EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA | BOTTLE

[cherrywood]

Characters: ALL!
Date: February 12th - 28th
Location: Kithika, inside the bottle
Situation: The discovery of an artifact from the first war against Malicant reveals the land of Kithika within a dimension of the Death Plane... and just happens to be contained inside a bottle.
Warnings/Rating: Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

OOC INFORMATION ♦ CITY OF KEELIAI ♦ INSIDE THE BOTTLE ♦ THE WORLD EATER
Arriving in Kithika is unpleasant for the most part. Transport through the glass vessel deposits you in the middle of a thick and murky swamp, with air so hot and humid it feels as though one is breathing through a wet towel. This is a place of perpetual night and there are no celestial bodies visible overhead through the twisted vines to break up the blackness, making the only light visible that which comes clumps of marsh fungus that emit a steady glow in a variety of muted colours: pale blue, whitish green, watery mauve. The only other light comes from those who can generate it themselves and that will reveal numerous broad-leaved trees, in some places standing too thick to move through. Below, knee-deep water laps in swirls at their legs, accompanied by the occasional slithery feel of something moving in the bracken against wet limbs, gone before it can be identified. A variety of strange noises from creatures of the swamp fill the air with buzzing and hoarse croaking, interrupted by the screech of mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds darting past and hungry for a meal.

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OOC NOTE: Characters will not be able to progress past the Temple and the Grounds for 48 IC hours after which point, the way to continue onward to find the dragon will be discovered. The second log will be posted on the 17th, to help spread out the tagging. Thank you!

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OOC INFORMATION
Landfall Questions | Approved Item Requests | Player Plot - Kryptonian Rampage OOC

CITY OF KEELIAI
Emperor's Orders: Miasma Explained | Marshaling the Forces | A City Under Siege | Halting the Scourge

INSIDE THE BOTTLE
Crossing the Swamp | Decayed Grounds | The Sullied Temple | Stone Idols | Item Discovery

THE WORLD EATER
Battling the Dragon | Soul's Poison | Kryptonian Rampage | The Guarded Pool | Weighing the Options | Aftermath

Comments

[skybluejeep]

That's when the reaction finally sets in. He'd been keeping it together with his annoyance, his anger. But Derek's touch unravels him, and he gasps deep.

And grabs him by the front of the shirt, hooking his fingers in and refusing to loosen them.

"Then all you have to do is drop this bullshit 'I'm going to save you' you've got in your head. Don't...don't do that to me. Please...please, don't."

[garou]

But that's the problem. Derek knows he can't save anyone.

He's terrified. Terrified to keep Stiles, terrified to let him go because either way he's going to lose him, but at least he'd be alive if Derek could just break it off.

But he can't.

"I can't keep you safe."

[skybluejeep]

"You don't have to."

He yanks hard on the front of Derek's shirt, his arm trembling as he fights off the panic attack still.

"Okay? I am not some fainting fucking flower for you to rescue. I can take care of myself. I jumped into your world feet first and I'm the one who literally kept your head above water, you idiot. I am not going to let you end this because you're afraid I'll die. So get over it."

[garou]

"And when it happens, what then, Stiles? What am I supposed to do?" He speaks quietly, not moving, eyes still closed.

"You've been hurt before, because of me. You'll get hurt again."

[skybluejeep]

"Hey. Derek. Look at me."

He tilts his forehead against Derek's just a little bit, so their noses brush lightly, and then pulls back just a little bit. He's still fighting off the panic, but he's winning so far.

"We can't do this. We can't sit here and go 'what if what if.' We just can't. Okay? You of all people should know that. All we've got is right now. We can't do this thing where we're so afraid of dying that we forget to live."

[garou]

Derek opens his eyes just enough so he can look at Stiles, and his grip tightens briefly.

And then he's pulling Stiles close to himself, clinging to him, pressing his face to Stiles' hair.

"Your need to calm down," he says finally, into Stiles' hair. "You heartbeat is loud... who knows what all is out there and can hear it."

[skybluejeep]

"Workin' on it. Tell me you're not gonna ditch me and that'll be a big help."

And then he's clinging back. Yeah, there's a time and a place for this, but he needs this reassurance pretty badly right now.

[garou]

"....I won't ditch you." And he means it, he knows he does. As much as he doesn't want to, as much as everything inside of him screams that it's a terrible idea, he knows he won't.

He couldn't lose Stiles if he tried.

[skybluejeep]

"Good."

He takes in a deep breath, holds it, slowly lets it out. And his heart rate does eventually start to slow.

"We're in this together, here on out. No more of this BS. I don't like having this fight. Especially since we're supposed to be cleansing the world of evil right now. I mean, I can only throw knives at Nogitsunes once before it stops being effective."

[garou]

Derek sets his jaw, but doesn't argue; he has a long way to go before he feels like he's going to be worthy of Stiles.

"If I could have hit it, it wouldn't have been a problem."

[skybluejeep]

"I know, Grumpy. You're the best at hitting things, too."

The clinging is turning into a hug, even with all the evil around them right now, the distant and disturbing noises. And he lets out a breath. Yeah, it's gonna be tough, but he's not giving this up without a fight.

"Come on. We gotta get a move on. We gotta find out how to get this taken care of already."

[garou]

"Where do we even go from here?" And... yeah okay, that's probably a loaded question, all things considered, but it's the only one he has. He doesn't pull too far away from Stiles, just enough so he can get a look at their surroundings.

[skybluejeep]

"...Good question."

Because all paths seemed to lead here. And apparently defeating the statue did nothing. Even Stiles is totally at a loss here, and he's usually the one figuring out the puzzles fastest.

And of course, that's about the time his stomach gives a loud gurgle. He's starving.

[garou]

Derek huffs, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Let's see if we can find anything edible."

[skybluejeep]

"Might not be a good idea."

He makes a face at that, and shakes his head.

"Eating things in the realm of death is kind of one of those things that always ends badly for people. I really don't want to be stuck here because I got the munchies, you know? I'll be fine."

[garou]

"I promise I won't look back. Come on." And Derek starts leading him away, back towards that temple he'd seen.

[skybluejeep]

"...How are you the sexiest thing I've ever seen?" he asked wonderingly, his voice finally easing back into the sarcastic tone that Derek knows and hopefully loves.

"Seriously. You're so hot when you're intellectual."

[garou]

"Don't sound so shocked," he huffs, tugging Stiles along by the hand. "Orpheus and Eurydice is a pretty common myth."

[skybluejeep]

"Ugh, you even pronounce the names properly, I've never wanted you more. If we weren't stuck in a realm of death I'd take you in a manly fashion."

His grip in Derek's hand tightens. Thank you. Thank you for letting him be his usual sarcastic self. It's helping.

[garou]

Derek squeezes back, but levels him with a dry look.

"Because I'm pretty?"

[skybluejeep]

"The absolute prettiest."

He hurries to catch up, walk apace with Derek. This was gonna be okay.