Metamorphosis IC

[RavenLord]

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere

You wake up on a beach, on the warm sands with waves lapping at your feet. Air is humid and hot, causing you to sweat lightly. Occasional breeze or two provides you with some respite, it's heavenly caress always leaving you wanting for more. Your consciousness returns slowly, like waking up from a long pleasant dream, allowing you to savor the feeling of summer. When you finally get up and look around you see others like you, scattered around the beach. They are clad in same linen shirts and shorts, like you. It seems you are not alone, wherever you are. There also seems to be leather backpacks placed near each of you, which after a quick look reveals some amount of food and water, three pills in a side pouch, a compass and a note.

"Go east."

Sun hangs in the middle of the sky. To your west is ocean, calm and tranquil except an occasional wave or two. Beach stretches on towards north and south, and is mostly empty, except for you and the others. There are some paw prints going up to ocean then back and a single palm tree with a sack doll hanging from it. To your east are a forest of palm trees. You can see a trail leading into it.

Creature inside your mind is asleep. You don't know what it is, only that it wouldn't take much to awaken it, something you are not sure you should do.

[spitfyre]

Sean wakes up taking in the scenery around him. Accepting the fact that he was most likely on a deserted island with no civilization, he stands up carefully. Then after scanning to see how many people were on the beach, he grabbed a bag, briefly went over to the sack doll to examine it, and took off into the forest along the trail, hoping to find food and shelter. "If I am going to be stuck here, pretty much alone, might as well make the best of it." He thought to himself. "I guess this is better than all the shit I put up with back home."

[Earthsage]

Rosalee, confused and concerned with where she even is on this... Island, maybe? It doesn't matter. she quickly grabs her gifted bacpack, and settles the small rumbles in her stomach for now. There's no need to waste food yet. She holds up the compass awkwardly, trying to figure out how to use it. It's not as if she's done anything like this before, and a part of her mind worries even more about her predicament. What's... What's inside her head? Why is she even here? It's scary, being alone with the demons in your mind. She takes a deep, deep breath... And then, hoping she's going in the right direction, she goes east.

[Gorbaz]

Rolling over and letting out a moan, Melanie lets out a groan as she lets consciousness slowly come back to her. First the feeling of warmth on her body and light through her eyelids let her know it was the day, but the shifting of what she was laying on made her mind tick over - this wasn't her bed. Eyes opening, she took in the scene around her. All around was a beach with various people scattered around, some of which were getting up and moving off into a treeline. Why? The sound of the waves was so soothing...

Rummaging through the pack she assumed had been supplied specifically for her, she brushed the sand out of her hair and off her clothes, but did not move from her spot. She wanted to see what everyone else would do first. Besides, something in the back of her mind told her that she loved the beach.

[Nobudi]

Aeryn fell asleep at the counter for the pool she was working part time in.
When she woke, she was in an unfamiliar place, and in unfamiliar clothing.
As she scanned her surroundings, she realized she wasn't alone. Was this a mass kidnapping of some sort? And why did her head not feel quite her own?
Ugh, too many questions and no answers here.
At least she had a backpack that was filled with some supplies. And a rather cryptic note.
Well, she was put here for a reason, so she may as well go along with what whoever wanted this... for now.
Seeing someone else take to the east, she took her pack and lightly jogged up to the girl.
"Yo, you know what the hell's going on? I'm Aeryn by the way, but you can call me Macha."

[Vhexo]

Jonathan woke up from a rather strange dream, and as his conscious returned to him and he slowly opened his eyes letting out a yawn, he saw some unfamiliar things.
Firstly, he was somewhere he didn't remember coming to. Secondly, he had clothes on he didn't remember putting on. And lastly, people unknown to him were scattered along the coast, who were one by one waking up and leaving.
"...", was his only reaction to what was happening. He let out a sigh, at least content he wasn't on his own in this damn place, although the reactions from the others seemed like they were in the same predicament as he was, not knowing what was going on.
Jonathan stood up, but as he did so he felt something stir inside his head, something... ferocious, for the lack of a better word. His appearance didn't give anything away, but his mind was feverishly trying to work out what happened.
He saw a bag laying next to him, and after checking the contents and reading the note, he reckoned it would be best to follow the advice someone had given him, but only for now.

[RavenLord]

Sean - Spitfyre
Sean's path leads deep into the forest and soon beach is out of his sight. He finds himself encircled by trees and surrounded by the sounds of the jungle. Trees, that get bigger and bigger as he journeys deeper into the jungle, blocks his sight but thanks to the compass, he manages to stay on course, navigating his way through the dense canopy. Some time later, as he climbs over the exposed root of a rather large tree, he smells it. A horrendous stench that assaults his nostrils, just coming from somewhere ahead. While stench is nothing like he has smelt before, somehow it feels familiar. Something inside his mind stirs in remembrance.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Goliath stirs.

Melanie - Gorbaz
Melanie decides stick around and stay on the beach, listening to the sound of the waves push and pull. Soon, her muscles relax under sunlight and a yawn escapes her mouth. So, from where sits, she notices two males leaving the beach without interacting anyone, followed by a black haired female with a blond haired female going after her. It seems like they don't believe much in "strength in numbers".

As Melanie turns her attention back to ocean, she notices a grey blot at the horizon, slowly creeping up. It is then the presence sleeping inside her mind shudders, and a feeling of uneasiness washes over her.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Nova shudders.

Jonathan - Vhexo
Whatever is inside Jonathan's mind, it is a light sleeper. Loud sounds and noises seem to irritate it, like the sounds of waves crashing upon the beach. Thankfully it settles down as Jonathan leaves the beach behind him. He has to be extra careful if he wants to prevent the creature from waking up.

After some time walking, and navigating using the compass, Jonathan starts to notice something. Some of the trees around him have some kind of symbol carved into them. Curious.

[Earthsage]

Rosalee looks around, and then at Aeryn as she's suddenly approached and bombarded with questions. She shakes her head quickly, looking just as confused as Aeryn must feel right now. "N-no. I don't know where we are, or why we're here. and for some reason... I really... Want fruit?" Rosalee shakes her head in confusion as a sudden craving for some fruity goodness suddenly pops up in her mind. "I don't know. something feels wrong with my head. I have the strangest feeling that... That we should go East..." Rosalee looks out towards the direction she's already ascertained as East, squinting her eyes at the harsh sunlight that feels nice on her skin.

[Nobudi]

Aeryn looked at the girl warily.
She was feeling the same thing? was something put in their heads or something?
As for her mood... seafood came to mind, but she really wasn't hungry at the moment.
"I'm good. And maybe I can get a name to work with?"
She continued alongside the girl, making their journey east.

[Earthsage]

"Rosalee. Rosalee Murne. It's... It's good to meet you, Aeryn. Let's stick together..."
Rosalee keeps in lockstep with Aeryn, heading east to search for whatever strange call pulled them to their inevitable destination. Hopefully it wasn't too far... She wasn't used to walking long distances, and she didn't want to get tired in case there were dangerous animals she had to run away from.

[RavenLord]

Aeryn and Rosalee - Nobudi and Earthsage

Aeryn and Rosalee navigate through the jungle together, and make some good time helping each other as ground becomes more uneven. For some time, they just walk through tree, trees and more trees, until finally trees give way and both of them find themselves on a riverbank. River itself while seems deep, seems like pretty safe to swim though Aeryn notices a small snake-like shapes slithering close to river floor. Rosalee instead finds herself staring at the tree branches at other side of the river, taking note of sack dolls hanging from random tree branches.

[Earthsage]

"Uhm... Why are there dolls.. .Hanging from the branches?" Rosalee blinks, not really seeing anything to do with the river as her gaze is fixed upwards. "Are they being hung?... Why? Who would do that out here?... It doesn't really make sense. Are... Are they a warning, maybe?" It was a shot in the dark. Rosalee really didn't know what they could be... But her books said things like strange symbols or markings or something would usually be a warning of something terrible. She just doesn't know if hanging dolls would count, in that regard...

[Nobudi]

Aeryn's eyes went skyward as she looked at the dolls hanging from the various tree branches.
Kind of ominous, but if there were dolls here, maybe civilization was too?
"Eerie stuff. And there's something in the water, I can see something move near the bottom."
She turned to her comrade and asked, "Think we should look for a safer place to cross? Place gives me the creeps."

[spitfyre]

"Strange. It's like I have been here before." Sean mutters to himself. Wrinkling his nose in disgust he follow the horrible smell to find its origin.

[Earthsage]

"I don't know... Is there any safer way to cross? I guess we should look first... Before we do anything rash." Rosalee looks up and down the river bank, before deciding to move alongside it in one direction. She squares herself along the side of the river, and calls out over her shoulder, "You head that way for a little ways, okay? I'll go this way. Let's look for a safer way to cross!" Rosalee smiles cheerily, before heading down the river and looking for exactly what she said she'd try to find.

[Nobudi]

"Gotcha," she said keeping it short.
"If anything happens, give a yell."
With that, she split up with Rosalee, heading upstream to find maybe a land bridge or something to cross the river.
She could easily have swam, but whatever was in the river made her a tad uneasy.

[Vhexo]

Jonathan frowns when he notices the carvings. He concluded that or there were other human beings already living in these woods, or something else had done this. Either way, he reckoned he needed to stay on his toes and be wary, since both options could lead to a potential threat. Since multiple trees seemed to be carved with these symbols, and with no other option, he decided to follow the symbols. Maybe they would lead him somewhere, maybe not, but Jonathan stayed silent and followed them, on the lookout for anything suspicious.

[RavenLord]

Sean - Spitfyre

Sean continues walking, following the smell. With his each step, the rancid stench only gets stronger and more nauseating. Presence in his mind only gets more restless in response. Soon, he finds himself at the edge of a clearing. Brushing past a bush blocking his way, Sean enters the clearing and as soon as he sees the source of the stench, his stomach flips.

In front of him stands the half eaten corpse of a beast, rotten and rancid, a mountain of putrid flesh and stinky brown fur. Maggots and insects crawl and wriggle under the skin, adding to disgusting imagery. It takes a couple of minutes for Sean to fight back his urge to vomit and force the bile rising in his throat down. After gathering himself, Sean is able to take another closer look at the corpse itself. While he does not recognize the animal, he realizes whatever it is, it is as large as an elephant. What makes realization so disconcerting is that the fact, judging by claw and teeth marks on its flesh and hide, creature that killed this animal is lot bigger.

Before Sean can ponder on that piece of information any longer, something shifts inside his mind

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Goliath is at the edge of awakening.

Aeryn - Nobudi

Aeryn walks upstream for some time. She does not find a bridge but takes note of a spot where river becomes shallow enough to clearly see the riverbed. To her relief, she does not spot anything else than schools of fish in the river though it seems flow is faster here. Fortunately, Aeryn feels pretty confident about her chances.

Rosalee - Earthsage

Rosalee's journey takes her further down the river. As she walks, river itself gets only wider and deeper with no bridge or some other means to cross river in her sight. Only some time later her lucks seems to be turning a she spots a large wooden raft on the riverbank. Only when she gets closer to investigate she does notice the blood splattered across the ground and some trees. Whatever happened here seems to be pretty violent, except Rosalee does not find any dead bodies which seems like mixed blessing. Then, she hears a branch snap underfoot somewhere from her left.

Jonathan - Vhexo

More Jonathan follows the carvings, more he realizes rather than marking a way, they seem to mark a border of something. Using his compass Jonathan notices that carving go some way towards east before turning south. Fortunately, markings come to and end before he has to deviate much further from his chosen direction. At the end, Jonathan finds himself at a lakeside. Air was calm, and though some may call it peaceful, to Jonathan it feels unnaturally still, like the surface of the lake. Lake itself is very wide and deep. While swimming across is an option if Jonathan decides upon it, it would tax him greatly. As Jonathan thinks upon his options, a deep feeling of uneasiness settle inside him. Something is wrong, very wrong.

[Vhexo]

Jonathan followed the markings, realizing that they didn't mark a way to something but rather a border of some area, he eventually came to a likeside. He noticed that the faint sounds of the woods had became silent, and he felt a little bit uneasy about such a silent place. He took a look at the lake while looking over his options. He didn't feel like crossing the lake at all, since who knows what could live in there. He could follow the lakeside, but then the uneasy feeling woudln't get any better. Going back the way he came also was sort of a bad option, since he'd have to find his way back.

As Jonathan thinks about this, the uneasy feeling he had all the time suddenly grows even stronger, and Jonathan quickly surveys the surroundings, ready to react if anything happened.

[spriter1]

Orla awoke with a groan and a hunger, rubbing her head. The sleep might have felt peaceful, it still feels like she has a migraine like you wont believe. She gets up and looks around, saying "Where am I?" Before looking around, trying to get her bearings as to where she is and looking to see if anyone was around. She dusts the sand off herself as she stands up, taking the bag with her and routing around in it, finding the note and the compass. "Okay..."
Thus with the compass to guide her, she headed east.