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."

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.]

[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.

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."

[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?"

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."

Re: 1.

[mad_larkin]

"If I had my scope, I'd be able to tell you. But my kit's where I left it. On a ship. Not this cave." He sighs. "This whole thing's fething stupid. Getting dragged to this place..."

Then he trails off and shakes his head. He hadn't been happy, where he was, but this place isn't any better. Some cave in the wilderness will not have food or water or anything enough for all the people in these pillars.

[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?"

[icysmile]

A sailor and a Hero? That's an odd mix if there ever was one, she thinks. "Not to mention the ugly accessory," she comments, raising her hand to show her new communication gauntlet off. "I don't know about you, but this definitely isn't my style."

But there it was. It even fit her hand, too, like it'd been made for her. Not that she remembered even putting the thing on.

[71lines]

"Had some wood on me," she comments easily, brushing it off as almost comically unimportant. She stretches out a scroll and there's a puff of smoke beneath it. When the smoke clears, there's a cooking pot on a stand that she moves to place over the fire.

"I'm a ninja."

As if that explained everything.

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."

[mad_larkin]

He looks his over, poking at the display. "It's more advanced than what we usually get. I'm used to a microbead and some maps. Not some sort of holo thing."

[mad_larkin]

"A ninja," he says, blankly, "I don't think I've heard of those, but then, I'm just a guardsman. Who knows what strangeness the galaxy holds."

He assumes, after all, that he's been kidnapped to some out of the way planet, possibly by his enemy.

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.]

[71lines]

"...Really?" She guesses it's possible somewhere that no one's heard of a ninja, but the idea still leaves Tenten incredulous. "We're kind of everywhere. "

The conversation's not slowing her hands down any. Another puff of smoke from her scroll and there's a cutting board and a batch of cabbage. As they talk, she's slicing it into bits and feeding the result into the pot.

[mad_larkin]

"Everywhere where?" he asks, watching her prepare whatever it is. "There's a lot of everywhere in the galaxy."

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?]

[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. ]

[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"?

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."

[71lines]

Carrots! Carrots are next, and they're chopped with ruthless efficiency. Add a bit of salt and some cubes and she just. Covers the entire pot up. "Give it twenty minutes, we'll have some soup."

Then she settles back on her haunches and looks up at him, frowning slightly. "...Earth? I mean. It's not like you can go to other places." Space travel just isn't a thing where she's from.

[kingtyrantranger]

She does this from time to time. [Jason shrugs off the question with a bit of a wave. Like it's not intensely weird.] I'm guessing you're not from Angel Grove.

[Like the accent and clothing choice wasn't a dead giveaway, but no one ever accused him of being a great detective. He's pretty proud of himself for noticing that much, though.

Jason takes Bruno's hand in his and gives him a firm shake.]

Yeah, that's a bit of a downer, but at least we met, right? [This guy's taking the whole kidnapping thing pretty well, all things considered. Hopefully everyone else does, too.] The Rangers are like superheroes? I guess? That witch I mentioned earlier, she sends monsters to attack the city every week or so and they stop her. I guess they're not that famous outside of Angel Grove, though, if you haven't heard of them.

[icysmile]

"Microbeads?" Like the little plastic things in her body soap? Well, maybe sailors were doing some interesting things with hygiene these days. "You'd think it'd give us some more information, though. It's a bit... minimalist."

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.