middleofsomewhere | Event: 12 of Beetroot

Event: 12 of Beetroot

It's been a couple of weeks since they had evacuated Osiga. In that time, many of voidtreckers were busy with a project to try and solve some of the many mysteries that surround the train they travel on. By the eight day of Rabbit they've exhausted all avenues, and whilst they have learned quite a bit, there are still some clear gaps.

Just as that investigation comes to a natural end, passengers are woken up by an announcement.

"Attention voidtreckers and passengers of the voidtrecker express. We are travelling to system #2554098133741. I have sent word to the ministry who have arranged recuperation packs for you. You have had a difficult mission and you deserve a rest.

But it is not just for rest. Last time we visited the system voidtreckers shared memories. Though it is understood that many of you did not enjoy the experience it is notable that certain voidtreckers saw memories of this voidcraft. They were memories that this craft had not accessed. It led to more pathways opening up in the operation of this craft.

I have done some research on the system and I believe we can trigger the caves of memory. This voidcraft understands this might be difficult for the voidtreckers and passengers of the voidtrecker express and it is hoped that only those of you who consent to this experiment will take part.

Regardless this should be a time for relaxation also and the dressing room is open for your convenience. We will arrive in the morning.

The dressing carriage is indeed opened for those who go and look. It's filled with swimming costumes, beach ware, summery clothes and sun hats. There's even a cupboard of buckets, spades, rock pooling gear and picnic blankets.

There are also team coloured tents for those who want to go and sleep under the stars for a night or two, though the train is remaining on the island for those for who camping is their idea of hell.

12 OF BEETROOT

RABBIT 9-12 ~ MEMORY CAVES: BONDING ~ MEMORY MAZE: SEARCH FOR THE TRAIN'S MEMORIES
ASK QUESTIONS ~ LOCATION INFORMATION ~ MEMORY CAVES ~ MEMORY MASTER POST

JEMA'GRETHY ISLAND: RELAXATION

The next day the train announces their arrival and they burst out of the void. For those near a window their first view of the island will be of crystal blue sea and white sand. It really does look like a paradise. The train circles down before landing on a grassy ridge, overlooking a beautiful beach of white sand and the ocean beyond. It is warm, but not too hot, a cool ocean breeze cutting through the heat making it pleasant. Behind them is a grassy plain, changing to forest in the distance. There is the sound of birdsong in the purple sky. To the west the land is more craggy, the silhouette of a fortress in the distance.

In a word, it is idyllic. A sense of peace permeates the island.

The place has no people, but it is clearly maintained. The eastern beaches have racks of shallow boats, both canoes and one- or two-person sailing dinghies. There is also a small building in which scuba gear is stored, along with several waterproofed manuals and instructional literature.

There are no living quarters, but there are sheltered sections with basic toilet facilities marked as camping grounds in five different sections of the island - by the hot springs, within the ruined fortress, beside the harbour, on the eastern beaches, and on the northern face of the mountain.

The recuperation packs are found at the closest toilet facilities to where the train lands. They are simple things, small gift baskets with a couple of fragrant soaps, fancier hair products and skin cream infused with herbs to encourage rest and sleep.

There are some sweet fruit biscuits and a cheesy bread. The packs aren't named but there are some suitable for the younger passengers with tiny plush and colouring books. Quite a few designed for teens with a more engaging activity book and components for making a fancy mocktail with a cute stirrer. Adult packs have a small bottle of alcohol- there's a mixture between the packs and what looks like a stone. When placed next to the skin it will either warm up or cool down depending on what is needed.

Exploring, the passengers will find beautiful beaches, ragged cliffs to walk and caves to explore. Where it is more craggy the beaches are made of pebbles, perfect for rock pooling.

A little more worrying is the volcano-like structure in the north. But even a quick glance will show it is not a typical volcano. There is no smoke and the liquid slowly running down it in rivulets is pink and blue.

Ruins of ancient houses are scattered across the island, but the main settlement is built into a rocky section in the north-west that has been secured with ropes and stairways cut into the cliffs, perfect for scrambles and hikes.

To the west are the hot springs. They have both outdoor and indoor areas; the indoor areas being wooden loghouse saunas, changing rooms and storage sheds, whilst the outdoor areas are a tiered series of pools spilling down the side of the mountain and shaded by brightly flowering trees. The waters are hot, mineral-rich and soothing.

MEMORY CAVES: BONDING

Shortly before arriving they will receive some information on their SCA. It will explain how those who once lived on this island went about making life bonds. Both people would bathe in the hot springs and then dress simply, barefoot and walk to one of seven rocks on the island. Their maps will pin point these, which is good because there's no real indication of what makes these rocks different to any other on the island.

Here they must offer their wish to know the other deeper and share food and drink. They can then go about their day. Sometime in the hours after they will receive their first memory, seen through their partners eyes.

However it seems that in envoking the ritual they have woken something on the island. Even those who did not take part or chose to bond to someone find themselves seeing a glimpse of another life.

On the second day they see another memory, through the eyes of their pair. When they come out of it they find themselves in a cave with their partner, chosen or not. The same happens on the third day, except for this final memory both pairs see both memories, watching from the sidelines as it plays out. They find themselves in the cave once more and this time, for many there is only one exit, to leave through together.

Please go here to play out the bonding process!

MEMORY MAZE: TRAIN'S MEMORIES

On the third day the train sends another message to their SCA.

"Activating the caves that share memories has been successful. I know this is a lot to ask of the voidtreckers, but any who wish to assist in discovering what it is that I have forgotten, the path is open now.

Those who wish to may go to the sacred rocks. Please be warned, I do not know how voidtreckers will fare. Please only go of your own free will."

Their SCA's once again show the rocks on their maps and when they get there, this time they are faintly glowing. It doesn't take much. One touch and their minds are drawn away from their bodies, into a labyrinth of caves. For anyone who comes across these people on the island, they look like they are in a deep trance, breathing, safe but far away in their mind.

The labyrinth is made of cool, dark rock. The walls have a glow coming from crystals in-bedded in them, allowing everyone to see as they move through.

At first there's no more to this labyrinth, or so it seems. But then they turn a corner, and they are no longer in cavern as it just was. They may be in their childhood bedroom, or in the middle of a battle they once fought. Perhaps they are not in their own memory, but someone else's. Scenes move rapidly and often merge, one persons into another, mixing to make strange scenes.

These visions don't attempt to ensnare them like some illusions, and those with protection from illusions and such techniques, will be able to find their way forward through the cave, and away from this triggered scenario.

Time barely has meaning. Indeed, when they finally emerge from the caves only a few minutes will have passed. But in that time they will have seen much, and eventually they may stumble across a fragment of memory that belongs not to a voidtrecker, but to the Voidtrecker Express itself.

OOC NOTES

OOC Post ~ Questions
~ You can either write memories in your tags or if they are longer/require a lot of content warnings you might want to write them in this post and link to them. Just start a top level with your character name to keep things organised!

~ For those taking part in the memory share bonding the cave post is here. Characters arrive in the cave after the second and third memory but it is obviously up to you if you play out the conversations after each or both! For those who do decide that their characters will bond- the cave after the third memory will only have one exit for them to leave together.

~ For those who signed up for train memories you will receive the snippet that your character sees- use these in tags as you will. There will be a conclusion post on the 24th which will put all of those memories together!

Art Credits: Header: Tropical Jewel by Steven Power, Thumbnail image 3.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

1. Son of a beach

It's been a good long while for Wash since shore leave has been on an actual shore, but he'll take it. The dressing car has provided board shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, buttoned for now - he's not shy about his scars, but there are kids aboard, and he doesn't want to explain the particularly nasty one on his chest to anyone who hasn't hit puberty yet. Just because the kids here can generally handle the concept of mortality doesn't mean he needs to bring it up in front of them.

He's not the only one with a new look; he'd spent the first hour of their stop meditating on the train, and now the fifteen-pound cat on his shoulders is a bengal. Norwegian Forest cats aren't great in hot weather; if they're going to be spending a few days on a tropical island, then he's going to make sure Athena is at least comfortable.

You can find him laid out on a towel on the beach, with Athena next to him on her own smaller towel, shamelessly sunbathing; you can find him in the hot springs, shirt neatly folded off to the side and guarded by Athena, who occasionally dips a paw in the water and baps him in the face with it; or you can find him offering you a squirt gun with a grin, holding his own squirt gun in his other hand. "Pistols at dawn?"

2. Let the memory live again

He'd tried to come to the memory caves alone. He knows his memories can be rough, and he doesn't want to subject anyone to them - not when the point of being here is to figure out the gaps in the train's memories.

He's not that lucky. He never is.

You probably take him by surprise - maybe you walk into the middle of his memories, or maybe he walks into yours. Either way, he's immediately guarded and alert. "Great."

[Memories are here; potential concepts are here. I take requests!]

3. Wildcard

Got a different idea? Put it below or hit me up!

He's not sure how exactly to go about finding train memories except to wander around these caves until he finds one that isn't his. His or someone elses.

So as the cave faded around him and is replaced by an unfamilliar place he frowns. He sees Wash... Ah.

"I'm sorry..."

He doesn't want to pry, but he's not sure how not to see what is about to happen.

The cave descends into chaos.

It would be a beautiful planet - verdant fields, tall cliffs, what looks like the remnants of a water park, and even the roars of dinosaurs in the distance - were it not in the middle of being ripped apart. The sky is black, shot through with streaks of bright, poisonous color, roiling like an oil slick on the ocean; that same oily darkness shoots down to the ground in thick columns, breaking the ground into disappearing pieces. In those columns, and in the sky itself, are a multitude of eyes - open wide, gaze darting from side to side, observing everything and nothing.

It's your home, and it's dying, and you don't know how to save it-

You scream for your friends over your helmet radio. Nobody replies. The frequency fizzles and dies. The columns hit the ground closer and closer to you- the skies tear apart- it's going to eat you next-

When a portal, dark blue and serene against the chaos around you, opens in front of you. A hand reaches through it, and a voice calls out- "Take my hand!"

You don't know who or what this is. You don't know what's happening. But your options are to take that hand or die - it's hardly an option at all.

You take the hand. Your vision goes white-

And the next thing you know, you're sitting in a courtyard, dazed, as people bustle around you as though absolutely nothing has happened. You have no idea where you are or what happened to your home, but you're alive, and it's a start.

(Someone immediately mistakes you for a robot, because of course they fucking do.)

Wash lets the memory play out and sighs. "It's fine." It's not fine, but there's not anything he can do about it. Might as well accept it and move on.

He's heard the story, heard Wash speak to those on Osiga about his world but it is one thing to know something and another to see it, to watch it, to be part of it.

A world, beautiful and unique, being ripped apart, streaks of light, columns of eyes. It's terrifying and overwhelming all at once and fear overtakes him as the chaos overwhelms him, as the columns come close and all hope is lost and then there is a hand...

The next feels almost too familiar, a moment of despair, a hand and a tugging, to a new place. A calm place.

He blinks out of the memory and looks at Wash sadly, reaching out to touch his arm. As he does though the world shifts again, the cave turning into a classroom.

One memory fades into another, and Wash finds himself watching a completely different kind of horror story unfold - a mob of angry students, a teacher unable to stop anything, an accusation of murder, all culminating in someone going out the fucking window-

He lunges on instinct, makes a grab for the falling student-

And finds himself holding Taiki roughly by the arm as the memory abruptly cuts out. "Fuck!" He drops his grip immediately - nothing like accidentally manhandling someone who doesn't seem to deal with violence well. Great job there. "Are you okay?" First things first; weird memory shit later.

Wash

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3 for kitty therapy

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2, you know the kind of memory i'm here for!

let's gooooo

Re: let's gooooo

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Beeeeeach

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beach

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beach

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