test drive meme 1.

[awashmods]

Her Pa committed suicide By biting off his head. Her mother saw her uncle's ghost And died of fright, she said. So her unpleasant habits Seem most curious to me, Because she seems to come from such A happy family.

Prompt 1: he forest looms as ever, colorless but not at all dead. The leaves are full, fluttering in the silence, but there's no scent to them, no color. The effect is eerily hard to navigate, almost like an optical illusion, leaves, branches and trunk blending together with the small path -- which already disappears and reappears at a whim. But even so... If you brave the path, it seems as though there is something leading you onwards. A trail of... something, crumbs, maybe, the same shade of colorless as everything else, almost impossible to see. Following those might be a bad idea -- your chances of getting lost, tangled in random underbrush, or wandering aimlessly for hours are pretty high... to say nothing of what you might encounter if you stray too far (hint: even the small, fuzzy things have nasty bites). Still, it's there, and if you follow them... eventually you will come to a small house. It's decrepit, falling apart and in shambles... do you really want to go inside? Perhaps armed with one of the many convenient tree branches that have probably smacked you thus far? Prompt 2: hould you enter the house, you'll be greeted with a creepy, creepy doorman. Aw, how cute! And in that doll's hand, there's...a message. On a slip of paper, it reads, simply and plainly: The more you take, the more you leave behind. Curious! (And yeah, you can destroy the doll. It's just a normal doll. You may even come across said doll already crushed by an intrepid explorer.) Of course, it's a riddle, and the answer's a warning -- the longer you walk around and about the house, the less you'll remember about yourself, until you forget why you were there and why you should leave, and who you are at all, doomed to wander forever. Or someone saves you, that's fine too. Prompt 3: roblem: There are no fresh eggs in the Town. Solution: Catch a feral chicken, and keep it for eggs. That seems simple enough, right? You're totally up for the task... right? But why do all of the animals look so strange in the forest? Mutated, with teeth, or wings that don't belong, or claws. That's... a chicken, right? Catching it will allow you to get some eggs, but that beak looks pretty nasty -- it might be harder than it looks. But you're intrepid and clever, right? Why not demonstrate your Chicken Wrangling Skills that won you the championship so many years ago? Or try to serenade the savage beast? Or wuss out and form a coalition with which you draw lots to see who has to do battle with the chicken? There's safety in numbers! But the prize will surely be worth a bit of blood loss and fowl-related trauma. Do it for the eggs. Prompt 4: here's a new quest on the forum today, and it looks awfully easy! It's listed simply as: Quest XXII. Talk to someone you've never met about their childhood. Quest will be completed when you have reached an acceptable level of knowledge. On the other hand, that's a little vague, isn't it... ? How will you even know when you've completed a quest like that? Still, it looks easy! Maybe go give it a try. You could respond to the forum post to try to find people, or just go on outside, go harass someone about their past. If you're lucky, you'll drag it out of them with very little hassle and it won't take you a good chunk of the day. If you're unlucky, that's what highly persistent stalking is for! But don't forget, you'll likely have to return the favor. And your new friend might not be the only one listening. Extra: Got something in mind? Want to play with the setting more? The sky's the limit, so feel free and make up your own prompts to play with! Welcome to Awash's first Test Drive Meme! Please check out the FAQ and rules as you test your characters out. The setting is yours to play with, so be creative and have a good time with it! Important dates to remember are March 1st, 9 PM EST, when Reserves will open, and March 7th, 9 PM EST when Applications will open. Keep an eye out for it! If you have any questions about the TDM, feel free to ask us here. If there are any other questions, you can catch us via PM, the FAQ or the contact page. Thank you for your interest in Awash!

Comments

[teratias]

The Forest
The world around Waver filled him with a sense of unease that showed plainly on his face. His eyebrows were narrowed, his face was pale, his lips were thin, his eyes flashed with panic. He didn't know where he was and wherever he was was wrong.

With no one else around, Waver crouched himself down along the path to examine the colorless world. Carefully, he extended his hand forward, touching a soft fern that ought to be green. Ought to, but wasn't. It felt right, it even smelled right, but it...it wasn't. He hated it.

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked to the air, confident the question was rhetorical. "An unrecorded albino forest?"

Chickens
Chickens. It always had to be chickens, didn't it? Waver was pretty sure that as important as a protein source as eggs were, they were not worth going after chickens. Especialy not chickens that had the word feral as an adjective.

Foraging seemed way safer. Less likely to result in a chicken encounter, and yielding something more delicious than eggs. Using a basket he had found (it was probably for eggs), Waver walked through the forest slowly, his attention taken by a raspberry bush.

At least he thought it was. It was hard to determine without color, and he stared at it carefully. "No, those are blackberries," he said. All the while, Waver strained his ears for any sign of feral chickens, or people foolish enough to engage with them.

Forest

[inheritance]

Silent as the forest was, it wasn't difficult to catch those words, even if they weren't directed at him. The leaves and twigs on the ground crunched beneath his feet as he walked closer.

"I think we're all wondering that," Izuku said from behind him, frowning at the colorless surroundings. "Did you just get here, too?"

[teratias]

Waver tensed when he heard shuffling of underbrush, and he was on his feet before Izuku spoke. He disliked all of this, and it was worse now that he wasn't alone.

"I did," he confirmed, turning around to face Izuku. "What direction did you come from?"

[inheritance]

"Just further back there," Izuku replied, pointing over his shoulder. "What about you?"

He crouched down beside Waver, joining him in examining the leaves. "It all feels normal, but there's no color in anything around this place. I wonder what happened."

[teratias]

"Same direction," Waver replied, almost disappointed. If someone came from another angle, he wanted to know. He wanted to know how uniform this problem was.

At least whoever this person was, they were thoughtful enough to examine things closely. That put him at ease.

"I don't think it's natural, whatever the cause. Even if this was albinism, it's too uniform."

[inheritance]

Waver wasn't the only one disappointed; there was a flash of it in Izuku's expression, too, as he realized the same thing. "So it's just us right now. I haven't run into anyone else on the way here, either."

"Albinism... you said that earlier, too." Izuku looked over at Waver curiously. "What do you mean by that?"

[teratias]

Waver let out a soft sigh. Two people alone in a mystery forest was what he would consider a recipe for absolute disaster. Regardless, he snapped into nerdy science lecture mode at the request for an explanation.

"A natural loss of pigment, making everything white. It's a genetic condition, common in animals and humans. I'm unsure if it applies to plants, but it was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this place."

[inheritance]

"Ohhh," Izuku said, realization dawning on him. "That kind of albinism. To be honest, I thought it was... the work of some kind of quirk when I first saw this place."

He gestured at their surroundings. "It'd be different if it was just a few of the trees and plants like this, but even the ground and...everything in this place is like this. I'm pretty sure it's not natural." Izuku's frown deepened. "I get the feeling something happened here."

[teratias]

"...What kind of albinism did you think I was talking about?" It was worth asking, and Waver tilted his head to one side to show exactly how confused he was by the statement.

Following Izuku's hand, Waver did follow the meaning. "Then the question is what, and what evidence did it leave behind?"

Evidence. That was the part worth exploring, more than the woods, more than what lay beyond them, more than anything else. "And how do we identify that evidence?"

chickens;

[redigere]

It might not be worth going after the chickens, but that doesn't mean the chickens can't make their way to Waver. And this happens very suddenly, when a small blonde girl bursts out of the forest, panting from running, with a mutant chicken hot on her heels.

"Please go away...!" she shouts over her shoulder, and then gasps when she sees him.

"Run, it's right behind me!"

[teratias]

"...Are you kidding me?"

Waver groaned as he saw the girl coming clear out of the forest, a chicken in her wake. It was a deeply silly sight to behold, and one he didn't want to see. Not now, not ever.

"I'm not moving!" he snapped. "I'm not gonna draw it's attention, lady!"

[redigere]

Extremely unhelpful, Waver! But upon realizing he doesn't want to get involved, a determined look goes over her face. Right, she's a somewhat capable Nobody, she can figure this out without needing to involve anyone else.

"Okay, just stay there, then!" she instructs, and then dashes off, chicken still running after her, clucking madly. It sounds like she's still leading it around the general vicinity, though-- until suddenly everything goes quiet.

[teratias]

Waver's pretty sure the chicken will get bored. It has to, right? It would only make sense, and besides, a human can outrun a chicken. But as the moments pass and silence grows, a pang of worry does grow in him.

So, reluctantly, he moves so he can peer down the path the girl ran down. "...Chicken's gone, right?"

chickie chickie

[crosswind]

there's something really weird about seeing someone crouch along the forest floor looking for what gran can only imagine, is eggs. surely, chickens, even in this world, would want to protect their young, maybe make a nest, something other than leaving them all willy-nilly in the depths of possible enemy predators. gran approaches waver from a distance, and then, with a cheerful disposition, confirms what he suspects.

"Those are definitely berries."

his friends call him captain, by the way.





probably short for captain obvious.

[teratias]

"...Yes," Waver said slowly as he heard the most obvious observation known to man. He made a point to drag out every letter in the word, to show that if this was a matter of showing off one's skill in looking about, he was not impressed.

"Safer than something feral."

[crosswind]

"If you're going for a well rounded breakfast, I suppose that wouldn't be a bad choice to add into the mix."

derision aside, gran is all fond smiles and a warm face. he has every intent of getting some eggs to take back to town, whether or not someone was there to help him or leave him to have his eyes plucked out. hopefully not the latter.

nevertheless, he tilts his head and examines the basket in his hands. he's expecting to find a bushel of the fruit, but it doesn't look like he's quite keen for the harvest just yet.

"If I manage to get some eggs, would you like to make a trade of sorts?"

[teratias]

This guy was for real, isn't he? Waver's eyes narrow, as he's not very used to individuals being that earnest around him. Rather than respond to the first part, because really, what is there to say, he watches Gran with a look of quiet intensity. Like that's going to explain everything about the guy.

The basket doesn't move, but the number of berries within is considerable. Probably a good pound or so.

"...Sure, that'd be fine. Anything that means not dealing with the damn things myself."

[crosswind]

unfortunately, he was absolutely the real deal. optimistic, determined, annoyingly concerned with everyone and everything going on around him. but that also means that once he's made a deal with waver, he's going to see it through.

"I hope they don't ask for fresh milk next, because if the chickens are this bad, I can't even imagine what cows would look like here."

that's... no, that's a really bad idea. but it does make gran wonder if the aim of these missions was to craft the perfect breakfast. two food groups down, gran inhales sharply, and clenches his fist, "Alright. Should I look for you in town later or do you think you'll still be hunting berries by the time I'm done?"

he's going to get lost either way.

see you tomorrow, waver.

[teratias]

The guy did, admittedly, have a point about cows. It shows on Waver's face when the topic comes up, and he doesn't hide the shudder that overtakes him. Goddamnit. He didn't want to think about that!

"I'll probably be out foraging for a while more. As far as I can guess, it's still daytime."

The temperature was warm. That was the only hint he had.

Forest

[goagoats]

Somehow, Gowther was completely silent as he stepped up from behind Waver to the space beside him. There wasn't even the sound of breathing coming from him as he settled, looking over the fern that Waver had been examining.

He began speaking as if he had been there the whole time.

"This may be a fairy forest. It's rather strange, isn't it?"

[teratias]

Waver hadn't heard anyone approach, so the sound of a voice caused him to leap to his feet. He was immediately on edge, and the suggestion of what it is they might be dealing with did very little to help at all.

"If that's true, then eating or drinking anything here is a bad idea."

[goagoats]

"Perhaps," Not that Gowther was a good measuring tool for poisons, given he wasn't even remotely human outside of his appearance. Giving Waver a friendly smile despite the fact that he just startled him, Gowther put his hands on his knees and did nothing else worth worrying about other than being curious.

"But, that may not be the case. You should find a way to test it."

[teratias]

"Well we'd need non-native species for that," Waver concluded with astonishing simplicity. Faerie chickens or whatever weren't going to be impacted, not in the same way a new element would.

At least, that was how all the stories went.

"I'm not using myself as a subject."

[goagoats]

"Hmm, well--"

He peered over at scratches on one of the trees. It reminded him of the crazed chickens from before, prompting a smile. He thought of something that he imagined might be useful.

"We could watch what the animals eat. Humans quite similar to them, aren't you?"

[teratias]

"And what do you eat exactly, in comparison?"

Waver didn't like the way that was phrased. At all. It showed in the disapproving look on his face and how warily he now regarded his conversation partner.