T̷h̷e̸ ̵G̶a̴m̸e̵ - A VR Role-play

[FrankieDoodle]

Theodore stuck to Leita's side like glue. Distrust was turning his gut- why would Zulema even think of bringing them into the forest where he had nearly died?
The trip was so silent, so deeply unsettling. Gooseflesh crawled down their arms, chilling their spine. Silence was unnerving- silence meant danger.
Warm skin brushing against xyr right hand caused xem to jump, until xe realized it was only xyr hand brushing against Leita's. Stupid. She probably doesn't appreciate you clinging to her side like a scared puppy.

Allowing space to drift between them, he gripped the scimitar in his left hand tighter, even as they stopped to listen to Zulema explain the landmarks. They were so caught up in memorizing the tree, that they hardly noticed Zulema move until she was gone.

Vanished.

Swallowing sharply, he gave Leita a glance. "So, she vanished." Anxiety-tinged sarcasm glazed the obvious statement. Xe observed xyr surroundings, drawing in a deep breath as xe did so. Aa- ow.
Their lungs viciously protested against their binder at the deep breathing. It had been several hours too long, and he was facing the consequences. That's going to be a problem.

...

For future Theodore, he decided.

With no further hesitation other than a thrown away glance back at Leita, Theo stepped past the tree, holding xyr breath as if it would shield xem.
For a moment, he was plunged under the surface of a pool. Sightless and deaf, the only other thing bringing him awareness was brief pressure, until he felt cold air, as if they had never been in the damp forest.

Salty breeze licked their cheek bones and danced among their hair, sweeping curls off of their forehead. Xe dared to open xyr eyes, taking into vast expanse before xem.
Dried grasses whistled around his feet, dust turning the black boots a dirty brown. The moorland stretched for what appeared to be many miles- as if he wouldn't phase back into a forest if he took two steps back.
The only thing that broke the moorland apart were ruins of stone structures.

Fresh waves of nausea came over at the sight of the ruins, at the sight of the castle. Tentatively he took a few steps forward, feet immediately dipping into crevasses in the earth.
Whispers tickled his ears, pieces of an ancient tale glitching across his vision in shattered shards.
A child's small, calloused bare feet slipping into the very crevasses he was standing in. Celebrations older than time, chants spoken in tongues that he couldn't even begin to comprehend. A bleeding sunset casting shadows of the destruction that befell the ancients. The iron stench of it all, the rot of it all creating new, silent life stretching across the ruins of the once alive civilization.
What was this...?

"Don't mess with the iguanas, entienden?"

"Sí, sí, senõrita, entienden!" The sharp tone forced the words from their throat before they really even processed what they said. They were standing right behind Zulema, despite not remembering or even being aware of following the vampire.
Wait...iguanas?

There were iguanas back home. Although they were rare within the city itself, you occasionally saw one in trees or sunbathing. They were virtually harmless beings, as long as you didn't stick your hand near their mouths. Nothing that anyone was ever warned about- Mexico City had far more dangerous things to worry about than iguanas.
"No offense intended," he muttered, full offense intended. "But what the hell is this place? And.. why is it completely abandoned, except for iguanas?"

(Love the casual binder rep! Also, ""No offense intended," he muttered, full offense intended." is absolute gold lol /gen)

"Both Oregon and Washington are pretty green, I guess." They shrugged, a stagger halting their steps as they broke into a coughing fit. It's lungs heaved and protested as it fought for freezing air for several moments, before straighting up as best as it could, staggering onwards.
They listened to Zayne, eyes stinging as large flakes pelted them, even more threatening clouds rolling closer and closer. It squinted at the mention of California. "California is very warm. That would be nice right about now. Not that I've ever been to California, though."

Their breath was coming in short, frozen gasps by now, icy eyes pinning on the boy at the last series of questions. "I have an aunt. An older brother and a younger sister." They paused, their gaze falling back to the glitching snow. "My brothers estranged. Left a while back, rarely heard from him since. My sister is bearable enough, I guess. My aunt is.. well, she tries her best, supposedly. She's rarely home." They scowled deeply. "Leaving me to take care of the house and my sister."

It snapped upright suddenly, picking up the pace. "But that's irrelevant. Tell me more about yourself."

"Yeah, that's true," Zayne said, twisting his mouth. He paused next to Xavier when they stopped, hand hovering near its back as it coughed.

After confirming Xavier wasn't on the brink of death--or, more accurately, closer than they both already were--he continued to walk, kicking a particularly large ice chunk as he went.
"Oh god yes, California can get so hot. Especially in the summer months, it's like living in a toaster." He let out a short laugh, devoid of any actual humor. "Yeah, that would be nice right now."

Zayne clamped his jaw shut when they spoke, head hanging low to keep the wind out of his face. His eyes flicked to Xavier when it got to the last part, condolences on the tip of his tongue, before their demeanor changed.

"Oh, uh--" Zayne jogged to catch up to them, taken off guard by the change of pace, "--It's really just me and my nan. My mom occasionally visits, but she was young when she had me," he explained. "She's a- she's a terrible mom, but fun to hang out with."

He sniffed, rubbing his face of the back of his sleeve. "Yeah, normally I can't make myself shut up, but I'm really drawing blanks here," he said with another humorless chuckle. After a short pause, he shook his head. "In all the movies and shows, they always make hypothermia seem like a nice, painless death. Like they just fall asleep. But god, this hurts."

Looking up at the mountain, he blinked the flurry of snow from his eyes. "But hey, unless my eyes deceive me, we're getting closer."

 

[TamingMaster]

She lay there for a few seconds staring at the sky, she felt every ache right to her very bones as she watched the clouds change. Lyra glanced up at Fabian, instead of replying she held her hand up to them in a silent plea to help her get up because there was no way in heck she was getting up by herself.
Pretty sure she had lost everything to the swirly depths of icy water she had been submerged in a few minutes ago she didn’t bother to look or feel around for her bag. Her arms and legs ached and as she strained to sit up her limbs and bones groaned in protest. Oh gosh, how she hated this. “When…this…is over” she rasped, her throat aching “I’m never leaving my room again. School and friends be damned.”

Fabian nodded in a tired sort of agreement as they carefully pulled Lyra to her feet.

With everything they'd been through, it, understandably, was enough to make anyone want to stay inside, forever, kept safely away from the world. Especially a world like this.

"I don't think we're getting back down anytime soon. So, which do you feel like chancing? The huts, or the towns?" Fabian asked, lifting their hand up to shield their eyes from the burning sun. "It looks like the huts are closer, but there might be supplies or something in the town?"

They turned to face Lyra directly, before presenting a third option. "Unless you want to head straight for the tree?"

They kept their arms out, helping Lyra to keep her balance, as they took a few steps forward, through the soft sand. They briefly glanced back to where they'd came from, before turning their attention back to Lyra, awaiting her answer.

 

[TamingMaster]

Evan was abruptly staggered when the robot violently collided with the asphalt. He threw his arms out in front of him as some sort of shield before sheepishly lowering them once he realized there was no ensuing harm.

He exchanged a glance with Damir and followed his movements, though making sure to keep his distance from the robot. It seemed to remain in its reposed state in Damir’s possession. Evan observed closer, noting its three intact limbs and rectangular frame body. It had a sleek design appearance apart from the damage it sustained and cracked panel display.

“I’m.. not sure..”

“I think… I’ve seen something like this before?” he spoke hesitantly, taking a knee by Damir and plucking a few components off the ground that fell off the robot.

“I knew someone who was a robotics engineer and built little companion bots.. similar to this.”

Evan bit the inside of his cheek as he studied the robot and its barren black screen. He pondered out loud, “We can try getting it to work again somehow and figure out it’s diagnostics?”

His eyes fell to the components in his numbered palm. “Though I don’t have anything that’ll put these back..”

Damir glanced at Evan, then back at the little robot. "A companion bot...?"

Despite being dropped, it was repairable, so long as the important pieces inside were still intact.

He turned the robot over, passing it between his hands, getting a feel for where everything might be.

"I think I can get it to turn on, at least." Damir said, reaching into his bag and pulling out the little tin of tools he'd acquired.

He gently opened the tin, picked a tool, and started by taking the back panel off, before poking around with wires and switches. Normally he'd be as nervous as he usually is, but something about tinkering calmed him down, and even made him a little more confident.

After a few minutes, the robot popped open, whirring gently. The metallic case split into parts, shrinking away, revealing a glass cap, containing a little terrarium, which it had protected from the fall. The little square screen gained a thin strip of coloured pixels, like a visual sound wave. A tiny lense was uncovered by more moving metal, followed by a few clicks, checking for any damage. Lastly, it's three legs extended out, wiggling as they tried to find a place to grip, to get itself upright.

"Whoa, wait, let me-" Damir smiled gently, picking the robot up and letting it stand, looking over it's new appearance. "Hold on, while I fix your leg."

It stood still, tilted up towards Damir, waiting as if it understood what he was asking.

He shot a short glance at Evan, checking to make sure he wasn't the only person who thought so, before turning back to the little bot.

Damir gently reconnected the fourth leg, taking it from Evan's palm and screwing it back into place. He gave it a little flex, just to make sure it wouldn't fall off, before letting the robot stand by itself.

"There you go, you're all fixed." Damir said, watching to see how it reacted. The big question was, if it could understand him, would it go back to its programmed behaviour?

After not moving for a few minutes, Damir glanced up at Evan, furrowing his brow tightly. "I think the fall knocked its internals, messing up its coding... It doesn't seem to have any idea what its purpose is?" He sighed, "I can't really fix that, if that's the problem."

 

[TamingMaster]

By the time the two collected their equipment, Zulema was already outside of the bus a few paces away watching as daybreak approached. It was still relatively dark out and there was a rich fragrance of dew in the air. She had caught Leita’s and Theo’s verbal corroboration, feeling that she could possibly never believe such a statement— at least not again.

Eventually when the two rejoined her, Zulema started making headway to the location of their quest. She led them into the thickest part of the forest, that was strangely devoid of any wildlife. The three were alone with just the sounds of their footsteps on the forest duff. One might believe she was possibly leading them to their deaths from how eerily uncommunicative she was during their walk.

Once they reached a tree that was unnaturally split down the middle and surrounded by clusters of mushrooms, Zulema gave Theo and Leita a side glance, pointing her finger at the tree, “There are usually landmarks that hint that you’re about to go into another environment. Some aren’t as obvious as this one, but it’s good to be aware of any abnormalities in the landscape.”

She stepped forward past the tree and her entire form disappeared, as if she’d been absorbed by the forest itself. Zulema phased through into a new environment, one that was an entirely grassy clifftop that accommodated ruins of an ancient civilization. The ruins were entirely made of a grey stone and much of the buildings that remained were just foundations and low walls covered with foliage. There were a number of pillars and archways that kept its shape, while some were completely collapsed.

At the other side of the ruins was a medieval-looking castle that rested on the cliff side, with an ocean far below. It was the sole structure that retained its solid fortification.

Adjusting her hood to adhere to the sun that was now above the horizon, Zulema began down an overgrown trail that cut through the lost city.

“We can find the quest inside the castle, but most importantly—” she spun to face her companions, enunciating with great emphasis “Don’t mess with the iguanas, entienden?”

The iguanas Zulema was referring to were the ones that occupied the ruins, either sunbathing, eating, or wandering about. They were rather large and their ashy black scales allowed them to blend in with the stonework of the city.

Theodore stuck to Leita's side like glue. Distrust was turning his gut- why would Zulema even think of bringing them into the forest where he had nearly died?
The trip was so silent, so deeply unsettling. Gooseflesh crawled down their arms, chilling their spine. Silence was unnerving- silence meant danger.
Warm skin brushing against xyr right hand caused xem to jump, until xe realized it was only xyr hand brushing against Leita's. Stupid. She probably doesn't appreciate you clinging to her side like a scared puppy.

Allowing space to drift between them, he gripped the scimitar in his left hand tighter, even as they stopped to listen to Zulema explain the landmarks. They were so caught up in memorizing the tree, that they hardly noticed Zulema move until she was gone.

Vanished.

Swallowing sharply, he gave Leita a glance. "So, she vanished." Anxiety-tinged sarcasm glazed the obvious statement. Xe observed xyr surroundings, drawing in a deep breath as xe did so. Aa- ow.
Their lungs viciously protested against their binder at the deep breathing. It had been several hours too long, and he was facing the consequences. That's going to be a problem.

...

For future Theodore, he decided.

With no further hesitation other than a thrown away glance back at Leita, Theo stepped past the tree, holding xyr breath as if it would shield xem.
For a moment, he was plunged under the surface of a pool. Sightless and deaf, the only other thing bringing him awareness was brief pressure, until he felt cold air, as if they had never been in the damp forest.

Salty breeze licked their cheek bones and danced among their hair, sweeping curls off of their forehead. Xe dared to open xyr eyes, taking into vast expanse before xem.
Dried grasses whistled around his feet, dust turning the black boots a dirty brown. The moorland stretched for what appeared to be many miles- as if he wouldn't phase back into a forest if he took two steps back.
The only thing that broke the moorland apart were ruins of stone structures.

Fresh waves of nausea came over at the sight of the ruins, at the sight of the castle. Tentatively he took a few steps forward, feet immediately dipping into crevasses in the earth.
Whispers tickled his ears, pieces of an ancient tale glitching across his vision in shattered shards.
A child's small, calloused bare feet slipping into the very crevasses he was standing in. Celebrations older than time, chants spoken in tongues that he couldn't even begin to comprehend. A bleeding sunset casting shadows of the destruction that befell the ancients. The iron stench of it all, the rot of it all creating new, silent life stretching across the ruins of the once alive civilization.
What was this...?

"Don't mess with the iguanas, entienden?"

"Sí, sí, senõrita, entienden!" The sharp tone forced the words from their throat before they really even processed what they said. They were standing right behind Zulema, despite not remembering or even being aware of following the vampire.
Wait...iguanas?

There were iguanas back home. Although they were rare within the city itself, you occasionally saw one in trees or sunbathing. They were virtually harmless beings, as long as you didn't stick your hand near their mouths. Nothing that anyone was ever warned about- Mexico City had far more dangerous things to worry about than iguanas.
"No offense intended," he muttered, full offense intended. "But what the hell is this place? And.. why is it completely abandoned, except for iguanas?"

The walk was quiet, and unnerving, even to the oh-so-brave Leita. It was made even more unbelievable by Zulema phasing through, into another biome.

After taking a moment to fight the creeping shock and realisation that maybe Zulema was right, Leita followed Theo through, being met with the glaring sun, which had replaced the well-shaded woodland that had come before.

"Don't mess with the iguanas, entienden?" The words snapped Leita out of her curious little observations, back to the reality of it all.

"What happens if we do?" She asked, glancing over at the large lizards, most basking on the warmed stone. They dark scales absorbing any light that happened to shine on them. "They look harmless enough..."

A smaller iguana stretched out beside them as they followed Zulema, to wherever she was determined to go. It let out an adorable short yawn, forcing Leita to use up every piece of self-restraint she had to NOT to pet it.

Her attention was once again snatched by her other travelling companion, Theodore, who had been acting differently to how they had been in the bus.

She couldn't really blame him, since she was sure she'd been acting off too. With everything that had happened, it was hard to stay composed.

"Are you alright?" Leita whispered to Theodore, trying to keep up with Zulema as they made their way towards the castle, carefully avoiding the iguanas who so loved to block their path. "We can take a break, if you need to?"

 

[Yowza Wowza]

Theodore stuck to Leita's side like glue. Distrust was turning his gut- why would Zulema even think of bringing them into the forest where he had nearly died?
The trip was so silent, so deeply unsettling. Gooseflesh crawled down their arms, chilling their spine. Silence was unnerving- silence meant danger.
Warm skin brushing against xyr right hand caused xem to jump, until xe realized it was only xyr hand brushing against Leita's. Stupid. She probably doesn't appreciate you clinging to her side like a scared puppy.

Allowing space to drift between them, he gripped the scimitar in his left hand tighter, even as they stopped to listen to Zulema explain the landmarks. They were so caught up in memorizing the tree, that they hardly noticed Zulema move until she was gone.

Vanished.

Swallowing sharply, he gave Leita a glance. "So, she vanished." Anxiety-tinged sarcasm glazed the obvious statement. Xe observed xyr surroundings, drawing in a deep breath as xe did so. Aa- ow.
Their lungs viciously protested against their binder at the deep breathing. It had been several hours too long, and he was facing the consequences. That's going to be a problem.

...

For future Theodore, he decided.

With no further hesitation other than a thrown away glance back at Leita, Theo stepped past the tree, holding xyr breath as if it would shield xem.
For a moment, he was plunged under the surface of a pool. Sightless and deaf, the only other thing bringing him awareness was brief pressure, until he felt cold air, as if they had never been in the damp forest.

Salty breeze licked their cheek bones and danced among their hair, sweeping curls off of their forehead. Xe dared to open xyr eyes, taking into vast expanse before xem.
Dried grasses whistled around his feet, dust turning the black boots a dirty brown. The moorland stretched for what appeared to be many miles- as if he wouldn't phase back into a forest if he took two steps back.
The only thing that broke the moorland apart were ruins of stone structures.

Fresh waves of nausea came over at the sight of the ruins, at the sight of the castle. Tentatively he took a few steps forward, feet immediately dipping into crevasses in the earth.
Whispers tickled his ears, pieces of an ancient tale glitching across his vision in shattered shards.
A child's small, calloused bare feet slipping into the very crevasses he was standing in. Celebrations older than time, chants spoken in tongues that he couldn't even begin to comprehend. A bleeding sunset casting shadows of the destruction that befell the ancients. The iron stench of it all, the rot of it all creating new, silent life stretching across the ruins of the once alive civilization.
What was this...?

"Don't mess with the iguanas, entienden?"

"Sí, sí, senõrita, entienden!" The sharp tone forced the words from their throat before they really even processed what they said. They were standing right behind Zulema, despite not remembering or even being aware of following the vampire.
Wait...iguanas?

There were iguanas back home. Although they were rare within the city itself, you occasionally saw one in trees or sunbathing. They were virtually harmless beings, as long as you didn't stick your hand near their mouths. Nothing that anyone was ever warned about- Mexico City had far more dangerous things to worry about than iguanas.
"No offense intended," he muttered, full offense intended. "But what the hell is this place? And.. why is it completely abandoned, except for iguanas?"

The walk was quiet, and unnerving, even to the oh-so-brave Leita. It was made even more unbelievable by Zulema phasing through, into another biome.

After taking a moment to fight the creeping shock and realisation that maybe Zulema was right, Leita followed Theo through, being met with the glaring sun, which had replaced the well-shaded woodland that had come before.

"Don't mess with the iguanas, entienden?" The words snapped Leita out of her curious little observations, back to the reality of it all.

"What happens if we do?" She asked, glancing over at the large lizards, most basking on the warmed stone. They dark scales absorbing any light that happened to shine on them. "They look harmless enough..."

A smaller iguana stretched out beside them as they followed Zulema, to wherever she was determined to go. It let out an adorable short yawn, forcing Leita to use up every piece of self-restraint she had to NOT to pet it.

Her attention was once again snatched by her other travelling companion, Theodore, who had been acting differently to how they had been in the bus.

She couldn't really blame him, since she was sure she'd been acting off too. With everything that had happened, it was hard to stay composed.

"Are you alright?" Leita whispered to Theodore, trying to keep up with Zulema as they made their way towards the castle, carefully avoiding the iguanas who so loved to block their path. "We can take a break, if you need to?"

Zulema gave a scoff, “Sure—harmless, I’m just trying to save you a finger or two… Te lo digo por tu bien.” muttering the last phrase under her breath.

She weaved around some piled rubble and flanked the side of a intact stone wall as she made her way towards the castle.

“I just call this place Zama, the city of dawn since this place is basically an echo of a real ruin in Mexico. Iguanas and all.” Zulema’s tone hinted at some fondness of explaining something that was familiar to her.

Her gloved hand glided over the ancient stonework as she walked, careful to step around any iguanas that rested near her feet.

She explained further to fulfill Theo’s interest “It was a Mayan city that became abandoned after the pinche Spaniards arrived.” Her lip quirked and pulled her hand away from the wall, returning it to the dwelling of her cloak.

Hearing the silent conversation Leita was sharing with Theo, Zulema reached the city plaza that was the midpoint of the trek to the castle. The plaza itself was just terrain that didn’t have remains of buildings or the like. There were a few trees scattered about that offered her the safety of shade and wasn’t abundant with iguanas.

She lowered her hood halfway once she secured cover and looked over the two individuals. “We can stop here for now, I need to explain some things about El Castillo up there because once we get in there I don’t want you two running off like a bunch of headless pollitos.”

She leaned up against the tree and lifted up her cloak to retrieve something from one of the pouches on her belt.

“First off, I have no idea what kind of quest it’ll give us since we’re a group of three. I’ve only been in there solo, and I hardly consider the one person quests difficult. Though I can guarantee once we finish it the rewards should be worth it.”

She extended her hand out to Leita and Theo, revealing two small cylinders that were collapsed blowpipes.

“These have a single dart filled with venom that are capable of paralyzing anything you shoot at.” She stated, motioning her hand in their direction as a sign that they were for Leita and Theo respectively. “I would only use them in the worst case scenario.”

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

Fabian nodded in a tired sort of agreement as they carefully pulled Lyra to her feet.

With everything they'd been through, it, understandably, was enough to make anyone want to stay inside, forever, kept safely away from the world. Especially a world like this.

"I don't think we're getting back down anytime soon. So, which do you feel like chancing? The huts, or the towns?" Fabian asked, lifting their hand up to shield their eyes from the burning sun. "It looks like the huts are closer, but there might be supplies or something in the town?"

They turned to face Lyra directly, before presenting a third option. "Unless you want to head straight for the tree?"

They kept their arms out, helping Lyra to keep her balance, as they took a few steps forward, through the soft sand. They briefly glanced back to where they'd came from, before turning their attention back to Lyra, awaiting her answer.

“I dunno. Maybe the town if it has supplied it could be useful to get given that I’ve misplaced most of my supplies” she shrugged. She ignored the persistent dull ache in her shoulder and walked forwards glancing around at the same time Fabian did.
“So um… where to now?” She asked “I mean my vote is town but if you want to go to the huts we can always do that.”