peckenpaugh | OUTSIDE

Entry tags:

! ic/ooc,
* endgame

OUTSIDE

outside

the garden looks very nice today He blooms over every surface, pokes through cracks between bricks, climbs walls and lamp posts, hangs from roofs. He sees you. This is what they meant by infinity, and it is chilling to behold.

Without streetlamps, without starlight, without the moon, campus is dark. A layer of ash is starting to collect over everything like snow, filthy and warm to the touch. The vines are thick as a carpet out here, and they move. Wriggling, writhing, squirming, breathing. They are alive. Out here the purple flowers glow, petals pulsing to the rhythm of a song that never reaches your ears. Aside from the magical starlit pathways still shimmering from earlier in the night, that purple glow is the only light.

In every direction, there is ruination, broken things and billowing smoke. There is no telling how far it stretches, this field of vines and purple flowers. To Paw Paw in the north, certainly. And judging by some of the memories to be found, through the town of Elflock Falls, as well.

If you must be out here, be quick. He will find you if you don't hurry. He will take you.

flee through the rabbit's hole Somewhere in the woods there is a place that's still safe. A spot set aside by the holler itself. A prison for the one who gave his heart away. So secure, it's still protected, still free of The Thing's infection.

Though a seance had called him here once before, he cannot enter this space again. At least not for now. Not so long as your friends fight and push and never give up. So long as you defeat the inevitable.

Clovers still carpet this little ravine, and the old train car stands as it always has: covered in tags and half-rusted but sturdy. The air is still cool and damp, but a fire now roars in the pit beside the train. Candy and snacks, some in packages so old you hardly recognize the brand, sits out in a neat little pile, pristine, fresh and new as the day it was donated.

Tonight, the trees that wall the little ravine stand taller and stronger than they've ever seemed to before. Something pushes at them, but they push back. Even the smallest ones are fighting the invasive growth.

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Winter stops by the flickering light and throws the dead vine around her shoulders like a boa-slash-war-trophy.

Gawking, Aris lowers the drum stick. "...Nevermind!" he announces to the boys behind him, just in case the war cry and the grotesque tearing sound failed to make it clear to them what just happened. He shakes his head in quiet awe before jogging after Winter. Time to get going, right?

Edited 2020-06-03 19:51 (UTC)

Eddy's got two working eyes and he's still not sure what he just saw. Lingering's not safe though, for them or Winter, even if she's just proven she's more than capable of taking care of herself.

"This way. Yeah. Won't let you fall," he murmurs quietly as he herds cats, or Whintossers, through the passage, one hand putting pressure on his injured side, the other pressing light encouragements onto Presley and Patrice's backs and choosing to tune out any complaints for now.

He trusts Armani to do the same as they follow Winter and Aristotle into the street.

Edited 2020-06-03 21:02 (UTC)

Armani holds on to the back of Eddy's suit jacket as he follows along behind him, shining his phone's flashlight every which way to check for vines. He doesn't bother saying anything.

Everything is a blurry mess, but Patrice is smart enough to press himself against the wall as shit goes down. He continues to squint ineffectively as they start to progress, twisting slightly away from Eddy's touch, even though it's needed and sort of appreciated. As they walk he tries to grab Presley's sleeve, mostly to be annoying.

"This is so undignified," Presley complains, but that's the most whining Eddy has to endure as Presley lets himself be guided. He doesn't fight the hand on his jacket sleeve either, although he does his best to pretend he simply doesn't notice or care that it's Patrice.

Things likely could've gone much worse if Winter hadn't—done something. He didn't see what, but given the yelling and that sickly tearing sound, Presley suspects he's better off not getting details. When the six of them group up again, Presley can tell apart Winter Carmichael by the colors of her dress.

He reaches into his jacket with his free hand, and holds Mr. Hobgood's glowing vape out to her. "Victory rip?"

There's something really invigorating about yelling and ripping a killer vine off of a roof like some sort of mid-90s girl power heroine, and though things are grim, Winter can't help but grin to herself, a little smug. Then again, a second later, Presley startles her with his voice.

"Mm? Since when do you smoke?" she asks without concealing her amusement. Now isn't a bad time to try new things really, she supposes as she takes the offered magical glowing vape. Winter doesn't wait for an answer before adding, "If your eyes are still a m-mess, you're going to miss my sick vape tricks."

That says, she takes a pull off the vape. Her trick is the truly impressive coughing fit that follows. "Shit."

Edited 2020-06-04 01:07 (UTC)

As they walk along the main path they can still see the dim glow of the sparkling twilight arches that had been laid out for prom. It's eerie through the ash.

It doesn't take long to reach central classrooms' front door, and it's not much further beyond that. Thankfully, someone's been through here — probably Lukashenko and Bub, cutting a path through vines, smashing bugs and battling birds. There are splatters of ice from slung spells, bits and pieces of wilted green plant life. Certainly quite the battlefield, but the group is safer for it.

The statue of Yalldive Peckenpaugh is still, frozen in the middle of pulling apart a vine.

Beyond, the infirmary is almost within reach.

Edited 2020-06-04 01:12 (UTC)

"How's it look?" Patrice asks as they come to the door, fidgeting a little. The longer his vision remains blurry, the more worried he is about how long it's going to last. Surely it'll clear up, or at least be fixable once they get to the infirmary or get a wand, but it's nerve-wracking to have to rely on the others so much and not know how long he's going to have to. Impatient, he pushes forward a little, despite his impairment.

"Like sthombody's behn here," he slurs. The numbness is subsiding a little, but his tongue still feels a bit alien in his mouth. "Iceth errywhere. Lookth clear but-- pleath be carefuhl."

"I think the pollen is starting to wash out for me. At least, I see a bunch of little blurs now instead of one big blur." Is it a little less green around here? Could it be smooth sailing the rest of the way? Presley decides to summon a speck of optimism. He takes the vape back from Winter, and appears to be smiling for the first time since this entire hell night started. "Exactly what are we looking for, in terms of supplies?"

"Greatheart's more granola than most healers," Winter explains, wiping ash from her eyelashes. "So she's going to have a lot of poultices, creams, bandages, Pepper Up potions, stuff like that." After a pause, she adds, "If it smells bad, it's probably good for you."

Sounds just like something Healer Greatheart would say.

Winter slows as they approach the old house that serves as both the infirmary and the Pre-Healer Studies classroom. Vines climb up the sides, but there's nothing on the door. So she tentatively walks up to it, lights her fingers on the knob and turns...

The door opens. Inside, the infirmary is untouched since last someone was here. The lights are all out, but with cellphones it's easy to illuminate the space and a cautious search of the area produces no danger, but plenty of useful stuff!

In addition to ample magimedical supplies for the tending of small wounds, the adventurers found:

1 Container of Weird Green-Smelling Cream (good for removing 1 injury) - Everyone

Empty Backpack - Eddy (67/100)

An Antique Bonesaw - Presley (82/100)

Metal Crutches - Aristotle (85/100)

3 Scalpels - Patrice (92/100)

Autographed Hockey Stick(?) - Armani (63/100)

You may trade these items freely.

The party made it back to the auditorium safely and without incident!

TOKENS

Aristotle, Armani, Eddy, Patrice, Presley and Winter each earned 6 Tokens for completing an adventure.

They each earned an additional 5 Tokens for completing the encounter.

You can check your token totals in Pouch's shop here, and maybe see if there's anything worth grabbing while you're there!

You may continue to thread here, but you are free to join another memory!

Edited 2020-06-04 03:08 (UTC)

First thing's first: Armani tries to help the blinded boys flush their eyes out with water if they'll let him.

Patrice is moderately well-behaved and doesn't fight having his eyes flushed.

Presley complains much more than Patrice does, but ultimately gives in. "Thank you so much," he tells Armani, not sounding very grateful. This is character development?

Edited (only a little sarcastic) 2020-06-04 03:41 (UTC)

"You're so welcome," Armani returns, less sarcastic but unnecessarily saccharine.

He leaves them to root around for supplies and eventually comes across... a hockey stick. He swings it experimentally. Cool. This is handy!

... But also SO not his style.

"Could anybody use a hockey stick?" he offers to the others.

Eddy holds open a backpack he's found, so Winter can fill it with whatever supplies she wants to bring back. "Not so bad," he murmurs to her as they work. The bruises he's sustained so far aren't worth bothering with, in his opinion.

Hockey does not fall within Eddy's general umbrella of sports boy activities. "Hit things with it," he suggests to Armani, as if this is.. somehow not completely the obvious use.

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OUTSIDE

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary - COMPLETE!

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary - COMPLETE!

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary - COMPLETE!

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary - COMPLETE!

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary - COMPLETE!

ADVENTURE: To the infirmary - COMPLETE!