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

It would probably be fair to say that Bash circled himself from grogginess to confusion to some slightly hysterical mania with a rapidity that bordered on alarming. Which is terrible, because he's very aware of the fact that he needs to be useful right now. Needs to be level-headed and calm and direct.

On the other hand, it's mildly helpful because he hasn't really had the time to think about being cold in what amounts to sleep shorts and one of his sister's too-small t-shirts, hoodie still clenched in one fist and one of Gabi's hair-ribbons twined around the other.

"Fourty-four. There's -" The ribbon-bedecked hand traces the air in front of him, completely absorbed in ticking down columns. Memorizing. "Fourty-four. Does that matter?" He forces himself to suck in another breath at the end of each row (Sixteen Sophomores, fourteen Juniors, ten Seniors. Minus two, minus four, descending.) and shakes his head on the third go-around. "Shit fucking damn it."

He jumps a bit when he turns his head and notices Essie and Lucas standing a few feet away, nearly losing grip on his hoodie.

"You're okay," he says, wincing a bit before continuing. "I'm - I mean, should've known that. Not on the -" His hand flutters, curls in tight on itself. "We're going to fix this, right?"

Lucas flinches, but he knows Essie's anger isn't intended for him, so when he responds, it's with measured calm. "Okay."

And then he hears Bash's voice. He whips around, grimace melting into relief at the sight of him. Lucas opens his mouth to speak, pulls his hands from his pockets, reaching, but he hesitates, arms hanging for a moment. He swallows a gulp of air and lets his hands drop to his sides. "We're going to tr--" All of Lucas' friends are so brave. And here he is, unable to keep himself from shivering for even a minute. Maybe he can try out bravery. For tonight. For his friends.

He doesn't believe it when he says it, but Lucas still says, "We're going to."

"We are," Essie confirms. If she keeps saying it with conviction, maybe it'll make it true.

Bash is a welcome sight, but also a reminder that, for Essie, there's one particular person she needs at her side before she goes stomping off to... wherever Diego is. Essie's certain she glimpsed her best friend some time during the general haze of waking up. "I need to find Pippa first. Are you guys coming?"

Bash tracks the motion of Lucas' hands with slightly too much focus, fingers itchy and enough of a shiver setting in that he's hastily shrugging the oversized sweatshirt on (mindful of the too-tight twist of ribbon) when Essie speaks again.

"Me?" He blinks, a bit bewildered, eyes flicking to Essie then Lucas and back again. (This is probably what it's like not getting picked last for dodgeball. Except with, y'know, marginally more chance of supernatural peril and bodily harm.) "I mean, yeah?"

He isn't exactly sure why they'd w- No. That's stupid and there isn't time for his brain's nonsense right now. Bash straightens his shoulders, nodding, and repeats himself, voice steady: "I mean, yes. Coming. Definitely."

Lucas pats his pockets down, again, wishing he'd find something new and useful in them, now, but no such luck. Not a single useful tool. Not his glasses. Not even a grain of salt (not that salt has ever helped them). Just his inhaler and that candy. His hands weave their way around his torso to clutch his sides, again.

"Right behind you," he mumbles, not enthusiastic, but certain. "All the way."

Wyatt wakes up disoriented. But not for long, he reads the message and for all that he has kept himself away from the spookiest parts of the woods now, this is something he unfortunately can't avoid.

He starts looking around for his friends in the vicinity, and is relieved to spot Bash and a couple of his other friends, catching the tail end of their conversation as he comes closer. "Count me in too. We'll find them, I'm sure of it." When all fails, endless optimism is still better than nothing.

It takes Pippa a little while to wake up. Sitting up, shivering, rubbing sleep from her eyes, at first she's more confused than scared... until the panicked voices of her classmates start to seep into her consciousness. Stumbling to her feet, there's one person she wants to find first, and she pushes through the knots of anxious students with barely a mumbled apology until she spots a flash of platinum blonde hair. Pippa exhales with relief, barely even noticing the boys with Essie. "I don't understand. What's going on?" she says, her voice high and tight with anxiety. She keeps hearing the words taken and Brother being thrown about, but she doesn't want to believe it. This still feels unreal, like a nightmare.

"Good. Come on," are the only words Essie manages to get out in response to Wyatt before she sees the shock of red hair approaching followed by Pippa's voice, confused and anxious. It's exactly the right combination to pierce a hole in Essie's quickly tossed together armor of bravado and bullheadedness.

"Pippa, it's awful," Essie chokes out, her arms wrapping tightly against her best friend. "He took Diego. He took so many people." The comfort that comes from clinging to Pippa is instantaneous and Essie would have been hard-pressed to let go if that wasn't the moment she realized what the heavy object tucked into her hoodie pocket was. She releases Pippa, but still stays close enough to embrace as she digs into her pocket and produces the compass that Mina and Diego had gifted her for her birthday.

There's no time to admire the craftsmanship as Essie pops the lid open and waits for the needles to settle on their targets. The needle pointing to true north is the first to rest. After a few tense seconds, the purple needle settles in the direction of Ebonhide; Mina was in her cabin, just as Brother had said. But the blue needle keeps swinging back and forth. Every time it seems like it might settle, it swings again, just a bit. Essie lets out a sound of frustration, but at least the compass has a clear target. The forest.

"Diego's out there. In the forest. We need to go now." And then Essie steps away from the shelter of the Ornery Oak and into the darkness.

Edited (time to go on an adventure!!) 2017-06-26 13:57 (UTC)

Even as Pippa returns the hug, her blood runs cold at Essie's words. She hasn't thought to check her journal, so she doesn't know whether he refers to Brother or 2, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is that Diego -- and so many of their friends -- are missing. No, not missing. Taken.

She bends over the compass, her head touching Essie's, holding her breath as the blue needle swings back and forth. But it doesn't come to rest, and the frustrated noise Essie makes sends a spike of pain and helplessness through Pippa. She doesn't know what this means, but she does know that she can't sit by and do nothing, even though she's scared and cold and confused.

Pippa doesn't hesitate as she follows Essie into the forest.

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