TDM #1

[thequietmods]

The ice isn't the only thing cracking right now. Spring storms can be violent, and the thunder is strong enough to reverberate in your chest. Outside of the chilly cave, a torrential downpour makes it nearly impossible to leave the cave and get your bearings. However, through the weather, and past the giant things that seem to be moving in the weather, something large looms in the distance.

The rain and the moving things make it hard to be sure, and you can't even see the horizon line, so it's either a very large body of water, some sort of man-made structure off in the distance, or both. Until the storm clears, no one can be sure which it is.

1. Someone, though, their voice just barely echoing off the walls, seems to be coming up with theories. Is it you? Do you think this is a waste of time?

2. Are you trying to go out into the hostile weather, risks be damned? Is it because you don't care? Do you think you can survive it?

3. Being trapped in a cave full of people stuck in pillars of ice is weird, isn't it? Isn't it even weirder that you used to be in one and now you're not? Are you going to help the others trapped in the ice? It should be warned that trying to break someone out when they're not awake to help will shatter the pillar, and the person inside.

4. As the storm clears up, night has fallen. Thunder booms in the distance and the sound of insects and wild animals picks up. Wolves howl in the darkness. Is now the time to make a move, or are you going to stay in this uncomfortable, but untouched, shelter?

Comments

[icysmile]

1. As ridiculous as it is, standing there in what just barely isn't a swimsuit, Blue Rose is one of the ones who seems totally at home in the chill. Not that she's chomping at the bit to go outside, mind. She's standing a good distance inside the cave, squinting as she tries to make out the forms in the distance. "Are those..." No, couldn't be.

But they sure were the right size for dinosaurs, weren't they? Or maybe it was the dark playing tricks on her. Hell, she couldn't even tell what that was even further in the distance. She frowns, glances around, then snaps her fingers at someone nearby. "Hey, are you doing anything? Can you tell what's going on out there?"

2. "Hey," She's moved on, now, to the people in the pillars. Now she's holding out her hands, trying to catch someone still working their way free. "Hold on, you're going to fall if you keep that up! Here, let me help."

3. A faint blue glow envelopes her as she waves her hand. In response, an icy throne appears in front of her, one that she settles in with a groan. "It feels like I haven't sat down in forever," Rose complains, still watching the storm. "Add that to the list of complaints to issue to whoever put us in those pillars, I guess." She glances over, spotting someone, and leans forward in her seat. "What do you think?" She raises her hand, tapping her wrist underneath the slightly odd-looking gauntlet that's similar to the one they have. "My communicator band isn't reaching anything, but that could be because of the cave. Or we could be too far away. Or... Anything, really."

She heaves a sigh. "I just want to know what on Earth is going on."

1.

[mad_larkin]

Larkin looks over from where he's poking at rocks, then walks to the entrance. "No, I'm not doing much. Huh. There's... something large. Can't see what, exactly."

Re: 1.

[icysmile]

She scowls a little, disappointed at the lack of added clarity. Then again, if she couldn't see through that, it was kind of dumb for her to expect others to do better. "Wish I had some binoculars or something." Rose folds her arms over her chest and bites at one of her thumbs, irritated at the whole situation. "Wish I had some answers, too. I've got things to do that don't involve being cooped up in here."

2.

[huntgodsbride]

"I'm fine," comes the reply as Nora works her body from side to side, trying to shimmy her way out of her pillar. "But, my owlbear could use some help," Nora nodded to the very large creature that was hooting sadly in his own pillar. It looked as though someone had transplanted a very large snow owl's head on a polar bear's body, then decided to add some feathers along its back for decorative effect.

It also looked very pathetic. "Astrid's not use to this kind of thing."

Re: 2.

[icysmile]

If she says she's fine, Rose is going to trust her. No use offending her by insisting, right? There's an indulging smile that freezes onto her face when she turns to look at the owlbear.

"What. Is that." It doesn't even come out as a question as she just. Points. A bit of panic enters her eyes and she glances at Nora again. "It's huge!" And somehow kind of pathetic, stuck in the pillar like that, but still. Big monster is big.

3

[tuckedinyoureyes]

White grumbles. For all that she's not doing much, she sure likes to make a racket talking about it. That's tolerable with people she knows and cares about but on a stranger she's just met it makes her feel assaulted on all sides by a level of obscenely un-earned confidence. It's also just extremely hard to focus when there's an extremely pretty but extremely the visible opposite of "hot" (ha, ha) lady over there drawing attention to herself like some sort of anime superhero or something. Doesn't she know her outfit is ridiculous?! Is that an advertisement for Pepsi on her - ahem?!

"Not on Earth," she finally manages to bother saying, in one of the moments where no chattering chatterboxing appears to be happening.

[icysmile]

Her ahem isn't for advertising, thank you very much.

She cuts her gaze to whoever spoke and pauses. That is... a very white girl. Whiter than white, even. Was she an albino? That would be a new one for her. She blinks, processing the brief sentence, then frowns. "What do you mean 'not on Earth?' Where else would we be?"

Bruno Madrigal | Encanto

[withtherats]

[[OOC: I'll keep Encanto spoilers to a minimum, but Bruno's whole self is a lowkey spoiler.]]

1
[ A gangly man hunched in on himself is pacing back and forth in a secluded corner. Bruno fidgets as he paces, a mix of nerves and the chill air. He mutters fretfully. ]

...I don't understand. I was there, and now I'm here. I don't even know where "here" is, so I don't... Is this a dream? It could be a dream, it doesn't feel like a dream, I don't know it could be a dream - it doesn't make any sense.

[ He looks up on noticing you, and stares owlishly for about half second before offering an awkward little smile. He wraps his arms around himself, trying to warm himself. ]

...Hola. Aheh.

Er, I don't suppose you have any ideas? How we got here, I mean.

3a
[ Eventually Bruno stops pacing aimlessly and begins moving around with more of a purpose. He looks over the ice pillars for a bit, peering in concern at the people who are still fully encased. He's very, very careful not to touch any such pillars. Then he stops and scans the area before turning to you. ]

Have you seen any... brush, branches, anything like that? Something we could burn? Do you know if we can melt these things?

3b
[ If anyone breaking free of the pillars is having trouble, he's there, offering a hand if they just need to catch their balance or help stepping down; if they need more assistance than that, he hesitates - before pulling up the hood of his ruana and then tugging it down to cover his eyes. ]

I will help you, hold out your hand!

[ His voice abruptly sounds... braver? More confident. (...In a distinctly actorly tone, but he's doing his best.) What he does next depends on how much of the person is free and whether that does actually include one of their hands. He doesn't actually have a plan, this is all improv now. ]

3b

[rolltoavoidpossession]

[Ryou, meanwhile, has managed to somewhat break himself out of his pillar, but he's having trouble finishing the job, with his legs still stuck. He's just considering if he should wait and see if some of the remaining ice will melt when Bruno offers help.]

Alright! [He holds out his hand, hoping that whatever's going on here, he can at least get out of this ice.]

[withtherats]

[ Bruno grasps the offered hand and... decides it's time for his best Assess The Situation. There's not much to assess really - Ryou's legs are encased in ice. It might be a complication, but it's sure not complicated. Hm! Alright, what next? ]

Can... you wiggle your toes?

[ Bruno's dramatic tone just makes the question sound weird. ]

1.

[kingtyrantranger]

"Magic, probably." The answer comes from an unassuming guy in red. Jason shrugs a little. "I don't know, this just feels like the time everyone in my town got kidnapped by a witch for a while. If that's what's going on again, we'll be fine. The Power Rangers'll save us."

Nevermind that their leader's stuck there in a cave, trying to pretend he's not freezing his butt off. Admitting that kind of thing isn't manly enough, after all.

Instead, he grins, friendly as can be. "Jason. Nice to meet you, bro."

[withtherats]

Oh, does... are you kidnapped a lot? In your town, is that normal?

[ Bruno's a bit nonplussed. Of course "magic" would explain just about anything, but... the magic where he's from had never done things like abruptly transport one who-knows-where and just leave one there. At least, it hadn't before... ]

...I suppose there's always a first time...

[ Not to mention the idea of witches kidnapping whole towns is just unsettling.

Oh wait, this fellow introduced himself, Bruno should respond to that part too. ]

I'm, er, Bruno. Madrigal.

[ He quickly wipes his hands on his ruana before holding one out with a lopsided smile. ]

I'm sorry we only met because of getting kidnapped! Aheh...

Who are the "Power Rangers"?

3b

[jinzhong]

[You know, after everything, Jackie didn't expect to wake up - such as it was - in a giant pillar of ice. Actually, he hadn't known what he'd been expecting. He just didn't want to look down at his bloodied clothes.

He reaches towards the guy who'd just decided to get all dramatic, breaking the ice the best he can with his battered limbs.]

Sure, man...

[His hand has some fresh wounds and what are definitely a couple of recently-broken fingers. Jackie looks like he's been on the wrong end of a pretty severe beating. With implements.]

Just, uh, don't yank on it, all right? This is gonna hurt no matter what.

[mad_larkin]

1. So, it's raining out. Raining a lot. But Larkin's got a camo cloak, his hood's pulled up, it's nothing to be afraid of. Just a little wet. He's had worse.

"It's the perfect time to go out!" he says, to no one in particular. "Everything else will be inside. We can take the lay of the land."

2. He's looking up at one of the ice pillars, curious. There's someone in there, obviously, but they're not breaking out. He taps on the ice, wincing at the cold.

"D'you think we should break them out? If they're just standing there, I mean. It seems... dangerous."

3. Larkin sits in the entrance to the cave, huddled in his cloak, peering outside. He can't see much, but there's occasional movement in tall grass close by. He doesn't think it's a wolf, those are too far away. Probably some kind of rodent. His hands flex, wishing he had his long-las. Whatever it is is close enough to get. Could be good eating.

[rolltoavoidpossession]

[Ryou's going to stare at him with a look of 'are you kidding right now'.
After all, he's not dressed for this weather and is dealing with some recently dug up traumatic memories in addition to having to break out of a pillar of ice in a cave. Not a great time for him.]

A lot of us aren't dressed to be out there right now. Maybe we should wait for it to clear up before exploring. [Yes, then whatever else might be out there will probably come out too, but then at least they'll avoid the storm.]

[71lines]

First things first: it's freezing in here. Literally, if you took a closer look at the walls. Luckily, Tenten has just the solution for that. One scroll later and there's a blazing fire in front of her, far from the ice pillars but not close enough to the mouth of the cave for the the wind and rain to risk putting it out.

She huddles in close, warming her hands, and mentally takes stock of the situation. She's got her scrolls, so that's good. She doesn't have a clue of where she is, and that's... worrisome. There's supposed to be a war going on and she can't miss out on that. But, judging from the expressions she's seeing, the other people here have as little idea of what's going on as she does.

Not promising.

But maybe there's some info to be had. And what better way to get it than... She clears her throat and waves, hoping to catch someone's attention. "I can get some food cooking in a second, if you're hungry. You want to sit down and eat while we wait out the weather?"

[mad_larkin]

Larkin's already on the way over, having noticed the fire. "How'd you manage to make that? And where'd you get food?"

[tuckedinyoureyes]

The White Girl - and really, Tenten will find it hard to think of her as anything else, it's such an ... oddly overpowering characteristic of hers - doesn't seem to do much more than tilt her head, oh so slightly, in the direction of Tenten busying herself at food-making. Her eyes remain closed, icons be damned.

Doesn't seem to, anyway. After a moment of well-it's-probably-not-observation-maybe, the White Girl's stomach breaks the silence for her, with a wholly impolite and inopportune growl.

Somebody ... might be hungry.

Ryou Bakura | Yu-Gi-Oh! (manga+dsod)

[rolltoavoidpossession]

1.
[Ryou is staring outside, trying to see what's moving around out there in the rain without, you know, actually going out into the storm. He's not dressed for this weather anyway, so between the storm outside and the cold inside, he's kind of suffering.]

...Is this where everyone was being sent? [As far as Ryou knows, this is where he got sent to after his run in with Aigami and Manni. Not what he was expecting, but at least he's not dead?]

2.
[Eventually his attention turns to the remaining ice pillars, and he goes over to one to look more closely at it and the person inside.]

...Should we help them out? If we were frozen in those, then maybe they're still alive in there. [He doesn't really want to leave a bunch of people frozen in ice, after all.]

2.

[71lines]

I don't think so. What if there's something special about the way we came out and we screwed up and hurt them? [She's been giving this a little thought herself.] I mean, wouldn't all the fluids inside them have expanded with the ice?

[Then again, she was fine. And, it seems, so was he. Maybe humans were more like that one type of frog than she realized? But then, why did people freeze to death?]

Yes Man | Fallout: New Vegas

[exclamation_marks]

1
[Yes Man is encased completely in a block of ice. Wow! That's so strange? Not normal for a desert wasteland, that's for sure. Or normal for waking up from an incomplete software update, goshdarn it.

Wow, yeah. Really strange. Either way, brrr! He needs to get out of here, pronto. This kind of extreme temperature is okay for now, but isn't that great long-term for his processors. And who'd want to be stuck here in isolation forever anyway? He did plenty of that already, and pardon his language, but he's not looking for a repeat of that. He does some quick calculations, and starts the process to cycle the X-25 Gatling laser in his left arm.

And, well, his whole arm is frozen in a specific position, so let's hope nobody's standing around, near, or close to where he's pointing when it finally starts up! He's polite enough to wait a little, but a bot's gotta do what a bot's gotta do!

whrrRRRRRR-chk-

That's all the warning anyone gets before the gatling laser starts up and blasting the ice, steam erupting everywhere.]

2
[Yes Man is programmed to be helpful. Very helpful.

If you're in need of help, said something around the weird robot, or called for assistance without thinking of who or what was around to answer it - here comes an 8-foot securitron with enormous claw hands and the friendliest face in the west rolling on over to loom over you.]

Hi there! How can I help you?

3
[If you went outside into the hostile weather to investigate, well, have a 8-foot securitron on a monowheel following behind you. 2 tons of titanium alloy does not make for a stealthy or subtle journey. Neither does the sound of raindrops plinking off his metal housing.]

Boy, it must really suck to be you right now. I mean, gosh, it looks sooo cold out here! I can't feel a thing, but you? You look positively miserable! I always wondered what it would be like to experience sensation just like you guys - y'know, just to see what all the fuss is about - but I'm sure glad right now that I can't!

3

[mad_larkin]

[Larkin tries to endure the chatter for as long as he can, as he figures any kind of animal would have been driven away by it, before giving up and whirling on him.]

I. Am trying. To be stealthy.

[tuckedinyoureyes]

1 (... and 2, and 3):

Waste of time or not, the huddled girl - unnervingly all white, from her hair to her skin to her clothes, like a living, breathing doll or a well-made-up corpse - in the corner, still shivery as if from the cold, doesn't seem to be interested in participating. She doesn't seem to be interested in anything at all - well, wait, that's not true. It's just that she doesn't seem to be paying attention with her eyes, closed as they are. They don't seem sewn shut or anything, they just ... aren't open. Like she's someone who sleepwalks through life. Or, in this case, sleep-sits.

She makes no move to join the rest of the group in any way. Every so often, she deliberately lifts her head to look out of the mouth of the cave and her face scrunches up in a rictus of violent disgust, before she sticks her tongue out at the inclement weather and goes right back to letting her abnormally long, meticulously braided white hair fall around her shoulders from underneath the pulled-up hood of her white cloak, scooting her white boots back under its long hem.

Boy, she seems friendly as hell.

4:

As night falls and the storm abates, her head once again comes deliberately, sharply up. She stands with what might be the agonizing slowness of someone who's forgotten, yet again, that sitting for long stretches of time makes the joints in her body dislike it when she stands ... except she does it much faster than human speed, and quietly, like she's just ... not about that "making noises" life.

There's almost what sounds like a word someone might actually say, for a moment - like she mumbles "Finally." - and her hood flutters back long enough for it to be obvious her eyes are still seemingly closed. And then there's a small pip of displaced air filling a sudden hole that wasn't there a moment ago, and she's just gone.

Some minutes pass. And then she's right back where she was a moment ago as if she never left. There's a mumbled noise, like someone very faintly muttering "... okay," and then she sighs. Her shoulders sag, and she leans against the wall, either overwhelmed, resigned, or disappointed ... or perhaps all three at once.

[trainphreaking]

Hope she doesn't mind this old woman giving a sort of thoughtful inspection to her when she returns, but she doesn't seem of the temperament to care, particularly.

For a while the woman keeps tinkering with whatever technological device she's got in her hands. Then, she glances up, just slightly.

"So it didn't do what you expected."

Like, most people would introduce themselves or something, but who here is a normal person?

1...and 2....?

[tempusfinis]

"You-- hey, you, are you doing alright?"

Strange as this crystal awakening may be, that doesn't stop this stranger from offering help to another in need, or rather, one who appear to be in need. It's rather reasonable to assume that someone as pale as snow and huddled into themselves is not having the best of times, after all.

He kneels down beside her, expression serious and tone tempered into a gentle concern, as if anything louder might make her skittish.