RESCUERS

[goosemods]

RESCUERS

The last thing you remember is falling asleep. It came to you conspicuously, like a heavy weight pushed into your arms. Exhaustion so sudden and fierce it was almost startling.

Waking up comes much more softly. First, you are aware of the chill of the ground beneath you. You're outside, and you can hear the confused murmuring of dozens of your classmates. There are things piled on top of you, and it's still dark out. Dark and foggy. There's no moon in the sky. You can't make out the mountains in the distance, and the stars as dim and shifting. The Ornery Oak looms above you, familiar and calm. It doesn't swat at the students, not even the ones that are leaning against its trunk.

Why are you here? What's happened to you?

thedeepwoods
YEAR 1 ENDGAME HUB
RULES:

• Everyone who signed up to be a rescuer wakes up lying on the ground around the Ornery Oak.


• Characters were taken directly from their beds, so they'll be dressed on whatever they went to sleep in.
  • However: if they went to bed not properly dressed for an adventure in the cold, cold woods, they'll wake up with extra clothes neatly piled on top of them. Ideally they're all yours.
  
  
  • Brother is courteous... but a little awkward. It's possible that he made a mistake and you have your roommate's jacket/sweater/coat, or even the jacket/sweater/coat of the person you're searching for. For instance, if Essie wanted to say she was given Diego's coat, she could do that.
  
  
  • Your journal is also with you. There's a message that you need to read.
  
  
  • Brother also remembered to make sure everyone's wand was politely placed in their left hand. Always the left hand. Even if you're not left handed.
    • Just like with coats, if you would like (and if the other player is okay with it) you can say your character was given the wand of a missing friend or loved one in place of their own. This will obviously have a negative impact on their ability to cast spells, particularly with old, difficult, or powerful wands.
  • Long story short, everyone will at least have a wand, their journal, shoes that definitely fit and outerwear that hopefully fits.
• There are three old chalkboards on wheels that have been dragged out here, and they have the yearbook photos of every missing student on them. Non-participants and freshmen are not amongst the photos. They all smell of pine needles. You can take the photos with you if you want, but there's no benefit beyond sentimentality.


• The rescue groups have been organized HERE, so connect with your group if you want, but you can use this place to talk to people you're not searching with. Once you leave this area, your characters can only thread in one place at a time, so this might be your only chance to talk to other rescue groups. You can keep backtagging here after leaving, though!

» THE ORNERY OAK: You wake up on the cold dirt under the cover of the Ornery Oak. You're not alone, though. Your classmates are here too.

» THE CHALKBOARDS: On the chalkboards are the yearbook photos of every student who's gone missing. They're smudged with Brother's sooty fingerprints.

» DEPARTURE: You decide that you must do what Brother has asked of you. If all he says is true, time's limited. Your friends and family are out there and in danger. Please read THIS regarding entering the event.

» OOC - SUPPLY REQUESTS: Is there an item you think would reasonably be in your character's coat pocket or the coat they were given? Please ask for mod approval here before assuming your character has access to it. Things may have been magically lost along the way (but will be returned to your character once the event was over). We may gently scold you if you didn't ask permission to have your pocket knife here and then pull it out in a later thread. And no one wants that. :(

» OOC - GROUP ORGANIZATION: If you need to hash out how your rescue group is going to link up, do so here. Please use your very serious team name in the comment title. (If you'd like to change your team name, now's the time to do it. You will be required to use your team name for the rest of the event, so make sure it's something easy to type or copy/paste!)

» OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS & CONCERNS

Comments

THE ORNERY OAK

[goosemods]

Lucas & Zach & Open

[bubblewrapped]

Everything piled up on Lucas' chest is dumped off when he rolls over, hugging himself in an attempt to block out the cold. The combination of jabbing himself with his wand and feeling his bare shoulder scrape against the dirt startles him out of sleep pretty quickly, though.

He's not in the cabin, that much he's certain, but his mind is still in that nice space between dream and awake where everything makes a least a little sense, no matter how weird. So, it's a few seconds before he shunts himself back and upright, blinking into the dark. He sees the outlines of bodies around him, and while his brain immediately jumps to "dead," he is lucky enough to notice the rise and fall of someone's chest, or another person nearby stirring. So, he doesn't immediately scream. Instead, he leans forward, rifles through the pile of things and pulls on the t-shirt. Because this is a kid who wears shirts to the beach and he has priorities.

Glancing down at it once he has it on, he immediately recognizes the shirt as Jeffy's. How weird. Lucas goes through the rest of his stack in halting movements: a pair of blue socks, his heaviest gray cardigan sweater with his inhaler, thankfully, and a familiar star-shaped candy in the pocket, one beat-to-hell red converse sneaker and one green converse sneaker, and ... a beret?

With a shaky, agitated groan, Lucas pulls on the socks and shoes, then the cardigan, because if he stops moving he's going to just freak the fuck out. He turns the beret over in his hands. He doesn't want to know why he has it. Where are his roommates? Lucas needs an adult. Or a prefect.

"Zach?" He calls, urgency audible in his voice.

Sam & Open

[oh_girl]

Falling asleep that hard was disorienting - Samantha felt it in her sleep, but not when she woke up. It was light, soft, she woke up slowly and calm. That calm didn't last very long. As she started to wake, she felt the ground beneath her. Springy, but still hard and uncomfortable. There was a distinct lack of pillow, and when she moved her arm it scraped against the dirt. It took a little longer for the calm to turn to panic, her brain slow to work out what the hell was going on.

Then, she realized things were definitely wrong and her eyes popped open. She was cold - Samantha didn't wear regular pajamas to sleep, she had just a tank top and shorts on. Her teeth chattered slightly as she sat up, realizing she was outside and surrounded by other students. Her heart still beat fast, but not as fast as it could have been if she were alone. Still, something was clearly wrong.

Clothes were piled on her - some of them not her own. She barely noticed as she pulled the mismatched ensemble on, warming herself up. One of the pieces, a hoodie, she recognized almost immediately as Solomon's. Immediately, she scanned the area around her. He was nowhere in sight. Looking down, Sam noticed her wand was next to her, as was her journal. She opened it, wondering if there was some prank going on or something. She only saw the message from Anon. From... Brother?

"What the hell is going on?" She asked, turning to look at... a board. A board of people. "Oh my God, Solo." Sam said, her panic turning to genuine fear. Then she saw all the other names. Micah, Ari, Cole, Todd, Jeffy, Gabi, Ramon, Fern, Calvin, Frankie, Jo, Will and Bianca. So many of her sophomore friends. On top of that, she saw Ulysses. She didn't always like him, but they had grown up in the same circles, she'd known him longer than anyone else. Their pictures being on the board and their lack of being out here from what she could see was not a good sign.

Robin & Open

[hisshiss]

At first, it seems like a lucid dream, where Robin inserted himself into the cut scene for a video game. Waking up in the darkness, he half expects someone to come up and ask him his name and character class before he's allowed to explore any further. He's even half-clothed with a bare bones inventory.

He picks through the neat stack of clothing left on his chest; there's a puffy vest, Ramirez's denim shorts abortion, and his heavy jacket, with almost every pocket emptier than he remembered it. Even his gum wrappers were gone, leaving him with just a cheap ass pocket knife, a plastic lighter and a not-even-very-good sewing kit. Apparently he was not playing this game on easy mode. But he's still got his damn knowhow, and that's worth a fuckton more.

As other people start to stir, Robin looks around at them, and the dreamlike feeling starts to fall away as he tries to yank the shorts on. Ramirez is thinner than him and doesn't keep useful survival tools in his pockets. This is a mild inconvenience. He whistles, one quick burst of noise, looking for those he knows and, well, let's not say cares about, but just knows are useful.

Oscar & Open

[dumb_ass]

His sleep was full of vivid dreams, which was unusual for him since he didn't usually sleep so hard. That's the first thing he realized as he woke up - the dream ended and he was pleasantly surprised at the content. Stretching, he felt as a couple things slid off his back and - wait why did something slip off his back?

Why did it smell like dirt in his bed? Why was it so cold and feel - Oscar's eyes flew open. He was literally staring at dirt and grass, his cheek pressed up against it, making his face itch. Scrambling with a slight yelp, Oz pushed himself up, all four of his uncoordinated limbs flailing until he was in a seated position, a small ways away from where all the stuff on him had toppled over.

Oz was the type of guy who slept in boxers during the summer, so he had no clothing on and was starting to feel pretty cold. He had a pair of jeans which ended up being rather tight on him - he was pretty sure they were men's jeans but they were skinny jeans, he thinks? A basic white t-shirt which was actually his and. "Oh, what the..." It was Vee's mermaid sweater. But he was cold and there was a bunch of other students around him, all freaking out.

He heard Ivy's agonized scream and panic shot through him. Vee. Where was Vee? Immediately, Oscar began racing through the students in various states of awake/asleep, searching for her face. Nothing. He ran back to where he woke up, finding his wand and journal. He opened it up, seeing the message from Brother and let out a panicked yell. "VEE? VEE!?"

Cubs Herding Cats

[casperkim]

Typically, sleep doesn't come easily to Casper and this heavy supernatural slumber is difficult for him to shake off at first. Once his mind begins to stir, though, and he registers the cold and the sound of voices and the feel of rough earth beneath his uncovered back he sits up with a start, sending the pile of clothing that had been placed on his chest to the ground. For now, he ignores it and clenches the wand he's just realized is in his left hand tightly as he looks around, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Just what the hell is going on?

But...there's no immediate threat and, because he's sitting on the ground dressed in nothing but his boxer briefs, he lets his attention return the stack of clothes. The worn black jeans and socks and boots are his, but the bright shirt and gaudy jacket that are several sizes too big for him are definitely not. He scowls, knowing those must be Carney's. There's no time to ask questions now, though, so he pulls himself to his feet and dresses quickly and returns to the task of getting his bearings. He can see students gathered by the out of place chalkboards and starts briskly in that direction.

He already knows that none of this is right and the sooner he can get some information, any information at all, the better. As he walks, he looks at the other students around him, searching for anyone that might look like they know what's happening and, more importantly, for four specific faces. Ulysses, Iliya, Wilde, and Cameron are his friends. And his responsibility. So he needs to find them first.

Leo+Open

[ninjaleo]

The first thing Leo feels is Rafael's shirt on his chest. The soft linen's familiar, as is the smell. In his sleep, Leo reaches to touch it, thinking that surely it's attached to an owner. It's not, though. The fabric's cold, and neatly folded. Leo cracks a single eye open, thinking in his just-awake haze that maybe this was a hide and seek game, some prank before graduation. What the hell, mi amor. dies before it reaches his lips once he sees where he is. Where they are.

The fingers of his left hand are around his wand, and they tighten reflexively. Rafael is not beside him, but other people are. He's outdoors, shirtless, clad only in the sweatpants he'd gone to sleep in. But there's a small pile of clothing on top of him. Rafael's shirt. Leo's own favorite hoodie, sneakers, socks. The pile's topped off by a jacket about nine sizes too small that he immediately recognizes as Clementine's. And that's the item that makes him sit bolt upright, suddenly. This isn't right. None of this is right. Leo casts Lumos and shoves his feet into the shoes. He's learned it's never good to go barefooted. "What the hell."

He says after all, breathing out as he tries to soak in exactly what's going on. They're at the oak, below three blackboards plastered with faces he knows, loves. It's a puzzle that will make sense as soon as he opens the journal beside him. He can't do that yet. He's too busy clutching the pile of clothes to himself, scanning the area for threats.

There's nothing. That's almost scarier.

Sylla + Open

[sylla]

Her cabin is not this cold, and her bed is not this hard. There's no cat sleeping by her ankles, and she instantly feels the chilly grass and the ground underneath her. Scrambling up to her bare feet with her wand at the ready, Sylla finds her heavy grey overcoat, her green galoshes, and Antonia's silly watermelon jumper have fallen from where they were heaped over her legs. The misty night is far too cold for her pajamas, and she scans the ground and the other students emerging from their states of slumber. She has heard the rumours of the tall boy dragged from his sleeping bag, her classmate wandering the woods, and she is under no such illusions that this isn't related. Listening to the cries and curses around her, she gathers her things and stops for a moment to put her galoshes on, looking around the group to see if she can find Antonia.

THE CHALKBOARDS

[goosemods]

Ivy & OPEN

[duelled]

Waking up in the grass with her sister's clothes piled on top of her and her sister's wand in her hand was upsetting enough for Ivy. By the time she's read Brother's message on the journals she's nearly hysterical; seeing Laurel's picture stuck up on the blackboard is the last straw.

She pulls it free from the board and for a moment stares at it in shocked contemplation. But her silence doesn't last long. The first thing out of her mouth is just an agonized scream - not one of shock or fear, but something between grief and deep, blinding anger. Then she yells out Laurel's name, beginning to move towards the woods at a walking pace as she calls out. If nobody stops her before she gets too far, she'll break out into a sprint; logic or planning are beyond her right now, and whether or not it's a bad idea to head out into those woods alone, the only thing on her mind is getting to Laurel.

Essie (& Group Gathering?)

[magitechnically]

Essie doesn't know why Diego's jacket was left for her, but that's no more mysterious than why she woke up at the Ornery Oak surrounded by several other students. Its presence certainly doesn't raise any level of alarm and she finds it comforting to wrap the too-long sleeves around herself as she steps closer to the nearest chalkboard. Her eyes are immediately drawn to photos of Jade and Jeffy. Ari's is not far off and a strong sense of dread fills her as she begins to hear rumblings from other students about a new journal entry and why all these photos are here. More faces catch her attention; more sophomores, more friends.

Essie steps to a different board and this time she's frantically searching for two people in particular. She only finds one.

Essie calls out Mina's name uselessly. Her sister isn't here and she isn't among the photos. She finally opens her journal and writes a quick comment on the new entry, refusing to close the book again until a reply appears. It's a small comfort, if it's to be believed.

Her hand hovers over the photo of Diego, but she leaves it hanging on the board. Better to have everyone know that he's missing.

Rosy & Open (Fishy Foxy Forest Fighters maybe?)

[browbeats]

Rosy stands in front of the chalkboard, her hands shaking as she stares at the pictures. Ursula's there, Chloe's there, Ennis and Avery and Diego and other people she cares about are there, but she's not looking at them. There's one picture she watches, one picture that makes her breath catch in her throat and her heart pound and her eyes blur.

She pulls Sy's picture from the board, but she just stands there, his letterman jacket hanging off her shoulders, staring down at his face. No. No. Fuck, no. The bottom of the picture crumples in her hand and she tries to take a breath as she reaches out for a friend, for anyone, reaching out for Sy who wasn't there.

"Fuck, I--shit, oh fuck," she chokes. "GodDAMMIT." She's about three seconds from ripping out her hair. Four seconds from ripping out every tree in this goddamn forest. Five seconds from just breaking down completely.

Dimi & Open

[evercretin]

Whoever selected Damon's evening wear for the night has provided him with no fewer than two jumpers, a jacket, thick wool socks and a pair of boots.

But those things don't matter, because the first item Dimi finds when he wakes is a green and silver scarf that smells like sweet almond. Something twisting and terrible settles in his stomach as soon as its in his hand. He stands, because he has to. He checks his journal, because that's what the others are doing. He sees the message. Hurries barefoot to the chalkboard.

"No," it's a hoarse whisper as he pulls his brother's photo off the board. Looking at Calvin's face, smudged with black, Dimi feels the rock in his stomach burns to cinders. His hands come up, like he's going to flip the entire chalkboard over, but they find his face instead, dragging over his eyes and mouth. It doesn't stop him from shouting. "God damn it. No!"

His head is all fire. But the ground is cold. "God fucking damn it." He needs those boots.

Quinn & Open

[quinning]

Ty and Jesse and Rafael and Addy and Laurel and Etta and– Quinn steps back from the board and takes a deep breath, folding her hands behind her head. She's somewhere between denial and resignation—not the urge to give up before she's started, but the reluctance to fight against whatever the entry's author wanted them to do. They're hours from being free of this godforsaken forest. Can't they just–

She could so take that fucking forest entity in a fist fight.

Another step back, another deep breath, shaky this time. As if waking up on the ground wasn't enough, cold and confused. Her own bespoke outfit consisted of leggings, Ty's fox sweater, her glasses, and a running jacket and running shoes. And her baseball cap. The sweater still smells like Ty. She's grateful she has it but every time she thinks about why she got this, she shivers.

This fucking motherfucking shitty woodsy fucking– Ignorant of who's around her, Quinn drops to the ground and writes the names from the boards into her journal. She isn't sure if she's trying to check in on them or keep a list so she can find every single one of them (and she fucking will), but she feels compelled to do something, and... this felt more productive than screaming, or crying. Or going back to sleep. But when she's done and back on her feet, she's restless and needs to get the fuck out now. She has a mental list, topped with Jesse and Ty, but where the fuck is she supposed to start?

Cecil & Levi

[choneychurch]

Cecil had gone to sleep with Levi, spending his last night at Goosebery Alternative High School with his arms wrapped around his boyfriend's waist and his head lowered against his shoulder. He'd felt very content and very safe, even as that strange, forceful exhaustion had pulled him down into sleep. Waking up outside in the dark, alone and disoriented and not knowing what was going on, had been jarring. He'd dressed quickly in the jacket and boots that had been left for him (adding them to the flannel pajama pants and socks and t-shirt he'd gone to sleep in) and had opened his journal on a whim when he'd seen it sitting there...only to read the message that Brother had left for them. He hadn't wanted to believe that something had happened again, but the bone-deep sense of dread had been immediate and he had believed it and he'd gone to the chalkboards immediately.

The number of pictures fixed to the board had been overwhelming and seeing the faces of his friends (Diego, Rafael, Ravi, Addy, Riley, and so many others) had nearly pushed him to tears. He'd stepped back from the board, suddenly pale with his hands pressed over his mouth and his eyes burning, but he'd managed to pull himself back from the edge. He was still pulling himself back. But it was like Brother had said. They've got to bring the others home. He pulls in a shuddering breath and forces himself to lower his hands, trying to clear his mind and think. He can't afford to let his emotions control him now. He's got to be strong. At least until the others are safe. The realization that Levi, at least, hadn't been on the board makes this seem remotely more possible.

But. Where is Levi? He slips his wand from his pocket, murmurs the Lumos charm softly, and looks around again. Silently, he continues to remind himself that his photo wasn't on the board...but that mantra won't mean much until he can find him.

Sam & Zach

[oh_girl]

After her freak out and quick conversation with Ree, Sam is ready to find Zach and go head out into this forest or wherever they needed to go in order to find Solo and everyone else they were missing. After walking around the Ornery Oak (which was not trying to harm them, and that alone was making her super uncomfortable), she finds her way to the chalkboards.

She didn't even want to look at them up close. See their faces so much clearer than she had from a distance, while she was talking with Ree. It made it so much more real. Still, she caught sight of Zach near by and greeted him by pulling her Prefect into a hug and squeezing him tightly. "Ree and I split up to grab other people before we go in. Are you in, Zach? You gonna come with me to find our friends? I have to find Solo."

Cricket & OPEN

[chryseis]

A raw, devastated wail rips through the air and it feels a little like relief. The urge to cry out claws up her throat and Cricket's grateful that someone else has sounded the alarm she's too frozen to call. She swallows hard as her eyes clinically scan the board.

She stands shivering in bear paw slippers and a silk, summer sleep set. Her eyes aren't looking for anyone in particular—she knows before looking that Ulysses is gone—but rather for a pattern. "A lot of siblings," she comments apologetically as if she's the sole cause of blame.

DEPARTURE

[goosemods]

Big Jays Save the Day (Cecil, Levi, Jaime, Oscar, and Jeremy)

[dumb_ass]

Jaime and Oscar had grouped up the second both of them had awoken. Cecil had suggested they join him and Levi and the four of them found each other easily - it was not a very large space to begin with and they had all been deposited there by Brother. Meeting up at the chalkboards, Oscar nods to the rest of them. There's very little talk about what they have to do, just an understanding to stick together and find their loved ones.

As they head towards the trees, Oscar spots Jeremy by himself, headed the same way. As much as it pains him to, he calls out to Jeremy to join them. He's assuming Jeremy is looking for Vee, and though Oscar does not like Jeremy because he does like Vee, the more eyes looking for her the better in his opinion. His face is definitely set into a deep frown. There's also something to be said for rescuing Vee and then telling her he willingly let Jeremy go in a lone to deal with who knows what and that's not a conversation he wants to have, either.

Oscar is not really hesitation much - if Jeremy decides to join them then he can. Oscar encourages it. The second the decision is made, though, they're headed into the woods.

Spitfires! (Hazel, Zach, Ana, and Sam) - A quick summary

[oh_girl]

It's time to go. Sam and Zach have decided to join forces and find their friends. When they decide to finally head there, the two set off with their goal in mind: Find their fellow Azurbabies, Solo, whoever they can and bring them back to safety.

She's not really sure how it happens. As she and Zach are headed into the forest, Hazel and Ana are there too. They didn't plan to set off together, but they all enter at the same time and as they go in they find themselves into a group of four instead of their groups of two. The four of them walking into the darkness, through the tree lines. Sam's wand is lit up, trying to light the way for them.

Then, they pass through the trees and everything changes.

OOC - SUPPLY REQUESTS

[goosemods]

Re: OOC - SUPPLY REQUESTS

[gonnabefamous]

Is it safe to assume those who got the magical magnifying glasses at prom will have those with them?

Re: OOC - SUPPLY REQUESTS

[sovain]

If it'll be helpful, Milo can have the magnifying glass Bianca won at prom.

OOC - GROUP ORGANIZATION

[goosemods]

Mama Bears Plotting

[chryseis]

I'm at work most of today but feel free to kick things off! We can assume Cricket is basically Maggie's slightly more pissed off shadow.

ʕง•ᴥ•ʔง

OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!

[goosemods]

Re: OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!

[quinning]

30 minutes ago i decided "I'LL BE SPONTANEOUS. I'LL INVITE A COUPLE FRIENDS OVER!!!" now they're on their way and i'm like "but the endgame" D:

the moral of the story is: never be social irl

also the words "liminal space" bring me so much glee you have no idea, now i get to feel like i'm doing WORK!!! BUT MORE FUN!!! (they're like..... keywords in what i study)