gooseberryhigh | RESCUERS

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

Edited 2017-06-25 22:46 (UTC)

Kenzie glances to her left as Casper comes to stand beside her. She'd thought to memorize the people taken for reference, but there were so many. She'd quickly become distracted just trying to figure out where her people were. She'd been looking for Iliya, Ulysses, her cheer squad, her roommates, her friends. It's almost overwhelming. She's standing in a pale blue night gown and riding boots, her hair lank and undone. No makeup, no perfume. She pulls her hair over one shoulder and starts to braid it.

"Do you have a hair tie?" she asks, her voice sounding somewhat dead. She's beginning to lose count of who's gone. She's already spotted Ulysses, Ari, Jade, Riley, Ursula, Casey, Addy, Nia, Cameron... The list keeps growing. Her fingers shake slightly as she works them through her hair.

Edited 2017-06-25 23:09 (UTC)

For someone who's spent most of his life in chilly climates, Iliya doesn't much like the cold. Someone had chosen to leave him a purple velvet jacket that is definitely not his style, and definitely Cameron's. He'd held it in his hands for a moment, looking around for his roommate. It had taken less than a minute to realize Cameron wasn't here.

It's impossible to lose Cameron Carney in a crowd.

Iliya's still only carrying the jacket when he walks over to Kenzie and Casper. It's cold in just sweatpants and a T-shirt, but it feels wrong to wear the jacket. At least he'd been left his own boots. There, on the board in front of them, are Ulysses and Cameron's pictures, placed right next to each other. "This cannot be happening," he mutters.

Edited (i'm sorry i spaced out for 20 minutes) 2017-06-26 00:23 (UTC)

Casper, who has yet to open his journal and read the message left for the gathered students, stares at the board and that sense that something isn't right immediately sharpens into certainty that something very wrong and very dangerous is already in motion. Especially when he sees the smudged photographs of his friends. Ulysses and Cameron. Rafael. Nia. Asher. His jaw clenches hard and his dark eyes shift to Kenzie and Iliya. It's clear that both of them know something he doesn't know; their muted, disbelieving tones make it sound like they're in shock.

He pulls the tie that's holding back his dark hair free, places it into one of Kenzie's hands (is it...shaking?), and presses in a tone that's sharper than he'd intended, "What the fuck is this, Prince?"

Edited 2017-06-26 00:49 (UTC)

Kenzie inches over and bumps her shoulder into Iliya when he joins them, like they're magnetized. She doesn't look at him, nor at Casper as she accepts the hair tie. "Thanks," she says, distracted, and quickly ties off the braid. She's not in the mood to imagine herself with her hair flowing wildly as she runs to the rescue of a beautiful boy. Those fantasies are so much more fun when they're not real.

"One of the forest spirits took all of them." She still sounds numb. Casper's voice might be sharp, but not so sharp that it can prick Kenzie's skin. "The other one told us we have to go into the forest to find them."

Edited 2017-06-26 01:12 (UTC)

The younger brother and the older brother, locked in... a game? Their friends, asleep in the woods? It sounds like nonsense. This whole year has been nonsense of the highest degree.

Iliya stares between the two of them—the growing anger in Casper's voice, the numb blankness of Kenzie's face—and desperately wishes that someone would come in and give them straight answers. Or tell them to go home, while smarter, stronger, more experienced people bring their friends back. "This is madness. We should get a teacher, yes?"

Dark eyes narrowing and turning momentarily from Kenzie and Iliya and that horrible chalkboard, Casper only needs a moment to understand what he's missed. He pulls his journal out of his back pocket and opens it and flips until he finds the page with the strange writing and that persistent pine needle smell. He reads, the truth and the gravity of Kenzie's quiet words settling in as he does so. The others are gone. Like Ulysses had been gone. But it doesn't sound like Brother expects any of them to come walking back out again.

He lowers his eyes for a moment and pushes back his dark hair. "Fuck." The word comes out almost like a snarl because being angry comes much more easily to him than being worried or being afraid or being uncertain. And none of that will help him do what needs to be done anyway. He forces himself to look up again and meets Iliya's gaze before answering sternly, "...No. I don't think so."

Edited 2017-06-26 01:42 (UTC)

It takes Wilde some time to find his friends. What's left of his friends.

He wakes up and lies on the ground for several seconds, groggy and disoriented. Then he reads Brother's message three times, scribbling out a futile one of his own. He gets up and feels strange and disconnected from himself, wandering through the group of kids surrounding the Oak. Someone's screaming, everyone's murmuring and posturing and preparing. Quinn's list of names doesn't have Saira's on it. He murmurs some shield charms but isn't sure if they'll do anything.

He doesn't realize that he's wearing one of Ulysse's definitely-expensive-bespoke monogrammed sweaters until he's walking toward Casper, Iliya, Kenzie -- which is weird, because it's well-made and warm but definitely too small, and not well-matched to pajama pants and, for some reason, his hiking boots.

When Wilde finally gets to them, he sort of nods at everyone in greeting, like Yeah. I know. Then he stands in silence next to Iliya, looking faintly ill but increasingly annoyed.

Mackenzie exhales as Wilde appears. He'll be as worried about Ulysses and Cameron as any of them. Everyone's lost someone, haven't they? Although Saira Raza's not up there, from what Kenzie saw. At least someone got lucky.

Kenzie takes a step in front of the little group, and then turns on her heel to face them. Her heart does something uncomfortable when she recognizes the sweater Wilde is wearing. It's halfway between a jump at how ridiculous he looks in it, and... something else. It's possibly she might like Ulysses a little too much.

"I'm going," she announces and shoves her hands in the pockets of her trenchcoat, just to make sure the unfamiliar wand is still there. His wand. "I'm not waiting for the staff to find us. Assuming they even can. You're all coming, right?"

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