enchanted forest . mingle

[misconceived]

WHO Forest planet occupants!
BROADCAST N/A
ACTION Enchanted Forest / Spa Time
WHEN Upon reaching the system (Jan. 4) to leaving it (Jan. 31)

[ It's another day, another planet for the Drift Fleet to explore. Whether it be relaxing in the landing field, checking out the spa (and subsequently getting urged to enter the woods), or taking on the Enchanted Forest's game, there's enough to do for stir-crazy Fleet members.

Just remember one thing: make it look good. ]

Comments

[theboogieman]

[as long as she doesn't flip out again, Zhas will be fine. probably. he looks irritable (at least, more than usual), but he walks at an even pace and keeps his eyes on the road and hopes that whatever they come across is less obnoxious than the first one.

...he's content to walk in silence, so...]

[aberrant_type]

[... so, since she's in work mode, Hange is pretty quiet too.

They can just have a peaceful forest walk until it's all RUINED.]

[theboogieman]

[speaking of ruined, Zhas suddenly stops walking. dead in his tracks. he's looking very intently out into the trees, though there's not a sound or a sight out of place.]

[aberrant_type]

[Youuuuu grouchy lump. Hange stops with him. She doesn't bother looking out into the trees; she looks at him instead.

... It's nice to NOT be the one flipping out this time, hmm.]

Hey.

[theboogieman]

[he hears her. she can see it in the way he tips his head, like he's tilting away from a fly. what he's feeling now is so familiar, the voice that's been nagging for hours is suddenly ringing loud and clear. they're right there, they're right there.

a low hissing noise seeps between the trees. things start moving, back there. lots of things.]

[aberrant_type]

[She's not about to grab hold of this guy and risk him breaking her finger by reflex or something. She waits. If the titans couldn't hurt them, then these things can't hurt them...

She'll take her cues from Zhas.]

[theboogieman]

[he does some math. one, two, four, eight pairs of eyes, reflecting wrongly under the shadows of the trees. the look like people when they get closer, step into the light--though their mouths open to reveal monstrous fangs and faces that ridge up into monstrous shapes. they are what is making that hissing sound.

one of them starts smoldering in the sunlight. very realistic.

he reaches for his gun, but the noise is there behind them, too. gnashing, snarling, laughing. they have horrible human voices and smell like wet graves.

but he holds his finger up for Hange. just a minute. they're getting closer but he wants them to wait there for just a little while longer. he looks tense, ready to kill, but he has yet to move away from the path...]

[aberrant_type]

[She turns back to stare at these things. So these must be his enemy. She is blatantly just watching them, like a birdwatcher: speculative, interested, wound up but not afraid. She'll hold the line with him.]

[theboogieman]

[he's already run through this in his head. if they're real, the two of them are dead. he can take on six, maybe, on a good day. with Hange there, that's two or three more. this forest feels like a hive of them; they'd be torn to shreds and devoured the moment they got pinned down.

but they don't ever come close. he watches carefully, as they get right up to but do not cross the threshold onto the path. they hiss and snarl and a couple of them burn, agonized by the sunlight... but nothing ever lunges for them. the monsters don't even make a grab for them.

that's when he finally lowers his arm and turns against a wave of furious snarling. he nods at Hange to keep going. he's bothered, but... they're just illusions.]

[aberrant_type]

[She watches them too, drinking in the sight of these monsters just a bit. Curious. So this is what he has to deal with. The sunlight reaction is especially interesting, and her eyes widen, she even leans forward a little to look at it closer, but doesn't move too much.

And besides all that, she'll follow his lead for this... so when he nods at her, she goes, though she keeps an eye on those things.

It's all easier to deal with once you know what the trick is.]

[theboogieman]

[he's happy to let her keep an eye on them. he doesn't want to look at them.

better than the alternative, maybe. he's so jumpy around them, since all of his nerves and instincts are screaming at him to kill kill kill even though the better part of him knows they're just an illusion.

but it is a good thing Hange came with him. she's the reason he doesn't go barreling in after phantoms that don't exist.

after what seems like forever, the forest will give up on them, and the monsters will slink back into the dark shadows between the trees.]

[aberrant_type]

[Questions are better saved for later, since his tension is so obvious. She bites her tongue and restrains herself. Lack of experience allows her to be disappointed when they slink away, since she can't observe them further...

Otherwise, they'll continue on the forest path in silence. It looks so peaceful here too. Hange sighs the tiniest bit. It's a shame those looks are deceptive.]

[theboogieman]

[he calms down, after a little while... with the threat gone, he's got nothing to worry about, and this becomes a... lovely walk through the forest again.

so... uh. weather sure is nice.]

[aberrant_type]

[Sure is. They can both fully appreciate it, because she's in work mode and not talking.

She's in work mode, at least, while they enjoy the sun and silence. When, in the distance, there's the sound of metal ringing on metal and the occasional shout - words indecipherable, urgency unmissable - Hange stops short, turns and stares keenly into the woods.

She knows those sounds.]

[theboogieman]

[that... gets him to stop, too, because he hasn't heard this sound before. it sounds like a warning bell. he was kind of expecting more Titans, with how things happened before, but this... might be different?]

[aberrant_type]

[Hange strides for the edge of the path, at a clip and certainty that looks like she might go off-trail again.]

[theboogieman]

[whoa whoa WHOA WHAT DID WE JUST TALK ABOUT. or NOT talk about, whatever!

he grabs for the back of her shirt, her coat, her cloak, whatever she's got on--grabs a bunch of it, maybe her collar, and yanks her backwards without hesitating.]

[aberrant_type]

-- Get off of me! [She whacks at him, mostly ineffectually, stumbling backwards with the pull.] I'm not leaving!

[Although she wants to.]

[theboogieman]

[he deliberates, for just a couple of seconds... but he... guesses if she ends up running off, he'll just go on alone? so he... lets go of her.]

[aberrant_type]

[As it happens, she hasn't lost all reason just yet. Instead of going dashing off, she goes straight to the edge of the trail and stays there, looking into the trees. Seeking. If Zhas follows the line of her gaze he'll see what she sees: far-away people spinning through the behemoth forest. There's the occasional flash of silver light on a wire, sometimes a shout, and through the trunks hulking shapes lumber this way and that, snatching at the humans as they dart this way and that like birds. The metal ringing that they heard is the chime of a sword being drawn, or metal wire scrolling against metal.

Hange stands at the edge of the path practically vibrating and then she raises her fingers to her lips and blows out a long, spitty whistle.]

[theboogieman]

[they aren't going to hear her.

...but she waited for him, so he watches flashes of silver in the distance and waits for her in return. both the sight and sound of it make him clench his jaw, unsettled.]

[aberrant_type]

[She tries again, and then again. It has to be fully tested. The whistle would ring through the trees enough to attract attention if everything was going - right. If everything was proper.

She tries again and then drops her hand, staring at the people - her comrades - as they're slowly demolished.]

Scouts' horses are trained to come when they whistle.

[theboogieman]

[...he takes a couple of steps closer to her, but it's not because he thinks she's going to jump off the path again. whatever his reason, though, it's never made clear... since he just stops, a little closer, and that's all.]

[aberrant_type]

[usually, she dies a good job of rerouting this feeling. It wouldn't be easy to guess how anxious she feels about things at home, how very well she knows that this isn't where she should be.

Now, as the scouts are slowly torn to pieces while they watch, it's more obvious.

She tries it again. Third time, last time's the charm as her whistle rings out and - nothing happens but the Titans slouchh away into the trees. She stares after them and after a few moments drops her hands]

[theboogieman]

[it's disheartening, seeing her like that.

he knows they aren't real. she knows they aren't real. but watching your comrades fall in battle... he hasn't experienced it often, but it's never a positive feeling. he can extrapolate.

...his footsteps come closer again, and he carefully puts a hand on her arm.

they should go.]