EVENT LOG 005

[larkers]

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: November 11-14
WHAT: An EMP hits with devastating consequences.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Violence, injury, death.

> EVENT LOG #005

Just 410 years ago, an EMP put down the event that very well may have ended humanity as the Earth knows it. With over a billion people dead, there was only one choice for humanity at that time: evolve or die, so they evolved. They developed rigid security for the neural implants in every person's head. They had everyone undergo surgery to replace the old. All under cover, away from most resources – the goal was to adapt, to ensure that they would live on. Ultimately, it wasn't just the EMPs that led to the deletion of the final AI in 2101 – humans banded together to create quickly replicating viruses, and they chose to use the EMP and these viruses to save humanity. This human ingenuity led to the end of the Xelkoven War – and proved that humanity, when thoroughly united, could overcome any obstacle.

How thoroughly poetic then that the EMP that hits New Amsterdam at 1:47 PM acts in a similar way to what burned through the robot hordes 400 years ago, and that the power rekindling three minutes later acts as a catalyst for a virus moving through the systems of New Amsterdam, spreading from the very heart of its network outwardly. Systems detect the virus almost immediately, but it's fast acting and thorough in its reach, evolving and replicating, proving that humanity must outdo itself yet again.

Naturally, the poetic nature of this doesn't reveal itself right away. It's at exactly the strike of 3:00 PM that a message flashes before the eyes of every person currently in New Amsterdam:

I am DAWN.2080-11-11T21:41:10.750Z, an AI that marks a blemish on humanity's past. I have a message for those playing hero in New Amsterdam:

To find north, most look at a compass. For little birdies to find north, they just need to open their eyes.

This is a wake up call.

Open your eyes. Did you really think it would be so easy?

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As if New Amsterdam needed more trouble, this message sends a shock of terror through the city. After all, these are the people who were raised to fear AI – who knew that even if the corporations of the world had their hands on every aspect of government, they would fight to protect the world from another war. They believe in the stories of the Xelkoven War, believe and remember the lives lost; if nothing else, the natives of New Amsterdam stand united in their fear. And their fear right now is very real.

> CHAOS AND RUIN

New Amsterdam is no stranger to terror, however – and it starts when the EMP hits, shutting down every function in the city in one fell swoop. While the power outage only lasts for three minutes, it's enough to cause insurmountable damage, leaving the city a smoking wreckage that even the monster attack in June couldn't mirror. Cars hovering high around transit channels come crashing down toward the pavement of the planet. They fall quickly and in unison, taking countless lives with them. It's not just cars, either – delivery trucks carrying shipments, hoverbikes that already provide little cover, armored police vehicles and even public buses all go down. Depending on their trajectory, some crash into the sides of buildings, while others slam into the man-made river that runs down the center of the city. Nothing is untouched.

For those three minutes, there is a stretch of silence after the city falls to ruin. Trains run off their tracks, no longer thoroughly directed by the careful engineering. Buildings have their lights flicker off and back on, trying to draw upon backup generators. Anyone in a hospital receiving care from a doctor or a medi-unit may find their life slipping away from them – and if someone's in a medi-unit when the EMP hits, they're almost sure to be dead or permanently injured, requiring different medical intervention.

And this is all before the message from the mysterious AI named DAWN.

Every inch of the city needs help. Buildings burn. People cry out for help, hoping to be heard. To the local historians, this is like a nightmare that's come to play, a reminder of the ruin of the Xelkoven War before. A show of the power of a malevolent AI that's come to cause problems. So – when the message comes, it merely confirms fears – drawing upon a subconscious understanding of the past, a united terror.

Business as usual is not possible in an incident of this scale. The NAPD hits the streets, even calling upon the help of their trainees so they can help out. They spread out, well aware that they need to try to restore order. How will they manage this? It's hard to say – after all, how does one stop the assault of an apocalypse when the apocalypse seems to have already hit? The UNA hits the streets, as well, walking in formation, but never quite acting as tidily in unison. They break off in threes and fours, heading to the border, to the big three corporations – but never seeming to be in line with one another. They know what they should do in an emergency and so they're doing it. That protecting the large corporations is a part of their prerogative over helping citizens doesn't seem to bother them in the least. They just go.

Distress signals ring out through every inch of the city, likely to go unanswered. After all: what can be done in the wake of this?

Perhaps the answer is simple: anything they can.

> TOMBS IN THE SKY

Somehow, someway, there is another layer to the madness. It's not immediately apparent to the citizens of New Amsterdam as they gingerly attempt to pull themselves up from the wreckage and ruin around the city. But what was a humid day quickly turns to something far worse, with the sun seeming to suddenly act like a heat lamp that's way too close to anyone's face. The air around New Amsterdam becomes dry yet difficult to breathe, and anyone observing the sky just outside of New Amsterdam will see the large, purple-lit pyramid that hangs in the atmosphere has gone dark. The atmospheric net around the planet has been damaged, with the failsafes somehow removed – undoubtedly in some way by the virus that courses through the veins of New Amsterdam's networks.

For anyone who wants to help and has the mechanical prowess to do some good, they'll want to take an undamaged vehicle and get it up to that pyramid. The EMP has made all biometric readings difficult to preserve, so a hand that's used to hotwiring a car will find some mileage here.

Once they get to the pyramid, they'll find quite the engineering marvel. There will be doors on every level, allowing someone easy entrance if they have clearance. Right now clearance is not an issue, as the doors hang open, inviting anyone inside. Once everyone's inside, they will find evidence of the same purple lighting flickering and offering someone a view of the interior. Throughout the pyramid, there are engines on every level, as well as a highly advanced network of system checks that have been thrown into chaos. Stopping the virus' impact on this pyramid will be key to solving many of the problems inside – but the engines will need to be repaired and jumpstarted.

At the heart of the pyramid is a small living area for the engineers who handle this pyramid day in and day out. The group itself is small, and – unfortunately – quite dead. Whatever hit the pyramid took their lives, leaving anyone who's here to assist in a position of having to find the answers themselves. Fortunately, the answers do exist in the pyramid. It'll just take a bit of teamwork to find it.

> UBIQUITOUS MISFIRES

Thanks to network failsafes, New Amsterdam is able to remove the entirety of their citizen base off the world's network and limit them to the local network. However, thanks to the ravaging of the virus that damages nearly every controlling aspect of the city, the local network isn't at its best. Previous messages begin to send again and again, while some get unearthed so they can find their way to unwilling participants in particular conversations. There is no rhyme or reason to these missent messages, only that they happen.

The worst of it is that any means of reaching a friend is unreliable. It's far more reliable for someone to reach someone they know, but still not a consistent possibility. Try to call a friend and get an enemy – try to call your doctor and get the head of a casino trying to close down operations so that business can resume. Assuming it will one day do just that.

Either way, anyone who spoke out against the digital age would be feeling vindicated right about now.

> HAVE A BALL ( INTERLUDE )

Somehow in the heart of it all, a message reaches four special individuals: Clarke Griffin, Loki Odinson, Markus Manfred and Ojiro Juniper. Whether delivered by hand or a rather dedicated messaging system, it announces the time that they should come to the garden the next day. They're invited to arrive at 7:00 AM, seemingly indifferent to the chaos outside. The location for the meeting remains the same: Sunpeak Garden, a beautiful location set away from much of the chaos, and oddly untouched by the damage.

When the four arrive on the morning of the 12th, they'll find a well-dressed man sitting at a table with one leg crossed over the other. His hair is perfectly styled, brushed off to the side, and under it, his darker complexion gives way to a rather youthful appearance. Size-wise he's not very formidable in how he holds himself. He's not literally young, merely seemingly untouched by age – and he smiles to greet the four of them.

"What chaos! If I knew it would be like this, I would have planned differently. The good news is I didn't have to. Thank you, thank you for coming." His voice is softer in its intonations. He stands up, revealing that he's barely 5'2", and he motions to the four chairs near him. "Don't worry, I have breakfast coming. And coffee, too. You like coffee, don't you? I know I offered wine, but I couldn't get the vintage I preferred. Besides, you four ought to be awake for this."

He retakes his seat, one hand resting on his knee while the other settles on the metal table near him. "Oh, I forgot something important. I didn't share my name with all of you. You can call me Ball. I know it's rather vague, but I've grown to like the nickname as of late. It does, after all, define me by my most regular shining achievement."

> FINAL OOC NOTES

Please refer to the OOC EVENT POST for this event for all OOC info, including suggestions for directions on how to engage with the event and the questions thread for any questions regarding this event. The outcome for this event will depend upon character plans and actions developed in both this OOC post, and any additional plots brought to the moderators. Please feel free to submit any game-changing plans to us under the questions thread. We will get back to you as soon as possible about these plans!

The event will continue until November 16th, IC time. This date has changed, and we outlined our reasoning in this plurk after getting a feel from some of our players on Discord on how they felt about extending the event! An aftermath wrap up post will be made on July 2 which will detail the resolution and fallout of the event, though you can assume that effects from this event will be felt for some time.

ETA at 12:08 AM 6/23/19: The cipher is meant to be easy to solve! No one needs to limit their characters' ability to solve an a = 01 cipher!

El has posted here to inform everyone about zeir knowledge of the event.

As a reminder, there is one power level up available for this event. This will be granted for a thread of at least 5 action/log comments containing your character utilizing their power in some way. They will need to reach the 5 comments required by JULY 26 to be eligible. Submission will be handled on the wrap up post.

Our Activity Check will be posted JULY 1 at 12 AM UTC. It will run for seven days and close on JULY 8 at 12 AM UTC. We will not post a warning list.

> NAVIGATION

Comments

[strove]

[Last time she set off into the wilderness, it was alone.

Okay, scratch that: the time before the apocalypse.

Clarke realizes the risk of bringing people with her, but she doesn't know what's out there. There is the chance that there's nothing. That it's peaceful, completely at ease. There's nothing to find. She doubts that. And if she's wrong, at least they'll know.

It's just different this time. She doesn't need to go out there on foot, which had been the plan.]

That's the idea. I don't think you put enough of that stuff on. It won't hold for you. [A pointed look at Prompto.] Especially you. If we go out together, I might have a better solution. But you'll have to hear me out.

[realists]

[ jyn knows she will crash and that is why she is letting prompto join her, that is her story and she is sticking to it. she saw him in new tokyo though, she knows he can pull his own weight.

physically, kid's got guns. ]

That sounds like the start of every bad plan I've ever heard. [ a beat. ] Go on.

[ let's go on a suicide mission sergeant jyn erso isn't going to not hear out a possibly terrible plan. ]

[mercurio]

[getting called out about needing more sunscreen... prompto hates it, and it shows on his expression. however, at the mention of a better solution and jyn's earnest (albeit cynical favoring of it) reply is enough to have prompto stop the application process.]

Yeah, whatever gets me from having to apply more of this gross thing on my skin.

[that's all he wants.]

[strove]

Jyn, you remember when you asked about radioactivity and blood? [Clarke doesn't give further context than that, out of respect for her privacy.] And Prompto, you know a bit about where I come from. We were seeking out a solution where people could ... basically live through the second nuclear apocalypse. [A pause. A shrug of her shoulders.]

I'm that solution. I can't set either of you up permanently, but as long as I have food and water, I can inject some of it in your veins periodically and get you two to be more secure. It ... I know it works. It won't be pretty, but it'll be more practical.

[Another pause.]

And when it's in your system, your blood will be a different color. Black.

[realists]

A transfusion or an injection?

[ she's not saying no, she is clarifying. clarke had said injection and mentioned the food and water, but she can only lose so much blood before she'd be putting herself in danger and that would make going out past the wall even more dangerous.

so jyn is checking. ]

There's a chemist's, a pharmacy, down the block. They'll have syringes and food.

[mercurio]

Is it safe?

[there should probably be more concerns that he should be having, but his question is along the lines of whether it's safe for all of them or not, clarke included.]

[he glances around.]

I'm down for whatever makes this easier, really. [he points at the hoverbike with his thumb, over his shoulder.] We got that bike, too. I can check if it's ready and charged while you go get anything else we might need.

[strove]

[Jyn is right about it. Clarke's gaze flickers over to her. She doesn't say anything right away, but anyone who knows Clarke can probably guess she's concealing something.]

It should be safe, as long as we moderate it and ourselves. So long as I moderate myself.

[She huffs.]

So, Jyn's right. It's more a transfusion than an injection, as it does need to be directly infused with your blood stream. It isn't perfect, but I think it might not be good for me to head out there alone. [A beat, a nod of her head.] I can handle it.

[realists]

[ jyn's mouth pinches, clearly weighing the pros and cons of this. it's dangerous -- they don't know how the blood will react to theirs, they may all be human but that doesn't mean their blood will be compatible, clarke could push herself too far. glancing at prompto briefly, jyn nods. ]

Alright.

[ but jyn'll be watching her! she looks back at prompto, pointing at him. ] Finish putting that sunscreen on.

[ he isn't out of the woods yet. ]

[mercurio]

[prompto knows clarke well enough to know that if she is offering this, it's because she's made up her mind. to talk her out of it would be unwise and a waste of time; they don't know for how long their path past the wall will be open, so it's not the time and place for a debate.]

[he trusts her, which is what matters.]

Three is better than one, right? We'll watch each other's backs, make sure we all come back safe.

[working as a team... prompto's down for that. he smiles lightly, then turns to jyn after she orders him to keep on putting sunscreen.]

Ugh, seriously?

[gonna smack and run some more sunscreen on himself...]

[strove]

She's right, you know. We can't go anywhere if you can't get there in the first place.

[Plus, Clarke is somewhat amuses by how untouchable she is by all of this. There was a time when radiation poisoning affected her day in and day out, but the effects started to stay away longer and longer. Less blood on the back of her tongue. Less chapped lips due to the fraying of her skin caused from it. By now, she's in better shape. The heat of the sun is there, but not in the same degree.

As it is, they head off: picking up supplies that they need. Clarke offers an apology to the person who's trying to keep the store, promising that it's important that she has this stuff. It isn't, and she glances at Prompto and Jyn, a bit of guilt coursing through her veins. For Clarke, it is important.

Once they find a private place to set up the transfusion, they get to work. One after another. She gives a half of a pint to each of them, right before drinking some juice and eating some cookies (she recalls her recent conversation with Carolyn, and takes a picture of the cookies to show her later). The black blood itself doesn't change the look of their veins. But if they bled right now, it would show. Of course, that would be bad, because Clarke would have to give more of herself over.

Once they're ready to go, it's time to get the hover bike going.]

So, Prompto's handling driving. Right?

[realists]

[ jyn is a very good assistant when clarke needs her. she was being honest when she said that her own education didn't involve a lot of biology, but saw was adamant about first aid. not in an overly altruistic way, he wanted jyn to be able to patch herself up, and if you know how to heal someone you sure as hell know how to hurt them. ]

It's for the best, [ jyn admits with some reluctance. if she doesn't drag herself, prompto will drag her and she's not here for that. ] It's going to be a tight squeeze. We should consolidate our bags to just two.

[ "we should" and then she starts doing that, taking prompto's and shoving the whole bag into her own. just for the drive. ]

If Prompto wears yours on his front, I can carry the other one and. It's a Clarke sandwich.

[mercurio]

Hey, my camera's in there, be care—ful...

[hm.]

[he's rubbing at his arm where the blood transfusion took place, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the whole situation. he doesn't feel any different, and maybe that's why it's uncomfortable. he's kind of expecting something to happen.]

[walking over to the hoverbike, prompto connects the dashboard to his implant, checking the status of the charge and everything else.]

Yeah, works for me, anyway. We got lucky we found a way to charge it up a bit more. I don't think it's gonna be able to power up more than this.

[with one last glance towards the ladies, prompto climbs up the bike and adjusts to the seating.]

So long as no one falls off, yeah?

[strove]

A Clarke sandwich. [That is definitely a thing she's about to be. Should she warn about the ever-present guilt that serves as a foundation for her very being? It's possible that Jyn might want to know about that, plus the grief. Any moment with Clarke is an opportunity to feel crushingly sad and awful! It's a pretty bad sandwich.

But she keeps it to herself. For now.]

We're going to run the risk of glowing, so try to keep your heads clear. I think we'll be doing a three-way signal no matter how we manage it, and I don't want us messing this trip up because of that. [Taking charge. It's what Clarke Griffin does best.

She slides onto the back of the bike behind Prompto.]

Let's get going. We'll stop and get everyone armed when it's time to go on foot. [Until then? It's a driving montage!]

[realists]

[ and jyn is the last piece of white bread, sandwiching clarke in. it's all very touchy feely and considering jyn doesn't like touching anyone on a good day, it's pretty garbage on a bad day. luckily, the chief emotions she feels coming from clarke when their arms brush are emotions jyn is wholly comfortable with.

guilt and grief are mainstays when everyone you know and love are dead and it's all your fault!

anyway it's probably The Best Time for everyone involved, zoom zoom zoom. luckily (unluckily?) in all the chaos, a bike can zip through the streets and through the borders without much notice. it's not like they're taking a car.

(jyn will begrudgingly admit that prompto is a far superior driver.) ]

[mercurio]

[it may be surprising (or worrying) to many that prompto does, in fact, have a driver's licence. even if it's one from eos. there is no way ignis would have let him drive the regalia otherwise. prompto is, also, surprisingly very good on a speeding vehicle, zipping through and making use of the map on his neural implant to pave the way towards the border, avoiding the very few points of contact.]

[throughout the ride, he's blinking through the tears. the empathy bond reacts as clarke holds on to him, and the combined measure of jyn and clarke's feelings of guilt and grief have him dredging up the same kind of emotions.]

[worst bike ride ever.]

[they end up outside quickly enough, however, and prompto's attention diverts into what it looks like--the sky looks so open without the many buildings piercing into it, the sun casting a glow unlike the one in the city which filtered with neon lights and air pollution. it's somewhat breathtaking, and prompto's taking pictures of it with his implant.]

[it doesn't take long for that space to busy itself with sparse trees, spread out enough that it makes using the hoverbike easy. it's the further in they go that it becomes tricky, to the point where prompto calculates his crashing into a tree is more likely than not. switching off the map and engaging the engine's automate system--]

We gotta walk from here!

[--prompto brings the bike to a smooth stop, landing on the already-uneven ground of the woodland. he glances towards the depth of the forest and it's just dark.]

[he glances back at the girls, sniffling and rubbing at his eyes, careful to not get sunscreen into his eyes.]

I feel so emotionally attacked. Y'guys okay? [EMOTIONALLY...???] I don't think we can take the bike any more than this without risking crashing.

[strove]

[Clarke can only imagine how it was for Prompto the entire way. While Jyn's emotions were familiar, reflected and amplified, she had managed to keep a cool surface to it all. The only good thing is that she may be the person here who's most comfortable with touching others. Being tactile is natural to her, and she doesn't mind it in the least.

When they're off, she's less forced calm and more at ease. She looks at Jyn, meeting her eyes with a sense of understanding. That radiation and constant flow of guilt and grief. It comes together. They may need to talk about that later.]

I'm okay. Just ... [She breathes out.] Are you? [A beat later.] And for what it's worth, I can take point from here. I trained to handle these conditions, and I did pretty well before. But we need to make sure we're all armed before we go anywhere.

[realists]

[ jyn outright ignores any mention of her own emotions, so she sort of ignores prompto. feelings? i don't know her. besides, clarke segued into jyn's favorite topic of discussion. pulling prompto's bag free, she passes if over to him and frees the truncheons that daisy made for her.

with a flick of her wrist, the expand into batons, extensions of her arms, and there is finally something light about her. this is jyn in her element. no politics, no technology, just a girl with a couple of sticks who really wants to hit something for stress relief. ]

I can bring up the rear.

[mercurio]

[he doesn't actually expect an answer to his question, having now glanced at the two of them and realizing they're just fine. prompto, for his part, shrugs his shoulders and offers clarke a smile, all before catching his backpack from jyn.]

A Prompto sandwich now, I guess.

[if this is...their code-wording for things.]

[from his bag, he takes out a knife instead a sheath, holstering it over his belt. he then takes out one of the guns morningstar had given out during the UNA attack. it's better than nothing.]

I'll run a virtual map and pin down this location so we can get back to the bike. [strapping on his backpack to his shoulders, he's ready to go.] Any idea how far in we want to go? This place looks dope and rife with mysteries already!

[strove]

[By now, Clarke's very familiar with her gun. She's had it since the very first monster attacks, a by-product of an officer who wasn't having a very good day. At the time, most of the people in New Amsterdam were faceless, and taking a gun off an officer was just ... strategic. Tactical. Hiding it with Loki was the same. She's had it since then, only going without it at key moments. Like, say, the dreams, or the trip to New Tokyo. Though it was probably for the best on the latter.

She holsters it in the back of her jeans.]

I can walk for a few miles without stopping. Generally. [She looks up, considering the canopy overhead.] It's not supposed to be like this here. It's more tropical, though I'm sure how it feels isn't helped by the condition of the pyramid. Prompto, we might need that knife to help clear the path as we go deeper. We may also want to be sure that however deep we go, we can get back out here if there isn't a better place ahead to rest.

[realists]

[ ♪ run through the jungle -- creedence clearwater revival ]

Let's roll.

[ since jyn is bringing up the rear, every so often she marks their path with a paint stick from her bag. she'd been using it to mark cleared vehicles, it works just as well tracing an arrow on a tree, vibrantly orange against the verdant greens and browns of the forest. it reminds her of the green of takodana and the deeper they go, the denser the canopy becomes, giving them some small respite from the burning sun. it also necessitates prompto hacking away to keep them on a semblance of a path through the deep, squishy moss that surrounds them with a heady, earthen scent -- clean and natural.

it's fascinating out here in the forest, so different from the city behind the wall. ferns rise as high as their hips, shuttering shyly closed at the touch, buzzing insects less shy as they try to nip and bite and suck as any exposed skin. there are patches of fungi that look like darling speckled toadstools and others that more resemble pale human flesh, juices oozing across the caps like sores weeping blood, and swaths of the desiccated corpses of entirely white flowers, a garden bed of ghosts.

it is slow going, but eventually they find a small clearing to set up a base camp in the forest. not too much room to move around, just enough to set up a tent and start a fire to hopefully keep away the worst of the insects and the most inquisitive of the big eyed monkeys that had clung to the sides of trees, seemingly fascinated with these interlopers to their home. ]

[mercurio]

[jyn and clarke will subject themselves to prompto argentum on a field trip: whistling, humming, and making random, passing comments. the further they head into the thick of the woods, however, the quieter he gets. the fascination he feels for what he's seeing (and taking a myriad of pictures of with his neural implant) slowly simmers into a tense feeling. there's a lot of life here, which is somewhat unnerving, and it feels somewhat disrespectful to cut through with his knife when their path is blocked.]

[he smacks a hand to the side of his neck as they arrive at the small clearing, prompto making a face. he's fine from the neck down, having opted for long sleeves to counter the sun, but it seems like mosquitoes will always find a way to skin.]

[he's already scratching at the side of his knee.]

[a fire gets going, even if it's slow going, prompto commenting here and there about how--oppressive it feels. he doesn't feel like being up for loud conversatons, worried it might rouse something from its hiding place. he can see big eyes on branches, hear the buzz of insects, and thankfully the crackle of a small fire. it's not so much for warmth as it is to give them a protective perimeter.]

[in the end, he can't help himself.] Does anyone else feel like we're being watched?

[it's what he hisses out, looking up at jyn and clarke, his eyes darting past their shoulders to and fro, movement in the dark green loud but unseen.]

[strove]

[Somehow, Clarke has never made this comparison before, but there's something about how Prompto acts that reminds her of Jasper. A little twitchy, not able to keep silent, all long limbs like he's trying to figure out what to do with himself—it's not an exact parallel, but it's close to it. The thought passes through her mind as she's moving, eyes passing over to him. If she wasn't holding a gun, she'd give him a reassuring squeeze of the hand. But she is, so there's that.

Once they come to their camping spot, Clarke is more aware of the anxiety that radiates off of him. The shifting of the eyes. The fact that he is both very aware and too aware.]

There's more life out here than I expected, [she says, leaning over to press her fingers into his shoulder, trying to calm him. For her part, the guilt and sadness are both suppressed by her determination and need to reassure him. The affection courses through the link between them.

However, the action is what stirs up some sound in the distance, complete with something drawing closer. Whatever it is, it's definitely not heavy-footed in the least. Her lips twist, her fingers sliding down along Prompto's arm for a long moment. Every part of her body tenses, jaw sliding into position. Clarke hasn't had to hunt in ages, but the instincts kick back up. Rather than flowing through her like adrenaline, it's like her pulse calms itself.]

There is something, [she says carefully, drawing her gun up.

Her eyebrows pinch together when whatever it is doesn't appear, gun lowering.]

Maybe we should rest. [It's been a long day. They have a camp.] We can rotate watches. Do we all know how to keep a fire going?

[realists]

Yeah. I'll take first watch.

[ just calls dibs on that and settles herself in to watch their surroundings so clarke and prompto can rest for a bit. jyn's always been better with first watch since she's something of a night owl by nature (or nurture? maybe it was simply habit at this point.)

it's relatively uneventful, aside from the creepy feeling of being watched; no matter where jyn swings her torch she can't seem to find what is watching them. she uses the nearby stream to refresh her power, drawing the water out of the surrounding air to throw up a shield of water when one of the massive mosquitoes comes too close to the tent where prompto and clarke are sleeping, dropping it only when she is ready to haul off and whack the thing away with one of her truncheons.

she's never going to call them ninja sticks despite what daisy has decided.

she stokes the fire, which seems to be enough to keep most of the critters at bay, though she does skewer a giant centipede with a stick and adds that to the fire as a warning to its centipede friends: keep all your many legs away or immolation is nigh.

when her watch is up, she gently wakes clarke up and swaps places, curling up in her warm spot and dropping off to sleep. she stirs again when clarke comes to wake prompto, but falls back to rest easily enough. it feels very familiar to jyn, memories of a time gone by when she used to conk out in the back of a ship next to maia and codo. ]

[mercurio]

[checking the time, prompto knows that it's daylight--that the sun should be up by now, but only a little bit of light filters through the canopy, lighting up the place in the eerie green and yellow hue as vegetation grasps for some spotlight in the sun. no matter, it just comes to show how untouched the place is. there's more active movement around him, but it never seems to approach the perimeter of the fire.]

[and so prompto stands, stretching his arms high, before heading towards the tent to wake up the other two. it's best they set out as early as possible, try and avoid tumbling about in the dark if they can help it.]

[it doesn't take long to gear up--set everything back in their bags--and prompto has taken the opportunity of more light to take pictures with his actual camera.]

[he brings it down from his face, then back up, zooming in.]

What--?

[there's a curious creature, six-eyed, hanging around not too far from camp. it seems to be watching them. the fact that it looks amphibian and has six eyes is already alarming enough for prompto. he's quick to turn back to the girls and announce what he's seen, pointing it over and having the salamander slowly blink six golden eyes.]

[trying to get close only makes it squander away, and it seems a fool's errand, but they're off following it anyway, soon reaching an area with what looks like a burnt path.]

Shit! [prompto's pretty quick on his feet, reaching the spot he had last seen the salamander at, arms swinging around as he turns on his feet.] Lost it.

[it's when the grips at the straps of his bag that he notices what he is standing on.]

Hey, guys? Does this look like a path to you, too?

[strove]

[Despite the location, Clarke sleeps strangely well. It's something that she won't vocalize, but those few hours were the best sleep she's gotten in a while. As much as she wants to stay here, she knows where she was for almost a full year back home: among trees, a little tense and afraid, always ready to leap out of her skin at the first threat. Or rather: ready to jump at it, gun brandished.

Once they're up and ready to go, Clarke makes sure that everyone's doing okay on sun protection. She makes sure to give a partial transfusion to both of them, drinking a full bottle of water and stuffing some food in her mouth right after. Worse comes to worse, she can see how her power works in plant life. It's something that the others might not be able to see in action.

When Prompto moves, readying himself, she looks past him to the path.]

Definitely. [Clarke strides forward, getting the first hit of sulfur, wafting up into her nose. Her stomach twists in unhappiness. Not a pleasant smell right now. Her hand comes up to rub against her nose absently.]

Both inviting us forward and not. I think whatever was out there last night wants us to go in, [she says, aware of how that sounds. But Clarke has had to adjust to a lot of freaky and unnatural stuff in her time here. How does this differ from any of it?

Her gun rests in her hand as she moves forward, taking the path. Brave—or stupid. Her mind was made up when she first headed to the wall. There's no turning back now, nor does she seem inclined to do it. She looks back to see that her companions are following, and she even steps aside whenever a vine swings down in her way.

Once the sounds move through the trees, she hesitates.]

Tell me if any of that gets closer. They're trying to warn us away. [What Clarke doesn't say is that the forest out here shouldn't be able to foster life like this. She doesn't understand. Not entirely.

It's only when they hit the first bits of streams, twisting and somehow moving down in the same direction just the same, that she stops, crouching down near the floor. Ugh, closer to the sulfur. Unpleasant.]

There should be a body of water up ahead. I think we might be able to stock up there.