T̷h̷e̸ ̵G̶a̴m̸e̵ - A VR Role-play

[TamingMaster]

Taking advantage of their close proximity, she stole a quick look at Leita’s palm.

69.. and still hasn’t lost a life this entire time while in the desert of all places?

Zulema’s face softened a little at her retort, “Sure… so far. Be sure to remember that.” she replied in a snarky tone. Her eyes fell from Leita’s and backed away, the edge of her lip lifting in slight amusement.

“Well then, sorry for disturbing your sleep Leita… good luck out here.”

From the moment Zulema appeared before Leita she could already pick up the sounds of wild cackles and whines from the rabid hyenas that roamed the forest at night. Once she backed off from Leita, their noises were becoming more apparent as they migrated in the direction of the flower field.

Zulema was now hovering a few inches off the ground and began to float over to the massively sized honeysuckle bush. “Try not to die too much.” she murmured, giving her last piece of advice before her form completely disappeared into the bush.

A cold chill rushed up Leita's spine as Zulema spoke, leaving her a little more uncomfortable than she wanted to be.

She looked around nervously, scanning the nighttime surroundings for the threat Zulema had mentioned, but she couldn't see anything through the darkness.

A small cackling sound, just left of Leita, caught her attention. Her eyes desperately scanned the shrubbery for the source, as she extended her sword towards it.

She hadn't even noticed that Zulema had disappeared, until she turned back to where she had once been stood.

"Oh, great." Leita let out a quiet mumble. She wanted to call out to her, but she didn't want to draw attention to herself and risk being attacked.

A low growl erupted from the undergrowth in front of her, followed by a whiny chuckle from the opposite direction.

A snapped twig, from the right, caught her attention. Glowing yellow eyes peered through the flora, staring directly at her. Her eyes locked with its, not daring to look away, in case it decided to close the distance.

Behind Leita, a loud, metallic bang, caused her to divert her attention, ripping her eyes away from the previous creature.

On top of the honeysuckle bush that, unbeknownst to Leita, was covering an entire bus, was one of the rabid hyenas. It had jumped on top of it, and was eyeing her up as an easy meal.

Her jaw dropped, as she stared up at the creature, taking in all of the terrifying features.

The creature had burning yellow eyes, placed on the front of the head, glowing through the moon-lit night. Below it sat a chunky, bone-crushing jaw, with sharp, yellowed teeth. It led on to a wide, muscular neck and shoulders, then onto a slightly smaller back end.

The overall colour looked to be a dull brown, with black patches and a thin, black mane, that travelled from the top of the head to the middle of the body. The ears, tightly placed near the top of the head, and the short tail, were also black.

It snarled, taking a step closer, with spittle and froth dripping from its mouth. It stared down, over the edge of the bush, targeting Leita as its new prey.

With a few cracked twigs, and heavy steps, the other hyenas stepped into view around her. They chuckled and whined as they began to circle around her.

Although the first one seemed to be in good condition, aside from the rabies, the others had obviously been in a few fights, and some were much lower in the pack.

One had a slight underbite, and scars along its right flank. The second had a damaged eye, and fresh wounds across its muzzle and leg. The third, and final hyena, was severely underweight and was missing large patches of fur - either through fighting or mange.
All had foam dripping from their mouths, like their pack leader had.

Leita took a sharp breath, watching them slowly get closer, and closer. She grasped her sword firmly, trying to swallow down the fear that was trying to consume her.

"You've made your point," Leita said in a slightly raised tone, hoping that Zulema was still nearby enough to hear her.

The first hyena jumped down from the top of the honeysuckle, joining the ever-closing circle.

The half-blind one made the first jump towards Leita, mouth wide open. She pulled out of the way, slashing her sword towards it, and taking a small chunk out of its hind leg. It let out a sharp whimper, but rejoined the circling, limping around her.

The hyena with the underbite charged at her from the front, jumping as it tried to grab her. Leita held her sword out, catching its stomach, slicing it open. It dropped to the floor beside her and then seemed to just fade into thin air.

Leita stared in amazement, before her attention was dragged back to the immediate danger. The thinnest hyena lunged towards her, catching her by the left arm, and pulling her to the ground.

She pushed herself back up, wrapping her injured arm with her hand. She tried to retrieve her sword, but was quickly blocked by the leader. They forced her back, against the honeysuckle bush, which made a short bang, as her back slammed against it.

"Zulema," Leita muttered out, the fear thick in her voice, and tears starting to well in her eyes. "I need you."

 

[TamingMaster]

Evan nearly collapsed from the sudden and abrupt impact of Damir’s forehead. His flung back and winced painfully, “Ach!” he exclaimed throwing a hand to his face.

His eyes flickered open as he rubbed the bridge of his nose and forehead. It was the person from earlier.

Wait wha..

“Not like who..?” he thought aloud, knitting his eyebrows before noticing the persons numbered palm. A bold and intimidating ‘100’ was etched into their skin, greatly differing his flimsy single digit seven.

Wasn’t… Lyra’s in the 60’s..?

Recoiling his right hand from his face, Evan showed Damir his own number, “I really.. don’t understand what’s going on..” his voice faltered at the revelation.

"Not... Not like the fake people," Damir replied to Evan's question, quickly realising how crazy he sounded. He took a deep breath, rubbing the bridge of his nose a little. "I know this sounds strange, but... the people here, they're not real... I don't know if they're acting o-or something, but they're just... they're not right."

Damir took a second to calm down, before he started to scare Evan. He glanced down at Evan's numbered palm, then his own. "The only people who behave normally are people who have these numbers tattooed on their hands."

He wasn't normally one for conspiracy theories, but he didn't know how else to process the fact that hundreds, if not thousands, of people in this place weren't real. What if all of this was an experiment? Or some kind of simulation? What if the earth was flat?

A sharp pang, in his leg, snapped Damir out of his spiralling thoughts. He leaned against the damp wall, once again supporting his injured leg.

"You didn't happen to pass a girl, at the station, did you?" He uttered out, trying to fight the feeling of guilt welling in his chest.

 

[TamingMaster]

She watched them drink, “yeah I’m Lyra.” She nodded, “Fabian. Huh. I finally have a name and I can stop calling you the person” she laughed a little to herself.

She stopped laughing abruptly when she realised that Fabian wasn’t laughing, “um, heh.” She stood up, “so, um excuse my nosinesses but the slime? What’s that about?” She asked recalling the seizures.
While she waited for a response she looked around the cave, the stone was grey and a thin layer of moss covered parts of the stone floor and ran along the few cracks in the walls. She looked back at Fabian and studied their features, they had almost lavender hair. She frowned, she wondered if it was naturally that colour.
If it was it was sure nicer than her two tone orange- brown hair. She almost smiled at the memory of her trying to colour her hair using a cheap supermarket dye, the blonde colouring reacted badly with her natural colour and sent her hair bright orange. Thankfully the bright orange had started the fade again.
Lyra turned her attention back to Fabian pulling herself out of her memory.

(Love this ^)

"It's just something I could do ever since I was a kid," Fabian replied, their lips curling into a soft smile as they recalled how terrified they were the first time they made slime.

Their smile quickly shrank, turning back into its original stern position, as they continued answering Lyra's questions.

"The seizures, and everything else that comes with my 'gift', are the side effects of overuse." Fabian glanced down at their shaking hands, before looking back at Lyra. "The slime, it's created with the water in my body - as well as some other stuff, I guess. When it runs low, that's when it starts getting dangerous, and these markings appear."

The light lilac and lavender hair, the purple undertoned skin, and the magenta markings were all visual forms of toxicification from the slime, but they were usually a lot more manageable than this.

After a short moment of silence, they opened their little pouch, which had still been stacked beside their hammer, untouched. Inside, the water bottle had half thawed, leaving a thinner piece of ice floating in the middle.

Fabian took slow sips, in a feeble attempt to avoid brain-freeze, and to avoid the ice. Once they had finished, they placed the bottle back in the pouch, on top of the tin and food bar, then clipped it around their waist.

"So," Fabian spoke, breaking the gentle silence. "What's the plan? We should probably get moving before it gets dark, if you're feeling up to it?" They smiled a small, cheeky smile, before rising to their feet, holding a hand out for Lyra.

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

(Love this ^)

"It's just something I could do ever since I was a kid," Fabian replied, their lips curling into a soft smile as they recalled how terrified they were the first time they made slime.

Their smile quickly shrank, turning back into its original stern position, as they continued answering Lyra's questions.

"The seizures, and everything else that comes with my 'gift', are the side effects of overuse." Fabian glanced down at their shaking hands, before looking back at Lyra. "The slime, it's created with the water in my body - as well as some other stuff, I guess. When it runs low, that's when it starts getting dangerous, and these markings appear."

The light lilac and lavender hair, the purple undertoned skin, and the magenta markings were all visual forms of toxicification from the slime, but they were usually a lot more manageable than this.

After a short moment of silence, they opened their little pouch, which had still been stacked beside their hammer, untouched. Inside, the water bottle had half thawed, leaving a thinner piece of ice floating in the middle.

Fabian took slow sips, in a feeble attempt to avoid brain-freeze, and to avoid the ice. Once they had finished, they placed the bottle back in the pouch, on top of the tin and food bar, then clipped it around their waist.

"So," Fabian spoke, breaking the gentle silence. "What's the plan? We should probably get moving before it gets dark, if you're feeling up to it?" They smiled a small, cheeky smile, before rising to their feet, holding a hand out for Lyra.

She nodded, as they continued to speak she listened intently. This was useful information to know, just in case it happened again.
Her head went up as they spoke again, “yeah I guess we should get moving. Ummmmm….plan? Hmmm. Maybe we should just follow the river? In case you haven’t experienced a biome change, that tends to happen relatively randomly here. Also giant spiders live here too.” She returned their smile and gripped their hand pulling herself onto her feet, “Oof. This entire adventure is worse than that summer I spent at surf camp” she muttered to herself while dusting herself off.
A few years ago she’d spent a summer at a surf camp, totally not stalking a boy she’d had a huge crush on. Well She was not exactly a pro at surfing but yet she volunteered to try and ride the big waves. Long story short she wound up clinging onto her surfboard for dear life and ended up face down in the sand.

She shuddered at the memory before turning to fix Fabian with a big smile, no way was she telling anyone her embarrassing surf fail.

 

[Yowza Wowza]

"Honestly? No idea."
Well, at least that had proven she was very much so still injured. Spontaneous recovery would've been too frigging weird.
After being flicked, Pickles peeled herself out of the mud, propping her thoroughly spattered head up on her hands as she faced her considerably more approachable companion.
Then again, the living gargoyle could've perfectly harmless while this short, unimposing kid was waiting for the opportune moment to use their devastating eye lasers on her.

She had a |Food Bar| and a jar of Vaseline®. Bring it.

"It's just the best explanation I can dream up for this." Her eyes casually traveled the monstrously thick underbrush that lay a few paces beyond them, fully anticipating the emergence of a saber-toothed wolf or Tasmanian jaguar. Hey, she still had her speargun- and how had that happened, huh? She hadn't even been holding it when the world went and rewrote itself. "No memory of how I got here, survival pack, random teleportations between environments."

By the looks, feel, and -ew- taste of it, she couldn't even be in the same country as where she'd started. She was beginning to doubt that those peaks of peril had been North American, let alone Californian.

"Bro, I was just on a mountain," she divulged with the air of someone who hadn't just fallen off said mountain.

As her face slid further down into her hands, she abruptly became aware of the 76 tattooed into her palm. "Oh, and look! I'm branded. You too." Their hand's 4 was one of the more prominent things about them; they were dressed in neutral clothing that complimented their skin, fur, and hair tones, but didn't draw particular attention to anything. A contrast to what she was used to seeing, but valid. "Ayyyyyye, test subjects for world disasters club."

Pickles yawned. As one did in the midst of such revelations. "Sounds distinctly like a plot of one of those books from middle school. Some ancient problematic author."

She was still registering everything she came up with at pure face value, so none of these lamentable elements were hitting her with their full weight.
Or the pain was demanding the majority of her sense.
Or she was Pickles.
Imagine that.

"Although, the whole scene should encompass a little more death and destruction." She rose a little further to gesture emphatically at their surroundings, particularly the river that meandered alongside. It was murky, deep, and likely full of creatures that would be delighted to call a stock broker up for a share in her skin, but, at the same time, it was water, and definitely alive. "Meanwhile this seems weirdly...natural. Except for us. Or maybe just me."

On that note, she decided an introduction was due. "I'm Pickles, she/her, Los Angeles." Cue aggressive shaka sign. "I'd get up for a fistbump, but my ankle's kinda out of commission. Also the knee"

Note that she rambled through this entire repertoire in well under a minute.

How Tem was able to process all this information that Pickles casted forth under a minute was a true skill, but where to start their response, would be to at least to give her the pleasure of knowing their name.

A long, cheshire cat smile graced their lips, “My name is Tem, but I usually go by ‘The abomination that causes desolation’. My pronouns are they/them.” They gave a flick of their tail as they crossed their arms against their chest, which only made their physique even smaller than it already was.

Recognizing Pickles’ surfer-like demeanor, they could already pinpoint where she lived in Los Angeles. “I used to live in LA for a bit, but I live in Palm Springs now.” Their smile disappeared as they rose to their feet, “Yeah, probably just you. Being surrounded by this much water makes me want to throw up.” they muttered dejectedly, offering Pickles their tattooed hand in assistance.

They gave a scoff, “Test subjects though huh? That’s probably the most sense I’ve heard all day.”

 

[Yowza Wowza]

"Not... Not like the fake people," Damir replied to Evan's question, quickly realising how crazy he sounded. He took a deep breath, rubbing the bridge of his nose a little. "I know this sounds strange, but... the people here, they're not real... I don't know if they're acting o-or something, but they're just... they're not right."

Damir took a second to calm down, before he started to scare Evan. He glanced down at Evan's numbered palm, then his own. "The only people who behave normally are people who have these numbers tattooed on their hands."

He wasn't normally one for conspiracy theories, but he didn't know how else to process the fact that hundreds, if not thousands, of people in this place weren't real. What if all of this was an experiment? Or some kind of simulation? What if the earth was flat?

A sharp pang, in his leg, snapped Damir out of his spiralling thoughts. He leaned against the damp wall, once again supporting his injured leg.

"You didn't happen to pass a girl, at the station, did you?" He uttered out, trying to fight the feeling of guilt welling in his chest.

Expecting to have his own questions answered, Evan was just thinking up more as Damir spoke to him, frantically trying to explain the nature of the people that roamed here.

He placed his hands on his head and took a deep sigh as he paced in front of Damir. “So the people with no numbers are basically AI’s, and those with numbers are normal..?” Evan reiterated Damir’s as he stopped in his tracks, “Got it.” He nodded, confirming the information to himself. With the amount of weird things he woke up to today, he was strangely willing to believe anything, logical or not.

Evan looked on with concern when Damir leaned up against the wall, “A little girl led me to an underground station to get here.. but I don’t remember passing by anyone when I left, but what did she look like?” He replied, feeling regret for having run off when he could’ve helped this person find whichever girl they were looking for.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Ibu had been traveling for awhile.
There had been dunes and abysses, buried hollows and sequestered yardangs.
There still was sand, sand, and a lot more sand.

Frankly, her own essence had much sand to offer.
She wore more sand than clothing. She breathed sand. She smelled sand. She saw sand.
However, she was not sand.
That much she was firm on.

As the greenery barrier to this wasteland laid itself out before her, Ibu jerked her accelerator into the highest speed available. Her patience was miles beyond running low and she knew purple sweet potato pancakes were due to her.

There was a person there. Shivering. Looking clueless. Generally being pathetic.
No doubt of the male variety.
Laboriously braking, Ibu physically did this and lowered her halberd.

This dream had yee'd its last haw.

In fact, so much so that she outright flung her weapon down and threw her arms up as an admission of absolute defeat to the psyche branch of the patriarchy's agenda. "Alright, just try to kill me and get it over with so I can wake up."

Startled, Jack almost fell over, an impressive feat when you’re already sitting on the ground.

“Wha-! Who-”

He finally got to his feet and located the source of the voice. Someone who was probably around his age, but a lot shorter. Wait. Not shorter-

Where’d she get a wheelchair? Was Jack’s first thought as he stared dumbly at Ibu. It took him an embarrassing number of moments to realize that she probably had it before coming here.

Wherever here was.

“Why don’t you ask the giant snakes!” Jack said, in response to a request that seemed only slightly strange compared to the rest of the day he’d had.

Jack paced in a circle, hands on his head. This place makes no sense. Why am I not dead? Where’d the grass come from?.. Where did she come from?

He suddenly pivoted to face Ibu again. “Let me guess. You’re evil or you just appeared here- or both?”

 

[Yowza Wowza]

A cold chill rushed up Leita's spine as Zulema spoke, leaving her a little more uncomfortable than she wanted to be.

She looked around nervously, scanning the nighttime surroundings for the threat Zulema had mentioned, but she couldn't see anything through the darkness.

A small cackling sound, just left of Leita, caught her attention. Her eyes desperately scanned the shrubbery for the source, as she extended her sword towards it.

She hadn't even noticed that Zulema had disappeared, until she turned back to where she had once been stood.

"Oh, great." Leita let out a quiet mumble. She wanted to call out to her, but she didn't want to draw attention to herself and risk being attacked.

A low growl erupted from the undergrowth in front of her, followed by a whiny chuckle from the opposite direction.

A snapped twig, from the right, caught her attention. Glowing yellow eyes peered through the flora, staring directly at her. Her eyes locked with its, not daring to look away, in case it decided to close the distance.

Behind Leita, a loud, metallic bang, caused her to divert her attention, ripping her eyes away from the previous creature.

On top of the honeysuckle bush that, unbeknownst to Leita, was covering an entire bus, was one of the rabid hyenas. It had jumped on top of it, and was eyeing her up as an easy meal.

Her jaw dropped, as she stared up at the creature, taking in all of the terrifying features.

The creature had burning yellow eyes, placed on the front of the head, glowing through the moon-lit night. Below it sat a chunky, bone-crushing jaw, with sharp, yellowed teeth. It led on to a wide, muscular neck and shoulders, then onto a slightly smaller back end.

The overall colour looked to be a dull brown, with black patches and a thin, black mane, that travelled from the top of the head to the middle of the body. The ears, tightly placed near the top of the head, and the short tail, were also black.

It snarled, taking a step closer, with spittle and froth dripping from its mouth. It stared down, over the edge of the bush, targeting Leita as its new prey.

With a few cracked twigs, and heavy steps, the other hyenas stepped into view around her. They chuckled and whined as they began to circle around her.

Although the first one seemed to be in good condition, aside from the rabies, the others had obviously been in a few fights, and some were much lower in the pack.

One had a slight underbite, and scars along its right flank. The second had a damaged eye, and fresh wounds across its muzzle and leg. The third, and final hyena, was severely underweight and was missing large patches of fur - either through fighting or mange.
All had foam dripping from their mouths, like their pack leader had.

Leita took a sharp breath, watching them slowly get closer, and closer. She grasped her sword firmly, trying to swallow down the fear that was trying to consume her.

"You've made your point," Leita said in a slightly raised tone, hoping that Zulema was still nearby enough to hear her.

The first hyena jumped down from the top of the honeysuckle, joining the ever-closing circle.

The half-blind one made the first jump towards Leita, mouth wide open. She pulled out of the way, slashing her sword towards it, and taking a small chunk out of its hind leg. It let out a sharp whimper, but rejoined the circling, limping around her.

The hyena with the underbite charged at her from the front, jumping as it tried to grab her. Leita held her sword out, catching its stomach, slicing it open. It dropped to the floor beside her and then seemed to just fade into thin air.

Leita stared in amazement, before her attention was dragged back to the immediate danger. The thinnest hyena lunged towards her, catching her by the left arm, and pulling her to the ground.

She pushed herself back up, wrapping her injured arm with her hand. She tried to retrieve her sword, but was quickly blocked by the leader. They forced her back, against the honeysuckle bush, which made a short bang, as her back slammed against it.

"Zulema," Leita muttered out, the fear thick in her voice, and tears starting to well in her eyes. "I need you."

(@Cluckcluck1215)

Returning to her homely abode hidden inside the honey suckle bush, Zulema retrieved a key she hid within the cushion of the drivers seat.

The pangs of thirst were already starting to settle in, and she could feel herself weakening physically by the second. Finally getting the key inserted into the overhead compartment at the front of the bus, Zulema propped the lid open and urgently snatched a blood vile from her stash. She lowered herself on the drivers seat and fumbled to pop open the top of the vile.

She gritted her teeth and cursed to herself as she slowly lost her sense of feeling in her fingers. The heat of the blood that penetrated through the glass was all that kept Zulema from letting it slip through her fingers. After successfully opening the vile, a rush came over her and she immediately closed her eyes and brought it to her lips. Once the redolent red liquid passed through her lips like velvet, the weariness dissipated and her strength returned to her.

With a satisfying hum, Zulema fluttered her eyes back open and lowered the empty vile down. The sweet metallic taste lingered in her mouth for a few moments before her body absorbed it, leaving her thirst satiated. She gave a wipe of her mouth and set the vile in the window as she locked up the overhead compartment then stowed away the key back in its hiding spot.

She gave a look at her tattooed hand, scowling at the single remaining life in what hardly resembled a number.

I nearly have enough to buy another life. I can’t keep drinking this often.. who knows when I’ll run into him again?

Ignoring the sounds of the hyenas outside, Zulema crossed through the walkway and towards the curtain that divided the bus. She gave a sigh and drew back the sheet, “Nothing to—”

She was cut off by the sight of Theo slumped on a couch on the right side of the bus, silent and still as could be.

“Are you… good?” she asked, furrowing her brows at antlered individual, while xe held an expressionless face with eyes wide open.

No response.

Zulema stepped closer to them and grabbed their chin gently, looking them over as she moved their face side to side. That’s when his chest raised and a snore rippled through his nose.

Xe was asleep, with xyr eyes open.

Did xe…

Her eyes scanned the table next to Theodore, and obviously enough, they went ahead and made themself some tea from the water she boiled on her portable stovetop. She clicked her tongue out of annoyance with herself and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Great. He’ll be out for a couple hours, unless I get something strong enough to wake him up.

Zulema crossed her arms and looked about the bus, searching for something with a putrid enough smell to break through the Becalm tea. Though nothing stood out to her, as most of the items she had thrown about were just straight out deadly or odd with no distinct smell.

With the events that were unfolding outside, she picked up the call of her name, and a plea for help.

Markings from a hyena.

Once the idea came into mind, Zulema rushed out of the bus, with an empty vile in hand. She turned invisible the moment she breached the bush and immediately turned her attention to mess the blonde girl had gotten herself into. Choosing to circle around them and avoid the conflict, her foot made contact with a flat metal object on the ground.

It was Leita’s sword from earlier, the one adjourned with precious jewels. She picked it up and observed that Leita was forced about against the bus by the hyena’s, and would surely meet an untimely fate.

Feeling a sense of remorse, Zulema went ahead and tossed the sword at Leita’s feet before taking her leave in the direction of which the hyena’s came.

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

“Yeah. . . I get that a lot,” Zayne muttered, looking away. “I’m a nervous talker. I’ve been told it’s really obnoxious, but I’ve been trying to get better.” Right, now’d be a good time to stop talking.
“Sorry.”

He pulled his over-shirt off, giving a feeble attempt to remove the mud. While the black and red fabric might’ve hidden the soon-to-be stain, there was no hope of saving the white t-shirt he wore underneath. Well, this sucks.

He dropped the shirt on his lap, hands falling to clutch the side of the branch they were sitting on as Xavier stirred. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Oh." Zayne really wasn't sure how to respond to finding out they didn't have a plan. As concerning as it was, he still wouldn't have made it this far without them.

"Y'know. . . I can see into the future, sometimes. Nothing too special, just bits and pieces, certain outcomes in alternate realities, you know, that kind of thing. So maybe I can see how this plays out," Zayne said hopefully, carefully watching Xavier to see its reaction. "I mean, the migraines I get from it are nasty, but better that than dying up in a tree, amiright?" He shook his hands, closing his eyes as he adjusted his seating. "C'mon, let's get this started."

"I have no idea how to use this thing."

Zayne opened an eye, his brows almost leaving his face. "Wait, what? Then why'd you point it at me earlier?" He spluttered. "You know what, it doesn't matter, I don't like to hold grudges. You focus on killing it, I'll focus on a plan." He closed his eyes, relaxing his body as he let out a long, slow breath. Only to cough, giving a shake of his head. "Yeah, no, I can't focus with the smell."

He opened his eyes in time to watch the arrow miss its target, landing in the mud with a soft plunk. “Yeah, I think you missed there, buddy.”

He didn't meet Xavier's gaze, to afraid of seeing what kind of look his comment earned, instead peering over its shoulder as it strung another arrow. As they took a deep breath, Zayne bit back another comment, drumming his thumbs in his thighs. Don't speak, don't speak, don't speak--

The string thrummed as the arrow was released, hitting its target in the neck. Zayne held his breath, waiting for the moment the creature would fall and they would be safe once again.

But that didn't happen.

As it let out the soul-crushing scream, Zayne almost fell out of the tree, wrapping his legs around the branch as he covered his ears. "You were supposed to kill it, not provoke it!" He exclaimed. “Shoot it again, make it stop before it calls a friend!”

"I was trying!" Xai shouted, briefly shooting an icy glare at Zayne. Frantic fingers grasped another arrow, stringing it hurriedly. C'mon, c'mon, breathe...
The screaming continued, floating over the tree tops. Until it just stopped.

Xavier's heart was in their throat. Its stomach churned, a heavy wave of nausea consuming it. Shoot it, shoot it, shoot it...
The feather tip of the arrow brushed its cheek, its doe-eyed stare locked on the creature and its gaping mouth. The jaw was holding on by brittle, rotted strips of bone and flesh, hanging wide open and swinging with every jagged stride the equine-type creature took. It was staggering, like its legs where too weak to hold the rest of its body up. Liquid seeped around the arrow in its neck, but the creature showed no signs of backing down. Even when the creature stopped and stood completely still, foul smelling liquid draining down the gaping neck, it didn't lay down or hide. It kept its deep red eyes locking on the two people hidden in the tree.
Xai knew they had to shoot it. But the silence was terrifying and left them paralyzed. Wating. Listening.
Listening.

Listening.

Listening.
Oh, no.

The racket surrounding them was loud enough to deafen them, thundering enough to send the pale leaves clinging to the trees spiraling to the ground. The tree shook threateningly, and Xavier turned their stare into Zayne.
Hoof beats hit the ground around them rapidly, threatening shrieks splitting the air. The stench of decaying flesh was enough to make Xavier vomit, their throat burning and stinging as they emptied the contents of their stomach to the ground below.
Several pairs of glowing eyes stared back at the pair from the base of the tree. Xavier's arm snapped onto Zayne's, gripping the boys flesh with a vice-like grip.
It was as if ice has entered it lungs. Freezing them. Its throat had closed.
Frozen, frozen, frozen, frozen.
The world glitched, flickering in and out of view, hazy, grey, spotty. Flashes of color. Akin to an old, malfunctioning TV. Red eyes and snapping, moldy teeth spun below them. Drums were frantically playing in its ears, its head stuffed full of cotton.
A death grip clutched Zayne's arm in one hand, and the bow in another, but its fingers were cold and numb.
Its face was numb.
So cold.
So hot.
Burning.

I'm gonna die, we're gonna die, do something Xavier, do something.

I'm going to pass out.

A sucking sensation was pulling them under. It wanted to scream, but no sound came out. Pulling, pulling, pulling, and they couldn't resist it.

And the world vanished.

Until it didn't, and solid ground caught the pair.
Xavier's head shot up, glancing around rapidly. Their veins were on fire, their head was full of bees, the stench of death hung heavy in the air.
But they had teleported successfully, landing several yards away from a swamp full of bewildered, starving Kelpies.
It frantically got to its feet, and realizing it was still clinging to Zayne's arm, it attempted to pull him up with it. "Run. Run."

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

(Cont past interaction to catch up to current time)
Zulema watched Theo carefully as he settled himself at her feet and recollected their last significant memory before arriving here.

She gave a weak nod, “That’s.. usually how it goes” she paused, casting her gaze away from xem. “You’re somewhat right about it being a dream though, I mean— our minds are basically trapped here in this hellish dreamscape to fend on our own.”

Returning her gaze to Theo’s when they beckoned for her hand, she remained still with hesitance and held a look of slight skepticism. Though she didn’t feel threatened by them, her trust issues certainly made her more stubborn, even in this other worldly reality.

Finally deciding to oblige, Zulema leaned forward in a hunch and extended her hands out to Theo with reluctance, careful not to poke xem with her pointed nails.

“There are real people here, like you and me. We all have numbers tattooed on our hands.. and then there are those who are just facades—nulls that don’t.” she explained, briefly turning over her right hand to show the half remnant of a 89 as Theo tended to her burns. “It used to say 89.. but things happened.” she scoffed lightly.

Theodore was careful when he took one of her hands in his own, slathering the greasy salve over her skin gently. Burnt and weeping flesh wove itself together miraculously- leaving behind no indicator there had ever been a wound there.

"Woah," xe breathed softly. "Wicked."
They turned their attention back to her, head tilting slightly as she explained the number tattoos. So that's why I have a number on my hand.
He turned his palm over to look at the bold 17 on his palm, despite the fact it was dirtied with the remnants of the forest floor.
Brought back by Zulema's gentle scoff, xe looked at her, face twisted quizzically. "What do you mean? What happened?"

(@Cluckcluck1215)

Returning to her homely abode hidden inside the honey suckle bush, Zulema retrieved a key she hid within the cushion of the drivers seat.

The pangs of thirst were already starting to settle in, and she could feel herself weakening physically by the second. Finally getting the key inserted into the overhead compartment at the front of the bus, Zulema propped the lid open and urgently snatched a blood vile from her stash. She lowered herself on the drivers seat and fumbled to pop open the top of the vile.

She gritted her teeth and cursed to herself as she slowly lost her sense of feeling in her fingers. The heat of the blood that penetrated through the glass was all that kept Zulema from letting it slip through her fingers. After successfully opening the vile, a rush came over her and she immediately closed her eyes and brought it to her lips. Once the redolent red liquid passed through her lips like velvet, the weariness dissipated and her strength returned to her.

With a satisfying hum, Zulema fluttered her eyes back open and lowered the empty vile down. The sweet metallic taste lingered in her mouth for a few moments before her body absorbed it, leaving her thirst satiated. She gave a wipe of her mouth and set the vile in the window as she locked up the overhead compartment then stowed away the key back in its hiding spot.

She gave a look at her tattooed hand, scowling at the single remaining life in what hardly resembled a number.

I nearly have enough to buy another life. I can’t keep drinking this often.. who knows when I’ll run into him again?

Ignoring the sounds of the hyenas outside, Zulema crossed through the walkway and towards the curtain that divided the bus. She gave a sigh and drew back the sheet, “Nothing to—”

She was cut off by the sight of Theo slumped on a couch on the right side of the bus, silent and still as could be.

“Are you… good?” she asked, furrowing her brows at antlered individual, while xe held an expressionless face with eyes wide open.

No response.

Zulema stepped closer to them and grabbed their chin gently, looking them over as she moved their face side to side. That’s when his chest raised and a snore rippled through his nose.

Xe was asleep, with xyr eyes open.

Did xe…

Her eyes scanned the table next to Theodore, and obviously enough, they went ahead and made themself some tea from the water she boiled on her portable stovetop. She clicked her tongue out of annoyance with herself and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Great. He’ll be out for a couple hours, unless I get something strong enough to wake him up.

Zulema crossed her arms and looked about the bus, searching for something with a putrid enough smell to break through the Becalm tea. Though nothing stood out to her, as most of the items she had thrown about were just straight out deadly or odd with no distinct smell.

With the events that were unfolding outside, she picked up the call of her name, and a plea for help.

Markings from a hyena.

Once the idea came into mind, Zulema rushed out of the bus, with an empty vile in hand. She turned invisible the moment she breached the bush and immediately turned her attention to mess the blonde girl had gotten herself into. Choosing to circle around them and avoid the conflict, her foot made contact with a flat metal object on the ground.

It was Leita’s sword from earlier, the one adjourned with precious jewels. She picked it up and observed that Leita was forced about against the bus by the hyena’s, and would surely meet an untimely fate.

Feeling a sense of remorse, Zulema went ahead and tossed the sword at Leita’s feet before taking her leave in the direction of which the hyena’s came.

Unfortunately, Theo's question didn't elicit any sort of answer out of the vampire. As soon as he had finished applying the salve to her burnt hands, she got up and exited the bus.
Scoffing, Theo tossed the salve container back into xyr bag. "You're welcome," xe snarked after her softly. They got to their feet, continuing to observe the beaten bus. Careful to not scrape or catch his delicate antlers on the ceiling or lights, he made his way to what seemed like a portable stovetop. A pot of steaming water was on it, seemingly just boiled not to long ago. There's was a whole array of containers on the shelf above it, and from the very earthy smell coming from them, xe could only assume they were teas.
She wouldn't be too upset if I had a small cup, right? I'll just have a bit...it can't hurt anything.

He filled one of the two cups on the table with the water, and cautiously chose a container of tea, sniffing it for a few moments. Well, it doesn't smell like it'll kill me.
Shrugging, they finished preparing the tea, and sat down where Zulema had previously sat, sipping the tea with only a little hesitation. Nothing happened immediately. That's...good.
Xe continued drinking the tea, carefully listening for when Zulema would come back. Not that xyr mind was on that thought for long. Soft white lights were becoming fuzzy in his vision, exhaustion settling in heavily.
It wasn't long after the young seer set the cup down did sleep come to claim him.