week zero: mingle

[cyclists]

Week Zero
32 in Competition

On Monday morning, the sun rises on the sleepy village, and when the first ray of light touches the gates at each corner of the village, the previously tightly sealed doors open.

The barriers around the village fall, and leave it entirely open. Each cardinal direction will have a path exiting the village, taking the curious explorers who follow it on an adventure to new territories to be explored. They’ll find that each location that they arrive in appears to be associated with one of the elements. As the Signs had explained the day before, each of the participants in the game possesses an elemental assignment, whether they are aware of it or not.

When they approach the elemental areas, they’ll find themselves more in tune with their new powerset, as if the location invites them to take them out for a spin. The new areas appear to be perfect for training and learning how to use the new skills, or maybe if you’re curious you can discover which of those listed powers you’ve been granted.

Just try not to hurt yourself while you’re out there.

In addition, it seems now that more pieces of the core are being revealed, the river that runs through the village will begin to be dotted with small lanterns floating on the water. Some of them seem to be holding small notes. Try as you might to grab one, they’ll always just barely float out of reach.

Perhaps try sending one yourself and see what results you might get?

Occasionally in the village, you might hear the sound of drums and flutes - is that festival music? - though no matter how you search, you can’t find the source… yet.



Welcome to your tutorial week mingle log! Please see all the links within the log to check out the new updates. In addition, your status page has been updated. In case you missed it, please report all item theft to this top-level where all comments are screened. Private conversations are also open and should be reported under the Week 0 top-level.

A mini-event will also be posted on Wednesday, June 5th, so please keep an eye out for that!

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[forefall]

[ Four looks at the sun's placement in the sky and then back at Minato. By herself, no problem. With him... ]

We can make it our best effort. [ ... ] It'd be a little romantic, wouldn't it?

[ That last part sounds a little uncertain. ]

[compendiem]

...Yeah.

[ It's a flat voice that responds to the question, neither enthusiastic nor oppositional but just sort of "yeah... so what?" any maybe that lack of reaction is worse. ]

It'd be a nice view to share with someone, but the effort needed to get there... [ Too much. If there's nothing interesting up here in the mountain, he is never stepping past the gate again. ]

I guess you're worth the effort.

[ Because then they can go back down and eat ice cream. ]

[forefall]

[ For Four, apathy is always the worst. Her hands clench at her side, and she shakes her head. ]

I don't mean— I'm not the kind of girl who— I don't care.

[ She speeds up her pace a bit. ]

[compendiem]

[ Ara: how fast is he going to reverse this social link
me: 4 days

Minato presses his lips together when she picks up the pace— he can tell when he's obviously said the wrong thing, but it's not always as easy to piece together why, especially with people he's just met and doesn't know anything about. But when she speeds up, Minato does too, falling in line beside her; he's going to feel like death later, but while he's actively climbing, he can appear to be doing just fine. ]

...Sorry, [ he says at length, after some internal math lady memeing ] I said that wrong. You are worth the effort.

[ Does that fix things............ ]

[forefall]

[ he can't reverse a social link that hasn't formed yet (it's fine*)

She looks at him, and while her expression isn't cold, it's not as warm as it was two minutes ago. ]

That's not what I care about. I don't need to be worth the effort for anything. I'm fine. It's fine.

[ *citation needed ]

[compendiem]

[ Is it fine? That's like the one phrase that almost always means the opposite when one says it; Minato knows, he lies about being fine too. ]

You don't need to be, but you are... [ He mumbles this mostly to himsefl, and then a little louder- ]

What sort of stuff do you care about?

[forefall]

[ She doesn't have as sensitive hearing as her sister, but what she caught, she doesn't quite understand... She doesn't need to be? She doesn't address that. ]

My family's happiness. The world's safety. Banishing as much evil and injustice as possible. That sort of stuff.

[ At least at the pace they're going, they'll make it for the sunset. ]

[compendiem]

...That's all such noble stuff. Incredible, really...

[ Especially when Minato doesn't care about all of that. He cares about his friends more than he cares about the rest of the world, wanting to protect the only happiness he had left and that's why he did what he did. ]

If that's the case, I'm really glad you're here.

[forefall]

[ Her steps slow, and she even stops for a second. Four looks at him—really looks at him to see how genuine he is. Validation of that level is something that reaches and touches Four. ]

Do you... really think so?

[ She sounds the most vulnerable here in all the times she's talked to him. Her vulnerability is gone in the next second, and she picks up her pace—to a normal speed. ]

—I mean, it is noble, isn't it?

[compendiem]

[ The sincerity is on his face because he's speaking to the ground, to himself— when Four speaks and Minato looks back up, his expression falls back to careful neutrality. ]

Yeah.

[ It's the answer to both her questions, expressed at one time bc he's lazy. ]

It's because of people like you here, that I think we'll be fine.

[forefall]

[ ...

She can't deny she wants to be depended on. She can't deny that she likes being depended on. ]

... You say that so easily. Do you say that to everyone?

[compendiem]

I don't. But I also tend to just say what's on my mind, so...

[ He shrugs. It's not that he has no filter— he's quiet most of the time, and it's an effort to talk at length about anything, preferring to be on the listening half of a conversation. But if he does speak up, it's unfiltered, the honest truth. ]

[forefall]

Not everyone can do that.

[ The wind picks up the higher they go, but at least the air is fresher and crisper. Four's frustration becomes more noticeable, too, the more her hair gets whipped around by the gusts.

Is this trek worth it yet? ]

[compendiem]

[ Somehow, yes it's worth it. Because if it were just him by himself, he'd have laid there on the ground until nightfall. With Four (partially blocking the wind for him), the trek is easier, and the time passes quicker.

And the mountain trail is still so, so long.

He glances over at her. ]

Do you want an extra hair tie?

[forefall]

Don't tell me you actually have one?

[ She's disbelieving.

If Four were smarter and a little less stubborn, she could simply turn her pigtails into a ponytail. But she's not. ]

[compendiem]

[ He doesn't tell her, but what he does is undo the ribbon from his uniform and hold it out to her. Not exactly elastic, but with as much hair as she has, she could put it into a ponytail or a bun and a ribbon should hold everything together just fine. ]

[forefall]

[ She looks at the offered ribbon for a moment, hesitates, and then takes it. Even with gloves over them, her fingers work nimbly to tie her hair back. If her cheeks are a little pink, it's definitely because of the crisp and sharp winds and not because she's kind of touched by this simple gesture. ]

.... Thank you. It looks like we're almost there.

[ She may or may not be lying. ]

[compendiem]

[ Minato turns his head up towards the peak, but it looks just as infinitely far away as it was two hours ago, and he's definitely not built for endurance.

Sprinting up this mountain is tempting but also a fairly bad idea, so Minato just hikes up the pace a little more, ignores the heaviness in his legs and pushes on like always. ]

Looks like we'll make it before sundown. Let's both do our best.

[ And then take a two hour rest. Possibly camp out overnight bc heck if he can move after this. ]

[forefall]

[ Even without her Intoner endurance/stamina, she still did her fair share of traveling in her time, so she's fine. Only having known him for two seconds, she already knows he can fall over like a leaf. ]

... You can depend on me, if you need it.

[ She will roll him down the incline. Or off a cliff. (Kidding.) ]

[compendiem]

[ Inclines take too long; she should just throw him off a cliff. He might ask her to do that someday, but for now, he just looks at Four appreciatively. ]

Yeah. I'll do that.