DECEMBER EVENT PART ONE: ALL IS CALM

[sailmods]

early morning on the 23rd, Friday makes an announcement over the speaker system, cheerfully asking everyone who signed up for the excursion to gather in the atrium. when they arrive, they will find Friday, very seasonally dressed, who takes them down to the tender, which it appears she will be “driving” this time. during this particular trip, none of them lose consciousness, nor suffer any sort of physical aftereffects. however, it does feel like the trip takes about five hours of just. sitting in the tender in utter silence, with little light and still air. so maybe stop being little babies about the anesthesia???

when Friday opens the tender door for them, they find themselves stepping out into the lobby of a hotel - though, if they turn around, they’ll find there was no door at all, and any passengers they see after that will appear as if they are appearing out of the ether.

there is a clone Friday manning the front desk, and though, like the others, she isn’t much for conversation, she is very snappily dressed! she helpfully hands out keys to everyone who approaches her; they aren’t numbered, and are actually entirely physically indistinguishable from each other, but they seem to open up whatever room you want easily enough, and don’t seem to work for any others. weird. the dressers and closets in the rooms also contain suitably sized winter clothing, enough to last the few days they’ll spend there, and then some. weird.

once they’ve situated themselves, they’ll find that what lies before them is a realm much larger than others they’ve encountered; the land extends for miles in any direction, including upwards, though you’re more likely to hit a cliff before the hard barrier. there’s about a foot and a half of snow on the ground, and it continues to fall steadily. the forests lack all signs of life, but the foliage is rather attractive, as long as you don’t examine it too closely; coniferous trees are just easier.

all of the amenities are seemingly staffed by ghosts, though they give off even less of a presence than the ones aboard the ship do. there is also an industrial kitchen attached to one of the dining areas, though the meals served don’t seem to come from it, and it has a distinctly different feel than everything else around it, as if added in slapdash at the very last second.

there is one last oddity, however. every night, at about 2AM, the entire reality goes mute. voices don’t sound. snow doesn’t crunch under footsteps. even the winds are quiet. the effect ends at about 6AM. it’s probably fine.

happy holidays.

Comments

Darcy reporting for mandatory character building

[saltwaterlungs]

Darcy likes going on runs. Darcy usually gets up early to go on runs. Darcy does not like hikes or being dragged into hikes early by Peter specifically. She's here but she's not happy about it.

"You know we're super fucked if the Captain's put a shark-bear hybrid in the woods right."

[cacophonish]

Oh no, Jeff's a young twenty-something. And though he's from LA, where hiking is a beloved pastime, he's not exactly the sort of person who, like, does this stuff.

He's also never been around snow before. And he has no idea how to dress for this kind of weather.

But here he is, bundled up and looking gloomy.

"Fuuuuck..." he groans. "At least getting eaten by a shark-bear would be more fun than hiking."

[prince_of_beasts]

Dimitri is already awake and stretching in the lobby when Smith approaches him. He looks a bit haggard, but he bounces to his feet at the mention of a hike like a golden retriever who just heard "W-A-L-K".

Within fifteen minutes he's back in the lobby, dressed in several layers of wool and linen under a fur-lined coat and hat, with a pair of skis in the crook of his elbow. On seeing other people gathering, he darts back out and returns with an armful of paper-wrapped packets of food, which he'll pass out to anyone who doesn't seem to have brought their own.

"Come now, Darcy and I are more than capable of fending off any chimera," he says brightly. "Why not take this chance to enjoy the snow?"

That's right, he's a morning person.

[cacophonish]

Here's Jeff's reaction to a morning person:

"Auughhhhhh..."

No words, just a pathetic, whiny groan.

It's too early for pep! Jeff is in hell!!

[saltwaterlungs]

"Rrrrhhhhôôôôôôhhhhh laaaaaaa," Darcy agrees. Sometimes she's down for Dimitri's pep and vigor but today she kind of wants to skin him and wear him as a hat.

[be_seeing_you]

"Now, now. All of you could afford to take a lesson out of his book." Says the other morning person.

"There's no discounting the possibility that something like a bear could still be out there. So, do keep a sharp lookout." Is he just messing with them or is he serious? Hard to tell because he's wearing the same smug expression he always wears.

[prince_of_beasts]

"There was a snake at the diner. Bastion and I both saw it. So a bear isn't wholly out of the question."

Is Dimitri messing with them? Does it count if he is also perfectly serious? (He did actually see a snake! A bear isn't impossible!)

It wouldn't be very funny if the answer was obvious, would it?

"If you're concerned about some sort of monster, you don't have to come along," he adds, aimed directly and innocently at Darcy. And to Smith, "Are we waiting for anyone else, or shall we be off?"

[glassaxolotl]

“You do not have to be cruel,” Dedue adds wryly as he joins the group at Dimitri’s side.
“We have provisions for the trip. Hunting a bear will not be necessary. Hopefully.”

[be_seeing_you]

"I do hope not." Number 6 agrees. He's not interested in hunting on this trip.

"But, I wonder about the general preparedness of this group. How many of you are capable of starting a fire with no matches?" For the record, he did bring matches. But, he wouldn't be much of a scout leader if he didn't give his group a challenge, would he?

"I think there may be a few more stragglers dragging their feet." He pulls the sleeve of his coat back to check his watch. "Let's give them five more minutes."

[cacophonish]

Okay, now Jeff perks up.

"Oh! I do! I can start a fire!"

With magic. He has a relevant skill! One whole relevant skill!

[saltwaterlungs]

Darcy just flips Dimitri off wordlessly.

"See? Jeff can light a fire, that means we can light a fire, collectively. You can stop worrying about us ending up in a Lord of the Flies situation if you get eaten by the bear-shark."

[sonofabinky]

Max, and this may shock and amaze anybody who has formed an opinion on him so far, is completely awake. He raises his hand.

"I can, uh, build a fire. Just give me some little sticks, I turn straight into Bear Grylls."

[prince_of_beasts]

"Bear tends to be stringy and tough when it's cooked on a fire. Still, better that than waste the meat."

[saltwaterlungs]

While still flipping him off-

"Not that kind of bear. Bear Grylls is a survivalist dude from modern Earth. Or- mine and that dude's anyway."

Because she isn't going to leave her buddy to embarrass himself through not knowing.

[sonofabinky]

Lest he be officially named 'that dude' for the rest of the hike, Max puts his hands in his very 80s pockets and says "HeyI'mMaxbytheway" in his best surrounded-by-mostly-total-strangers voice.

[saltwaterlungs]

"Mine and Maxbytheway's worlds," she corrects herself.

[cacophonish]

Now it's Jeff's turn to pipe up with, "Uh, so like, I'm a vegetarian?"

He doesn't want to eat any bears!

[be_seeing_you]

The longest-suffering sigh in the history of long sighs. Why did he think this was a good idea again?

"We are not going to eat a bear. We brought provisions. And, no, starting a fire with magic is not allowed. Max has the right of it. When we get to our first resting point, all of you are going to learn to start a fire the old-fashioned way." Looking directly at all you magic kids.

"I think that's long enough. Let's get moving." Before he intentionally causes an avalanche on you all.

[prince_of_beasts]

"Ah, one moment -- "

Dimitri darts back to the dining room, and returns with another paper package, which he offers to Jeff. "This one has vegetable sausage," he explains. "My apologies for not considering it. Vegetarianism isn't really an option where I'm from. And yes! Let's be on our way."

Dimitri's cheer is unabated; he's all but bouncing on his toes. He gets to go walkies and meet new people! Glorious day!

[cacophonish]

Brace yourself, 6, because Jeff's about to let out another whiny groan at the notion of building a fire without magic. What does he look like, a caveman? A boy scout? Ughhhhhhh--

--but then Dimitri comes back with an offering of veggie sausage, which helps lift his spirits. Look at that, he's even smiling.

"Oh! Thanks, man. That's really cool of you."

Maybe this hike won't be total torture. But there's definitely a lack of pep in his step as they all get moving.

[be_seeing_you]

"Thank you Dimitri." You're the best one here. And this "thank you" is said very pointedly so everyone else knows it.

"Let be off."

If you think he is going to go at a slow and merciful pace, then you must not know him very well. They have a schedule to keep. They can make camp to rest at noon, but no stopping until then. Whiners might discover that the speed increases every time they complain, too. Weird.

[prince_of_beasts]

"Pleasure to meet you, Max! I'm Dimitri," says Dimitri, again entirely too cheerful about introducing himself at seven in the morning. "And, hm. I doubt this place is large enough that that will be a concern, but I also doubt the false plants here are edible, and I'm not confident I could identify them safely, regardless. Dedue do not start I just said I WASN'T going to."

[glassaxolotl]

Dedue does give him A Look.

[prince_of_beasts]

Dimitri returns A Look.

"They're not weeds if they're in the woods where they belong," he mutters under his breath.

[sonofabinky]

Max would like to continue the conversation. Unfortunately most of his braincells are stunlocked by the crowd, and so what comes out of his mouth is the first thing he thinks of that relates to the subject at hand.

"One time at camp when I was a kid, this girl swore she knew some mushrooms were safe cuz she saw a picture of them on Reddit, and she had to go to the hospital. It was gnarly."

Oh god this is why Laura does the talking.