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+---- Thread: the only way out is a way through -- open, betta ceremony (/showthread.php?tid=1858)
the only way out is a way through -- open, betta ceremony - Verdigris - 06-06-2018
[font=trebuchet ms]Thankfully, this ceremony didn't require him to ingest any weird substances.
Papercutter had taken a map from a nearby NPC and left camp as soon as dawn came, stopping only occasionally to set the map down and examine it. The three Xes were distributed evenly across the map, with one near the aquarium tunnel, one within the jungle, and one on what appeared to be an off-shore island. He had already headed into the jungle, so the most efficient course to take was to get the jungle figure first, then the aquarium figure, then the island figure. Simple enough.
As the shadows of the trees above him disappeared, Paper glanced up. He had entered a clearing of sorts; he had seen a small patch of non-forested ground on the map, so that was probably where he was. More interesting, however, was the massive stone structure in front of him- it almost reminded him of the temple that he thought he'd seen on initiation night, but then everything about that night was a blur. This probably wasn't the same structure, either way.
Still, the X was further east on the map than this particular part of the clearing, so he'd have to cross it. Circling the temple (with a few stray glances at the oddly-colored tree atop it), he halted upon reaching the other side, squinting to see through the screen of fog that obscured the land ahead. If his navigation skills had led him true, this was the correct location, but who knew what dangers lay within the mist?
Setting his jaw, he marched directly into the fog, his eyes sweeping the land ahead to search for any distinguishing marks. The first one to stand out to him was a tall slab of what appeared to be stone, about twice his height. As he drew closer, he just barely stopped himself from stumbling and falling into the hole right in front of the stone.
He stared down into the grave, judging it to be roughly three and a half times as deep as he was tall. He could climb out of it easily enough, but he decided he'd rather descend into it on his own terms rather than fall in unexpectedly. (Much like death itself, now that he thought about it.) Cautiously, he lowered himself into the grave, and glanced down at the object half-buried in the center.
The object was a wooden figure of a snake, its tail wrapped around a small bottle.
"One down, two to go," Paper muttered to himself, taking the figure's head in his teeth and hauling himself back onto the grass. The Necro Mambas hadn't seemed like his area of expertise, but perhaps he would surprise himself. He still had two more locations to visit before going up to the volcano, which provided plenty of time for him to change his mind.
He had reached the aquarium tunnel faster than he had expected to, but the X was slightly to the west of the tunnel. Looking in that direction, Paper noticed a cavern with silver shards decorating its exterior- the Crystal Mine Caves, if he recalled correctly. It would be the perfect place to hide a figure; he could probably spend all day looking within its depths, and that was only if he didn't let himself get distracted by all the gold and other precious metals.
He had a job to do, though, and he was going to get that job done. Into the cave he went, still holding both the Necro Mambas' figure and the map; he doubted anyone would try to steal either if he left them outside, but it was smarter to keep them on his person. The minecarts, he figured, were probably the first place to check, but he also ought to look at the walls and floors as well.
In the first minecart was what appeared to be a human skeleton. Shoving it to the side, he scanned the bottom of the cart, but found nothing of interest. Looking up, the walls were bare, as were the tracks.
The second minecart was filled with rubies. Paper rummaged through the jewels, but could not locate any sort of wooden object. Another dead end, it would seem...
...were it not for the strange purple gem at the bottom, shaped like an icosahedron, with dark lines running along its faces. The gem seemed to emit a light of its own, that flickered and flashed intermittently. Staring at it, Paper felt an odd sense of intimidation, as if it could drive him to the depths of insanity with merely a thought.
Without thinking, he pulled the ruby out by the string tied around it- he didn’t remember seeing the string, but he could feel it under his touch- and put the string over his neck. The gem ceased its flickering, its light fading to a soft glow.
After a moment, he blinked, as if awakening from a deep sleep. ”Weird,” he muttered through the objects in his mouth, leaving the second minecart behind. The third one probably had the statue, he figured- they wouldn’t have had time to go much deeper to hide it, given that they had to hide all three statues between when he went to sleep and when he woke up.
His hunch proved true, as peering into the third cart, he saw a wooden figure of a rat by the glow of the worms above. Tugging it out of the cart and putting it on the floor, he set down the snake and the map as well. Carrying all three figures and the map in his mouth was foolhardy at best; thinking about it now, he really should have brought a bag, but oh well.
Reading the map by the light of the ruby, Paper traced the path from the caves to the final island with one claw. The island in question was the only one in that general area, so he could probably just follow the coastline until he found it. He no longer needed the map, then.
Leaving the map behind, he took the two figures and exited the cave, then headed out towards the coastline. He had the rat and the snake, so he was looking for the ray. It couldn’t be that difficult to find, especially since he was confined to one island for the search.
The Blackjack Rats hadn’t been the first one he would have thought to join when he initially arrived on the island, but it had still been under his consideration, given that it involved social manipulation, espionage, and thievery. It resembled the less violent, more subtle side of mercenary work, he thought. Even more so, the plant he had accepted from Amaranth was supposedly intended for members of the Rats, so maybe that was a sign.
In the midst of his musings, Paper found himself in front of the bridge, and glanced up.
It was Haven Island. They had sent him back to Haven Island.
A younger, less wearied Papercutter might have loudly voiced his complaints, but the Papercutter of now remained solemnly silent as he crossed the bridge, his eyes focused on the island ahead. He wasn’t under the influence now. It couldn’t hurt him. None of what he had seen that night was real. He just had to keep telling himself these things, to keep telling himself not to be held back by the past.
He was not now who he was back then.
Setting foot on the island, he glanced around. The landscape was emptier than he remembered, barring what appeared to be some sort of chapel and a few trees. With a sigh, he walked towards the chapel- if they were going to hide the ray figure here, it was going to be in the place with the most nooks and crannies.
In front of the chapel, he stopped. There was a pool of water, and while he didn’t wish to stay on this island any longer than he had to, he was thirsty. It would do him no good to pass out two-thirds of the way through the task. Setting down the two statues and tugging the ruby back to keep it dry, he leaned down to drink from the surface.
It was there, his face pointed down towards the water, that he caught sight of the ray figure, floating in the middle of the pool. That was... a problem, to say the least. He wasn’t confident in his ability to swim, even over short distances.
Still, he wouldn’t let himself be defeated by this. Taking the string off of his neck and setting the ruby down by the other two statues, Paper took a deep breath, then dove into the water and paddled towards the figure. If he could just focus on the statue, he wouldn’t focus on the fact that he was suspended above several feet of water, or that people had drowned in even shallower waters than this, or that no one was around to help. None of that was his concern- all that mattered was the statue, and finally being considered on an equal level to his clanmates.
Snatching the figure (and getting a mouthful of water in the process, that he struggled not to choke on), he made a mad dash for the shore. It was so close- he had almost won the day, he just needed to live a little bit longer, even if his lungs and limbs alike were screaming at him to cease and desist. It was just a little further...
As his feet finally struck land and his head lifted above the surface, he spluttered out the statue (and surrounding water) and sucked in a breath. Spitefully, he turned his head and spat the last bit of water at the pool, noting with some satisfaction that it really was as large as he had thought- with his luck, a small part of him had worried it would’ve been barely a puddle in reality.
Paper took the ray statue in his mouth and shook off the excess moisture from his pelt, then returned to the other side of the pool and retrieved the other statues, as well as the ruby. The wind chilled his soaked fur, but he paid no heed to the environment, making a beeline for the volcano.
Given his lack of medical knowledge (or interest in the field), the Necro Mambas was out, so that left the Blackjack Rats and the Grim Rays. The Grim Rays were the fighters- the strongest ones in the yard. That was what he had come to the Typhoon to be. The choice seemed clear.
As he arrived at the top of the volcano, Paper set down the figures in front of him and glanced down at the lava, thinking. Looking at the Mambas’ figure, he carefully pushed it off of the ledge, watching it vaporize in the heat of the lava.
That left the rat and the ray. Paper fixed his eyes on the two of them, deep in thought. As far as he knew, there were no takebacks. Once he made his decision, that was it- and even if he could go back on his decision, what point was there in doing so? He would just seem indecisive, a trait that didn’t suit someone of his aspirations.
The ray was, in effect, a representation of the past. It was the one he had focused on the most, and the one he had had the hardest time reaching. Joining the Grim Rays would allow him to finally achieve what he had always dreamed of as a child, to spite all of those who thought he couldn’t do it... but then, was he really leaving his past behind, or just letting it control him?
The rat, meanwhile, was the future. It was while searching for the rat that he had found the strange ruby, which he suspected had more power than its appearance would suggest. More importantly, though, it had brought him to explore a new area, one that he might never have thought to delve into were it not for the task at hand. The Blackjack Rats were what the days spent on the island seemed to be leading him toward, and would give him a new lease on life... but would he really be leaving his past behind, or just giving up and contenting himself with being a weakling?
He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
Then, opening his eyes again, Papercutter reached out and pushed the statue on the left into the burning abyss.
[font=trebuchet ms]With the remaining figure in his jaws, Paper descended from the volcano, his eyes calm for what was probably the first time that day.
Coming to a halt in front of the totem pole and its associated bowl, he glanced up at the various prints already present there. With a nod, he dipped his left paw in the bowl of paint, and pressed it against the lowest level of the pole. He had a long way to go to reach the top, but he was ready for whatever would come his way.
Entering the leftmost hut on Barracuda Bay, he took the ruby from around his neck using his right paw, and tucked it away under the bed. No one needed to know about it, at least not right now. Then, he proceeded to the doorway, and set down the figure next to the entrance.
Looking the wooden rat in the eyes, and dusting the last of the yellow pigment off of his left paw, he grinned. It was the past that had led him here, confused and struggling to hide his despair- but it was the future that gave him hope, that gave him something to fight for.
He was ready to leave the past behind.
/tl;dr: Paper’s a Blackjack Rat now, and has come into possession of a weird glowing ruby, the purpose of which is unknown
/I dunno how long this is wordcount-wise b/c I can’t copy paste the whole thing on mobile
/don’t feel pressured to reply tho
Re: the only way out is a way through -- open, betta ceremony - Character Graveyard. - 06-06-2018
IF LOOKS COULD KILL ✧ Vanessa Carlysle - The Typhoon
Someone she didn't know it seemed. The onyx-female had noted that as she had decided to approach the Jackal, offering a nod of her head to him. Her icy blue-gaze would study the male, though her gaze had focused on both of his eyes and his pelt.
"Haven't seen you around here, but I suppose you're an older member of The Typhoon?" The lupine asked before adding. "Vanessa, I joined recently."
"Haven't seen you around here, but I suppose you're an older member of The Typhoon?" The lupine asked before adding. "Vanessa, I joined recently."
© madi
Re: the only way out is a way through -- open, betta ceremony - CAESAR CIPHER. - 06-07-2018
REIGN HAVOC FROM ABOVE !
CAESAR CIPHER. MALE. THE TYPHOON. PRIVATEER.
Caesar was honestly glad he hadn't been born here, or at least joined old enough not to be considered a Betta. He hated the idea of the Betta Ceremony, but that was mostly because he didn't like the idea of having to go out to multiple areas in search of something. Mostly because he'd be too exhausted to do anything.
"You're up early, kid." Caesar commented as he watched Papercutter come back, head tilted in curosity at the little statue the Betta had in his jaws. Then again, he supposed the Ceremony did require you to be up early. But hell if he knew if that was just a thing Papercutter did, or if that was a requirement in of itself. He didn't really care to know.
"You're up early, kid." Caesar commented as he watched Papercutter come back, head tilted in curosity at the little statue the Betta had in his jaws. Then again, he supposed the Ceremony did require you to be up early. But hell if he knew if that was just a thing Papercutter did, or if that was a requirement in of itself. He didn't really care to know.