[OPEN LOG] Welcome to Cape Beryl!

[theharvestmods]

Who: Everyone!
When: Spring 2nd - all day.
Where: All across Cape Beryl.
What: You've splashed down into the Harvest Goddess's sacred pond, pulled yourself out - or perhaps been pulled out by an out-of-breath and soaking stranger, shaken off the worst of the shock of the cold and the unexpected trip underwater, and likely by now noticed that the little silver piece of jewelry that put you through this seems to have found its way around your neck.

Now you ought to get your bearings. Leave Goddess Grotto whenever you're ready, take the path out along a beach and up the cliffs to a village - see where you are, maybe if you can get directions. No matter what, you're going to realize that you're somewhere new - but maybe some of the Bower Village townspeople will be willing to help you get sorted out. If nothing else, maybe you'll be drawn into talking to anyone else you might catch sight of wandering the village, disoriented, soaked to the skin, and with a silver heart-shaped pendant around their neck. Depending on how you see it, you're not all alone - not any more than everyone else, anyway.

Headers for open interactions in example locations will be posted - but by all means, start threads wherever and with whoever you like!

Rating: Expected K-PG - subject to change as appropriate.



It's a cool, early spring day - the air and the breeze may not agree with anyone with wet clothes. But apart from that, the atmosphere is pleasant and peaceful; distant chirps of birds can be heard from the mouth of Goddess Grotto to Mt. Throne. The trees and grasses are pale green and flowers are budding in the meadows - not to mention the garden at Florist Lilia and de Sainte-Coquille Park.

And the town at the top of the cliffs is somewhat drowsily at peace. It's far from deserted - stabled behind a house on the town's east side is a healthy-looking mule, and a pair of chickens and a goat hang around in a pen behind an inn, the town's brightly-dressed mailwoman is out and about, as is the town watchman, who will likely be ready to approach anyone with an unfamiliar face before they can approach him, if he happens to catch them on his rounds. However, although anyone may freely knock on any of the doors in Bower Village and expect a polite "come in", no one is prepared for company, and whoever is inside might jump at finding themselves talking to a clearly displaced stranger!

Comments

[topgun_textiles]

Now that he mentioned it, this guy was pretty soaked, too. It wasn't like anyone would come all the way out here for a soak when the sea was that way, and it was stupid to do it with your clothes on. Though a little slower on the uptake, that was enough to catch Kanji up.

"...You fell outta one'a those waterfalls too?" He looked back at the three flowing from the ceiling, backed by the Harvest Goddess stone carving. Snowball's chance in hell of trying to swim back up a waterfall to get back home, and those currents were rough.

He ran a hand over his face, if anything to get the trickles of water to stop, but it did nothing to stop that sneeze when a little went up his nose. What he wouldn't give for dry clothes right now...

"Can't swim back up there. So let's look for a town or phone or somethin'! Statues don't just pop outta nowhere, yeah?" Strangers? Yes. But he didn't really care right now. He just wanted that damn phone and dry clothes and, screw it, something to eat. He had some yen on him.

[lasttrumpcard]

Maybe Ace should reconsider his opinion of the guy in front of him. Sure, he was rather slow and all that, but at the very least, this guy didn't panic. That reason alone was more than enough to give Kanji the small, unsaid respect of Ace.

"Perhaps I did, yes." Truthfully, he didn't really remember. But as far as Ace, or any logical man could tell, the only thing that could make him in a total drenched state like he is right now was definitely the waterfall up there. At that moment as well that Ace's eyes fell over the waterfall for a moment, before he returned his gaze back toward Kanji, mustering an almost unnoticeable nod of agreement.

God, the cold feeling from his wet clothes was starting to make him shiver a bit as well. Sure, he didn't sneeze or anything. But almost his entire body felt the coldest, if not his entire body in particular.

"That is very sound," yet another nod to Kanji. "We should, before something appears."

He didn't even know whether this place was free of monster or not, but as an elite soldier, Ace was always trained to be careful. And here he was, being a little overly careful. Just a moment later, Ace would try to step out of place as fast as possible, albeit he could barely do so due to his current condition.

And sadly, without even any effort to even introduce himself nor asking Kanji's name. He was being too overly professional as well, and that was not exactly a good thing to start his life in this place, really.

[topgun_textiles]

The words 'something appears' urged him to bring his hands together, slowly crack the knuckles. He hadn't thought about something rolling up out of nowhere looking to brawl, but it wasn't like he was completely unarmed.

But damn did he wish there was something sturdy lying around that he could use. Not that his fists couldn't do the job well enough!

It felt pretty damn good to walk out into the sunshine. Soaked to the bone, he almost wanted to stop and take it in for a minute until a breeze - just a hint from the Winter that had just passed - reminded him that he needed dry clothes before he caught himself a stupid cold.

So began the climb up the hills nearby, squinting to see if he can see rooftops or anything to that effect in the distance. He could call up Takeji Zaiten to head out, but that voice was muted; just his luck that this wasn't the TV world.

"Place is pretty damn quiet..." He grumbled. Sleepy'd be a good term for it, but that was the ocean behind them in the distance, wasn't it? Inaba was hours from the nearest beach.

"Would the cabs even come out this far...?" Muttering mostly to himself mow. Whatever this far was.

[lasttrumpcard]

Ace, unfortunately, was losing his title as one of the agilest member of his class. Right now, he could hardly run. Only a small and slow walking that might even come remotely close to that of a snail's. The wetness of his uniform only made it even more annoying than anything.

For now, or maybe temporarily, Ace definitely lend his trust to Kanji. This guy kinda had the warrior-esque atmosphere around him, albeit it was rather passive-aggressive and savage-ish. At the moment, Kanji didn't really mean any harm, and once again, it was more than enough for Ace to follow suit just right behind him, casually climbing the hill along with the young delinquent.

Ace already knew it was not going to give him anything, but he tried putting a finger over his earlobe to contact his mates. That just proved him even further that the power of Crystal didn't really work in this place. Maybe there was even a Crystal Jammer around.

Cabs? Now he was intrigued. There was not even a single vehicle in his world, sans the magiteck armor that resembled a war robot in particular. And if there was one, Ace would still prefer the traditional style, riding his chocobo here and there. Questioning what is a cab still would not make things any easier for them, though. Hence Ace didn't go that far.

"Who knows?" Ace replied, rather idly. That was probably the best answer without raising any suspicions, nor prompting Kanji to ask Ace the unnecessarily question, hopefully.

After all, Ace was doing his own share of scanning the place. As far as he could tell, Rubrum had ocean, alright. But the place didn't have any forest. So right now, both of them were as good as stuck without any lead.

[topgun_textiles]

"Don't even see any road. Shit... how far out did I end up?" He was from a small town, but even Inaba had roads leading in and out of it! The prospect of a taxi or even a bus was seeming slimmer by the moment, especially after he passed the hill's crest.

But you couldn't take the small town away from the boy. As strange and new as this place was, it was doing well to calm him down a little. Area looked pretty inviting, and part of him wanted to check out the flowers growing all over, but with the shake of his head he knew he wasn't going to go out and raise a ton of questions from the guy following. 'Why are you rolling around in flowers?' 'Aren't you a boy?'

It had him clenching his jaw briefly, but he couldn't finish that thought when he perked up, and extended an arm to point out the far-off shape of a tower of sorts. "Oi, check it out! A lighthouse! So... so there's a harbor and a town and stuff nearby, right?"

[lasttrumpcard]

This could be one of a big problem, really. Ace had thought dozens of movement that he should do next, but without any rations and stocks, almost all of them were impossible. Not to mention that he was yet to see any edible animals running around to be hunted. And if there was, he basically had nothing with him to aid him in a hunt.

Being in this place, in Ace's part, was not doing the worst job as well. Compared to his own place, where fiery flowers surrounded your hometown almost everyday, the pace that this place offered soothed him to the best. The trees were shady, the flowers were beautiful, and the sky itself was painted with the most clear of an azure. This place was actually the perfect place to apply his dreams of making a huge chocobo ranch.

But at this moment, dream should stay as a dream for a bit. He had something more important right now. Finding a safer place, or a shelter at the very least.

Ace had to give his cents to Kanji for finding the lighthouse faster than him, that was for sure. When Kanji pointed it out, his face was quickly averting at the same direction, relief painted all over it.

"It's safe to assume that way," Ace's answer seemed like it was still in a plain tone, but honestly, the small cheeriness was audible from the pitch of his voice if one squinted enough. "We should give it a try."

Without further words as well, Ace might have already making his way to crawl down from the hill towards the lighthouse, wherever it was.

Oh, my desire for Kanji to learn about chocobos...

[topgun_textiles]

"Hell yeah!" Well don't mind him if he makes a beeline for the thing. His first real sign of civilization and he was relieved; he could ask for directions, figure out where he is and head home on freakin' foot if he had to! Hell, maybe he could borrow somebody's bike. Nobody could beat his top speed on the pedals.

Sheesh, he all ready missed everyone. He'd only been gone a couple of hours, but after bidding Souji farewell, he'd felt pretty lonesome splitting up as a group and heading to their separate homes. He'll just let his cell phone dry, hope it still works so long as he leaves it off, and call his mom. ...What? A guy could call his mom and let her know he's okay if he wants to!

But he had to admit that he'd probably try to bring his friends here once he got himself situated. The beach was nicer than the one they usually go to, and the place screamed 'lie in the grass and let the day pass by'.

But he had to shiver when another breeze passed them by. "Damn it, if I come down with somethin' after this..."

It's ok, we can haz chocobos bed night stories together

[lasttrumpcard]

'Stop whining and move, I feel shivers all over as well'

That was actually what had flashed in Ace's mind when Kanji's suddenly complained about his well-being. Still, Ace was able to stay calmheaded as they continued their small journey. Such a bad thinking was uncanny, and it was probably because his current condition which refused to work correctly as well. Ace would never put himself in the wrong side of one's impression, at least he would try to not to.

As their feet brought them closer to the town, Ace was having the exact same thought as his walking companion. This place, once again, had the most beautiful of a panorama. Everywhere he stared, the place had the comforting breeze that becalmed his feelings.

Except right now it proved to make things more troublesome, since their wet clothes said otherwise. Ace didn't sneeze, just a very noticeable shivering. The only good thing to their end was probably the fact that the village was already close.

He'll be distracted when he tries to ride a cow or gets himself a horse.

[topgun_textiles]

The rolling hills seemed to hide to much: The closer they drew to the lighthouse, the more the hills revealed exactly what they were looking for. Beyond the green grass and the blooms bursting with bright pastel colors lay what looked like the sleepiest little town, especially after a New Years celebration that passed not like ago.

"Knew it! Hell yeah!" It drove Kanji to pick up the pace, and Ace would soon learn first hand that even the big guy could move when he put his mind to it. Running kept the blood pumping, kept the body warm, of course!

"No use freezin' our asses off for longer than we need to, yeah??"

Or Kanji just had two speeds: Stroll and CHAAAARGE!

at the very least, the two of them could be riderbros

[lasttrumpcard]

Ace was actually more than relieved when he had noticed the apparent scenery of the village, although he made a quick mask to hide it. Or he tried, at least. Because he wasn't doing his best job in covering his true emotion. It was almost inaudible, but Ace did let out a sigh of relief.

"Correct."

Again, he didn't need to say all that much. He was never one to do so to someone who he barely knew. Still, it was pretty noticeable that when Kanji... charged full speed to the town, Ace was fastening his pace as well.

They both needed one or two pieces of clothes to change to fast, without further ado. Hence, why holding yourself up?