

Impossible. I wouldn’t ever think that. [ delivered like a fact, which it is. he gives yoshi a moment to adjust before carrying him off. far enough that most AOEs won’t hit him, probably, just for now. a moment to catch his breath and heal ] … I think he struck you with what he fears? But even now as a monster, someone’s sticking by his side.

[ that’s what he can tell anyway, from the conversations he’s witnessing ]

I’d do that for you.

[justonezero]

[Wise choice, honestly. He doesn't resist being carried, though he will fire off a healing spell for everyone as Deto does so.]

...Maybe. I might've made him mad by talking to him so much, too.

[He sure did have a Conversation with Mithrun last week. But once they're distant enough from the fighting, he's just going to take a moment to recover by attaching himself to Deto for a bit.]

...If I became a monster, I'd rather you protected the others...

[deto]

Nope.

[ the same frank tone yoshi expects from him ]

I need to be selfish about you because you won’t be. So I’ll always choose you.

[justonezero]

[There's some kind of irony about this conversation after a certain one he had with Hien but...... that is not really on his mind at the moment. It's fine.]

But- I don't want to be used to hurt others, either.

[deto]

Other people can learn to dodge.

[ what about all the unavoidable boss mechanics - it’s fine ]

If you don’t want to end up like that, then don’t waver. The good things you believe in, keep believing. …The bad things are the personal battles you have to fight.

[ it’s frustrating for him, too, but he knows he can’t and shouldn’t fight those battles for him ]

I don’t love people in the same way you do. [ another can’t ] All that excess love you have? I’m giving it to just one person.