isleofavalon | January Catch-all

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January Catch-all

WHO: Lan Sizhui + [OPEN]
WHAT: Astral projection practice, a very Grave quest, and some ingredient gathering
WHEN: January
WHERE: Forest of the Felled, Camelot
WARNINGS: None for now

A; Winter Forage (TDM Prompts)

While Sizhui isn't actively participating in the impromptu baking contests, he's still out in the snowy Forest of the Felled just the same. There's a number of unique berries and herbs to be found here, perhaps something that can be brought back to Camelot to supplement their normal meals during the winter when so many other options are limited. His white robes nearly blend into the snow-covered scenery, and with how little sound he makes when walking through the snow, it might be enough to startle another forager on their own search for food when he calls out a greeting their way.

Or perhaps they're the one to startle him? Upon discovering some brightly colored fruits hanging off of a tree overhead, Sizhui has unsheathed his sword into order to cut a few free from their branches. What he doesn't notice are the vines from said fig trees snaking through the snow around him...

B; Soft Tone, Moving Clouds (Potential ⚔/🛡 Quest Rescue - Gravestone-faced)

The soft sound of music drifts out of an inn room, delicately plucked strings creating something meditative and resonant with magic. Sizhui sits in front of his qin, playing soft and slow with his eyes closed, his mind traveling out and away from him. Astral projection is not a skill that he's deeply familiar with yet, but as with all things, it only takes practice.

The world he stands in is hazy, appearing more like clouds and fog to him than the surroundings that he's familiar with. It would be easy to lose his way if not for the faint threads of music tying him back to his physical body--sometimes visible and sometimes not, like strands of silk trailing behind him. Every so often, bits of scenery peak through the mists for a brief moment--a fountain that he recognizes from one of the town squares, a shop sign just a few streets down, a large tree nestled up against one of the city walls. As disorienting as it is, he tries to bring those landmarks into sharper focus, only to have them slip away again; and he finds it to be a lot like dream-walking, but far less malleable to his intentions. Frustrated but undeterred, he keeps moving, willing to explore but ever careful to stay in range of those soft notes.

What he comes to realize is actually unusual... is the sight of another person. Not that cognitive mages are rare, but finding two of them meeting in this manner would be a stroke of luck. And finding anyone without cognitive magic in this place... That would be unheard of, wouldn't it? He's not sure how that would even occur. So when he does indeed see the vague shape of a person through the mist, he almost forgets to call to them in surprise. But finding his voice, he does call out a greeting to them--just a simple "Hello" to catch their attention...

[Feel free to use this prompt for other cognitive mages, or for anyone that wants a quest rescue back to their body.]

C; Wildcard

Want something that you don't see here? PM this journal or PP me at yumesukidesho!

[I'll match either brackets or prose, so feel free to use whichever you're comfortable with.]

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[Just a placeholder for any planned stuff that comes up this month.]

Ever since the blizzard had ended, Elza had begun searching the forests to restock her herbs along with whatever fruits and vegetables she could come across. She was a recluse by nature and was the type to find her own way to survive and thrive even during the harshest of conditions.

The gunner was always cautious when entering any of the forests in the land. There were always many dangers similar to the threats they often came across travelling through her own world. The thought of danger though never deterred her though when there were such great potential ingredients waiting to be discovered. That was what had drawn Elza to the forest today. She'd done some foraging a few days prior and so far what she'd discovered held promise. There were many different ways she could make use of the berries and fruit growing there this winter.

Today was different though. While she silently made her way through the forest, the gunner's movements came to a pause on the branch she steadied herself on. Her presence was hidden from those who could sense it, especially now that she sensed that she wasn't quite alone. When it appeared that whatever it was wasn't approaching, the gunner silently began to leap to the next branch in search of whatever was there.

It wasn't malevolent in nature, at least not at this point, but the near-silent slide of snow gave the gunner the impression that whoever... whatever it was was about to fall victim to one of the dangers of the forest. She moved around the tree, keeping close to the trunk, before she caught sight of a white robed figure - the crisp white similar to her own white cloak which was pulled tight around the assassin.

It would have been far too easy to keep silent and allow the tree to do what needed to be done, and Elza was tempted. This person meant nothing to her and she hadn't been hired to either save or remove this one's life... yet the practical side of her mind was reminding the gunner that if he died here, it could bring more people to the forest which was an unfavourable situation.

"You might want to watch yourself there," Elza carelessly said with a subtle smile curving her lips.

Sizhui startles at the sound of a voice, drawing his attention in the general direction of the stranger at first--until her warning registers for what it is. He quickly refocuses on the area around him, only noticing then the vines that had gathered around him in the snow. Those... weren't quite so numerous before, and certainly not lying on top of the snow. Discarding his attempt to fetch the colorful fruit, he carefully extracts himself from the tangle, stepping back and away from the tree. Only once the vines are fully in front of him by a few feet does he finally sheath his sword and look up into the branches.

Sizhui might not have noticed her without the aid of her voice, but his eyes are attuned to spotting white robed figures on the snowy mountain of his home, and after a few moments of searching the branches his gaze falls on his (seemingly) helpful benefactor.

"Thank you for the warning. I'll be more careful." Now that he knows the tree vines can move, he'll be sure to keep an eye out for them in the future. He was very fortunate that someone happened to be along just now--though he does wonder why she's lurking about in the branches overhead.

"Are you also out here looking for new ingredients?"

[ For Ritsuka, there's something kind of nostalgic about the requests that have been going around for the baking competition. She's no baker herself--no cook at all, really, content to be the person who eats and helps with the cleanup instead--but boy does she understand and appreciate fetch quests. And farming quests! It's something that she can do, and she doesn't even need to ask anyone she knows for help! Not even Kadoc, ha! Suck it, Zemlupus.

But because she doesn't have a whole lot of familiarity with foraging--one try alone doesn't count--she's relying heavily on her phone for reference. At least there are reasonably clear photos of the specific ingredients for her to check with!

Which means, distracted as she is, and with his white robes blending into the snowy landscape, Ritsuka doesn't actually notice the young man until she practically trips over him. She's not sure if she actually makes contact or not, or if it's just hindbrain animal instinct that kicks in at the last second and makes her trip over her own feet. Oopsadoodle. ]

--Whoa! Sorry! I didn't see you there!

[Sizhui doesn't immediately notice the other person approaching him, absorbed as he is in trying to identify... whatever this vial is with a little face on it. Not until they're almost upon him, and only then does he barely have enough time to react.]

Careful--! [He drops what he's holding and grabs a hold of her arm instead, trying to keep her from falling into the snow, and himself as well. Once he's sure that they both have their footing, he'll quickly let go again to give her a respectful amount of space--and offer a shake of his head to her apology.]

It's alright. You're not hurt, are you?

[ There's a couple of seconds where Ritsuka just dangles from the grip, not unlike a scruffed kitten. A moment later, though, when she's back on her feet, she bobs in a half-bow, rubbing the back of her neck. ]

Nah, just--uh, mostly my pride?

[ What little she has of it, at least. Still, this is embarrassing on multiple levels. ]

I was kinda distracted--I didn't kick you for real, did I? It was definitely my bad.

Is that the silhouette of a human, or a human-sized panther? A trick of the light, perhaps. As he approaches the shape gets smaller and shorter until it resolves itself into a housecat with black fur and bright violet eyes. He sits, tail wrapped around his feet, waiting for the stranger to come to him.

"Hello." It might have been a word, or it might have been a meow. It's hard to tell.

Sizhui does have to blink a moment when he sees... something? Coming closer? Most things in this place don't move on their own accord, so it does set him on guard, though not enough to draw his sword. A sword that he's not even certain would work on this plane. Would physical altercations even have any effect when the physical body isn't present? He honestly hadn't considered that until right this moment.

It's a good thing for him that fighting isn't his first instinct and doesn't seem necessary regardless. It's only a cat... or... someone who looks like a cat? He blinks in surprise at the greeting he's given, partly unsure if he even heard the words at all. If it wasn't words, he'll feel very silly for talking to a cat. If it was... Well, it would be worse to be rude.

"I didn't expect to see anyone else here. Are you... You're a person, right?" It's not rude to ask that much, is it? Perhaps he only means to ask if he's real and not a product of this mist and fog.

He remains perfectly still, guarded as any respectable cat would be when meeting a stranger, but his ears flick forward in interest. At least this stranger is polite, for a human suddenly confronted by a talking cat. He's gotten a lot of different reactions to his existence over the millenia.

"I am myself," he answers, which probably isn't comforting at all, but he says it like it should be.

[Mukuro was not a particularly emotive girl- and so, she figured the quest wouldn't be too difficult. Something to occupy her mind whilst she thought about potentially poor choices she'd been considering following the whole dragon incident.

...But the problem was, bringing up her death- no, bringing up her sister's death? That was enough to get a flare of anger and denial-

And now, the freckled girl was lost, floating in a void. Where was her body now? How long had it been? What was going to happen to her, now?

Wait, someone was calling?]

Hello...?

[She hadn't just imagined it, had she?]

Edited 2022-01-10 20:53 (UTC)

[The response Sizhui gets back sounds almost as uncertain as he does. But it does make him more certain that there's really a person there and not just a figment of the landscape or his imagination.]

[As he gets closer, he can tell that he doesn't recognize the girl, but there's something about her that seems... off. Disconnected. More-so than the rest of this world generally was. Was she able to see him?]

I'm here. [He speaks again for her benefit, hoping that his voice will help her focus, though his brow furrows a little in concern.] Are you alright?

[Yes, unfocused though she felt, she was able to draw herself into the sound of this person's voice. Not one that was familiar of course, but a calming presence.

'Are you alright?' Was, at this point, a complicated question.]

...I don't know. I- I'm lost.

Guessing it got you, too?

[I'm lost is such a concerning thing to hear in a place like this, and yet not one that he feels is uncommon. It could be very easy to get lost, he thinks, if he wasn't being particularly careful about that. But this... is something else. She doesn't seem to have the same sort of anchor that he does, those little threads leading back the way that he came, sometimes visible and sometimes not. Were they severed somehow? Out of sheer caution, Sizhui reaches out and places a hand on her elbow, hoping to steady her in this world and provide some kind of temporary anchor.]

[At her question though, he gives her a confused look. "It"?]

I don't know what you mean by that. I'm here by my own abilities. Are you not?

[Physical contact was something she was slowly adjusting to. It was grounding, in its own way- and as he put his hand on her elbow, she reached out to grab the wrist of that hand in turn. Holding possibly a little too tight to be comfortable.]

...That creature. The one that responds to emotion- you didn't see it?

[As for the question- no, she wasn't here of her own will, and she shook her head to express that.]

[He'll allow her to hold onto him, even if her grip is uncomfortably tight. It's only natural, after all, if she's not here under her own power. It must be terrifying for her, he thinks, to be trapped here without a means of escape.]

I haven't seen a creature like that, no. Where were you when you saw it? Do you remember?

[If it can do this to someone, then a creature like that shouldn't just be left alone... It could be a danger to others, if it's not dealt with properly.]

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January Catch-all

Closed Threads

Winter Forage

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A

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B!

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B! For rescuing a stupid gorl (DR Spoilers/Death ment.)

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