=> [MINI-META]Outside the Hive

[Hivestuck]

You are now outside Erilyn Awassi's hive - having gotten out one way or another. Please use the spoilers below that correspond with the symbol that led you here to determine where exactly you are, and what options are now available for you. Whatever direction you choose to go is your own and staff will not be responding to any posts in this thread. You can use this as a growth thread! Simply read through the growth thread's information to see what you need to do, and send us a pm requesting to do so.


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Kicked Out

You have been given 'permission' to leave, and a strong hand between your shoulder blades by her majesty. At the front door, a drone standing on the other side opens the door a crack to let you pass, re-locking it behind you. They then move to stand impassively in front of it, blocking you from re-entry. As you turn away, it taps you on the shoulder and points at a small pile of gift bags that are sitting scattered around the front steps of the hive. It looks like they managed to get some part of the festivities prepared in time, and are loathe to let their work go unused. You can now pick one of two choices. Hang around out front with the rest of the rubbernecking crowd of kicked-out gala participants, trying to spot what the resolution to all this fuss will be. Or, you have the option of simply taking your bag full of candy beetles and assorted knicknacks, and shuffling on home.

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Ejected

You fall and fall and fall...wait you're not falling, you're sliding. Jostled rapidly through a pitch black pipe, you suddenly find yourself flying through fresh air as you are ejected out the side of a cliff. A few seconds later and gravity kicks in, dropping you with a loud plunk into the water below. Surfacing, you realize you've been dumped in the ocean that sits below Awassi's house. You're also completely unharmed - it seems that the greenblood was a kindly soul after all. You feel a warm rush of relief before it strikes you that the water is quite high -- in fact, it's at the peak of high tide. You look down curiously to see if trolls would have landed on a soft beach, and see sharp, jagged rocks not far down in the water. If you look a bit closer, you can see a few bones lodged between the spikes. Oh. Well you can either float around and yell - hopefully any troll that leaves the house can come and offer assistance, or start the long paddle back to a part of the shore where the climb is a little less vertical.

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Wiggled Through the Window

You tumble out of the first floor window and land squarely on your rump. Loose all your remaining ✦sleuthsparks✦ - that was the last straw. Either way, it looks like you are out of trouble! Standing up, you survey the world around you. Shouts and the occasional splash from beyond the cliff face that the lawnring is on can be heard. If you go to investigate you will see your party mates bobbing around in the water, and a rope ladder tucked away in the bushes that you could possibly lower down to them, if you are feeling super generous. If you're not feeling generous, then they can just deal with it and paddle their own way out of trouble, and you can do your own thing. If you decide to head around to the front of the house you will discover the party's giftbags, filled with candy and a couple of beetles, and can take one to restore your dignity (along with resolving any empty stomachs).

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Under the combined might of all the trolls remaining in the house, and assisted by Puchen, the front doors finally give way. Streaming out onto the lawn you see that the drones previously assigned to first serve the food, then guard the door have become distracted by the visible flames flicking out of the second stem of the hive. They've gone off to try and find a water source that doesn't require you to fall ten feet before you can reach it - but it doesn't look hopeful. The remaining gift bags get slightly trampled under feet as you file out onto the lawn. Thick smoke billows out the front door now, and going back in the house seems a little risky. The empress manages to wrangle a drone in to standing guard, to ensure no kids try and slip back in 'out of concern for their safety'.

 

[Micillia]

Chiara Moteku
xxxxxOUT
Chiara slid down the slide and with a splash landed in the lake. It was surprising to say the least. Her dress was now completely un-salvageable. Chiara doggy-paddled around a bit, trying to get a view of the surroundings and where she might be able to swim to the shore. Then she saw Lorata. The sea-dweller was calling for help. Well Chiara would "help" all right. Chiara hid like an alligator-sneak-beast, right under the water, then leaped our right near the sea-dweller, making sure to splash her particularly well. Once she was satisfied that Lorata was re-soaked Chiara said, "Back in your natural environment, huh fishy?"

KitsuneAura

 

[saedusk]

The window was open—broken, actually, but Nahori was too far gone to care about technicalities—and freedom sat on the other side like a literal breath of fresh air. It was large enough to accommodate her, but waaay too small for Guineamom to fit through. For a moment, she hesitated.

Leaving her lusus was a frightening notion, not because Nahori particularly cared for her, but because she never really knew how to act when she was alone. The orangeblood had her own thoughts, her own wants and goals, and occasionally she acted on those in momentary bouts of independence. Even so, after everything that had happened tonight, her spirit felt so weakened. She didn't want to think for herself. She didn't want to deal with having to make her own decisions. Not that Guineamom's decision making had gotten them very far. It had been her choice to come here, after all.

At least she'd have Tierte, she wouldn't have to be completely alone. Right? Before she could even turn to see what the redblood was doing, mother was behind her, unceremoniously shoving in to try and figure out what was going on, why it was taking so long for her charge to rouse from her thoughts. Her large, awkward snout sent Nahori tumbling right out the window.

Her bottom hit the ground first, then her feet, and pain shot up her leg straight from the ankle she'd already twisted. Fingers clenched in the cool grass as she let out a tiny sob, alerting her suddenly to yet another injury. She glanced at her hand, fresh orange blood now smeared against her skin. The broken glass... What more could go wrong.

All Nahori wanted to do was sit here, sit here under the window and forget about things for a while. She didn't want to think about her lusus still trapped inside, she didn't want to think about the party and how awful it had been, and she certainly didn't want to think about the pain of her minor injuries. Let her rest. Let her goddamn rest. But even that wasn't meant to be, it seemed.

Her weary gaze drifted off into the distance when she heard the cry for help. Normally, it might have startled her, but in that moment she felt almost nothing and barely reacted. Sighing, she rose to her feet, hobbling over to the edge of the nearby cliff. It wasn't as if she even wanted to help whoever had called out, not really, but her body moved automatically as her arms hung limply at her sides. There were trolls in the water. Nahori didn't even wince when she vaguely realized that one had fins protruding from the sides of her head.

"J-Just a second..." she called out, not quite sure what she was supposed to do, but she decided she oughta do something. In the bushes, she spotted what looked like rope at first, but on further inspection was an entire ladder. She didn't even take the time to consider how very, very strange that was, how set up it seemed. Instead she took it, made sure it was secure, and tossed it weakly over the edge.

"Are you... a-are you okay? C-Can you c-climb up? I-If you want to..." It was likely the most lackluster rescue anyone here might ever witness.

Yunonia

KitsuneAura

Micillia

 

[Wizardy Herbert]

Adamaz didn't think that there would be a pitfall at the edge of the stairs. As he slid down, bumping into the others along the way, he felt a wave of sadness. How would he impress Tigwyn now, trapped in whatever place this chute led?

Then with a splash, he went into the water. Adamaz wasn't a strong swimmer so he kind of flailed a bit as he looked around him in the water. He saw the spikes and bones below. Another close call, survived. Nice.

Eventually buoyancy took over, and Adamaz bobbed to the surface with a gasp. He wiggled his body up until he lay flat on his back. Above the water, he could feel fading starlight on his face. He, and the trolls he had brought with him, were outside.

...Nice, he thought to himself. Nailed it.

Looks like he was one of the lower bloods in the water. But from above, he heard a familiar voice cry down about helping, and a ladder clattered to the side of the watery pit. It was Nahori! In his sopping tweed, floating on his back in the salt water, he waved at his nutrition-block buddy.

"Hey! Good to see you made it out too. Thanks for the ladder!" He gestured to the other trolls in the water with him, and remembered his manners, for once. "Highbloods first." He was on a roll tonight.

Micillia

Whaddya know, we made it out. Go Team!

KitsuneAura

saedusk

 

[Yunonia]

Once the window was broken Tierte quickly squeezed out the opening, blanket in tow. She felt a twinge of guilt leaving Eostre and Lynxmom behind but, she was sure they'd find their way out. Dropping onto the ground Tierte looked around for Nahori, spotting her over by the water. She seemed to be rescuing the poor trolls floating around in the water. She wondered how they had ended up in that predicament. Tonight was just full of mysteries that Tierte didn't care to solve.

Making her way over to Nahori, she smiled at the orangeblood. "Feels good to be out here where it's safe doesn't it?" She gave Nahori the once-over noticing blood on her hand and was she also limping? The redblood quickly sat down, popping off her boots and grabbing some of her foot bandages. They were clean since she had been wearing shoes and they'd be perfect for tending to her new friend's wounds. "Could you sit down for a moment Nahori? I can dress your wounds that way." She smiled again, gently taking Nahori's hand, ready to wrap it up. Tierte turned her attention to the other trolls around as well. "If any of you are hurt I can help you out as well", she stated holding out her bandages. She noticed the familiar purpleblood had made it out. The little redblood was happy to see familiar faces even if it was a scary seadweller.

saedusk

KitsuneAura

Hope you don't mind me joining the party. <3

Micillia

Wizardy Herbert

 

[Ancient_Guardian]

Ҕᾁʐɱᾁʂ Ҏӫςɧῒɱ
xxxxOutside
A string of profanity followed Hazmas as he fell down the blackened chute. He knew he should've been more cautious, he knew it right when the heard the screams after he accidentally pushed the lever. But did he trust his instincts and look where he was going, maybe proceed with a little more caution? Noooooo. Of course he didn't. Now he was falling or sliding as it were, possibly to his doom with the rest of the trolls of the hive.

"HOLY FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUWHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"

As he started a new string of curses, the slide suddenly ended and he was air born. In the moment it took to realize he was in the air, he was already slamming into the choppy waters below. He struggled and flailed, trying to make sense of the situation and get his head above water, but there was nothing to push off of! Never in his experience had he been in water so deep that he didn't have something to push off of and reach the surface - and it terrified him.

'Oh gog, I'm going to die!' he thought, and felt as the panic began to set. He was going to die in the water like a winged bugbeast in a puddle. 'No! Not here! I don't want to die here!'

The greenblood pumped his legs and flapped his arms, desperately trying to surface. Being a desert native, it had never occurred to him to properly learn how to swim. Why would he need to when all the water sources were either sealed, underground, or not even higher than your knee? But this wasn't the desert and he wasn't prepared.

At last, his head broke the surface, and a blood curdling screech escaped Hazmas' lips.

"MAAAAACHI-!" His words were cut off as he vanished under the surface again. Unable to see which way was up, Hazmas opened his eyes beneath the waves and saw line upon line of endless spikes adorned with ghostly skeletons beneath them. If he wasn't panicking already, he was in a full blown panic now. Once again, he attempted to flail his way above water and broke its surface.

"MACHIM!!!" he shrieked, "MACHIM, HELP!"

He didn't know if his eyes were stinging from the salt water of the sea or his tears, but whatever it was made it hard to see. He might've glimpsed some other colored shapes in the water, but as far as he knew, he was the only kid out there, without his lusus, and about to die. Only a miracle could save him and he hoped it would have wings.

edited!KitsuneAura

edited!Micillia

edited!Wizardy Herbert

edited!saedusk

 

[Wizardy Herbert]

"Oh, er. Thanks. Miss Ma'am." Adamaz was not prepared to have his manners turn back onto him by a SEADWELLER of all trolls. It was really odd, and he didn't know if it was a trick. But hey, it would put a troll between him and Chiara, so why not.

As he started climbing the ladder, he heard another splash, followed by a yell. Adamaz turned and looked down, and saw a greenblood flailing in the water. He recognized him; he had yelled at him not minutes ago, and his name KIND of sounded like his own. He had also talked a lot during the trial.

Adamaz whistled to Papa Roach, who sprung into action and leapt into the water. His tophat and monocle were lost in the speed of the leap; he fluttered down on wings to the water, and then wriggled towards Hazmas with haste. He dived down, and grabbed Hazmas by the collar, hefted him above the water, and began to drag him to the ladder.

Adamaz waited until the troll and his lusus were above the water to finish climbing the ladder. Sopping wet, he splayed a hand at Nahori. "We made it out. Altitudinous Quintet!"

Ancient_Guardian

Fun fact: Roaches can swim. Here is your winged savior.

saedusk

Hi-five we're out wooooo

 

[thyPOPE]

It turned out Alifax should've just run up the stairs - there'd been trolls who'd made it safely up. He'd just wanted to see - well, he thought grimly: there was no more time for that now. It was a pity he was pyrokinetic rather than aerokinetic, and that he couldn't really, well, use his abilities right now. Now he just had to hope he wasn't about to die.

Who was he kidding? He was probably about to die. At least he wasn't alone in it, he thought grimly, although of course what sucked about plummeting to your death was that - no - no, that wasn't what he needed to be thinking about right now!

Why did his mind keep going back to Frossa? He'd been doing so well for the rest of the party - the fear of potential death had kept him focused on survival. As he should be. But now all he could envision was the obnoxious jewelry set that he and Elidae had picked out. The pair of rings, engraved awkwardly with the words "I don't know." That just about summed it up, right?

Other than her he'd known Hazzan longest, but even with her longstanding apprenticeship with her idol guy, he only thought of her in the context of how broken up their stupid old childhood FLARP group had become. Frossa, weak and lusus-dependent once more. Hazzan, a writer and not a fighter. And now Alifax, who couldn't - there wasn't time, and he couldn't see. Somehow he had a suspicion that if he angled himself toward the wall he'd still only burn. Again, if only he could warm the air, slow his descent - why hadn't Frossa dressed him in a skirt? That'd be far more practical for free fall.

Wait, skirt - he whipped off his jacket only to find that he'd landed a few seconds ago, in a pipe that wore quietly at the parts of his legs that were bare. He was...where was he headed? Being Alifax of course his first thought was an incinerator - he could've handled an incinerator, if not for Ioyana's stupid ******** drugs. No, they were in Civisect City: it was far more likely that this was a sewage pipe. But that'd have implied survival, and somehow Alifax didn't expect that - ah, ocean air. Here went nothing, Alifax thought grimly, trying to maneuver his body so that it'd at least hit the gr - water, water; those were waves - horizontally. Ahh -

Eyes closed, Bunsem. He sunk beneath the waves for a few seconds before struggling loudly to the surface. He hung back for a while, paddling uselessly. Oh, oh Gl'bgolyb - he could see the other trolls he'd fallen with had hit the water first, if only by a few seconds. His bag was heavy, but he hefted it toward his chest and held it there. Probably it was a good thing that the cigarettes wouldn't be very useful anymore, he thought.

...he was alive. The other trolls were also alive. Was it maybe poison water? Something that'd soak in through your skin and - no, that was the ocean, and it didn't seem to end. Those had been waves he'd heard. It was high tide. He fumbled uselessly for his bag - was it fastened? - well. He was probably losing some of those envelopes full of paper. The important compartments were fine. The rings were fine. And the box...probably useless, but its contents were probably fine, assuming the fall hadn't torn a hole in the bag.

Trolls were talking. He blinked himself into focus. He'd just...wait here. While they...that was a ladder.

Why did Awassi have a ladder installed for a death trap? To morbidly examine the bodies? No, it was - it was probably just as he'd thought. Well, he'd wait his ******** turn while the wigglers got out. He knew how to tread water.  

[saedusk]

Ah, she'd saved them. Or rather, she'd given them means to save themselves. Dropping the ladder was about all Nahori could do, but for a moment she felt a vague sense of pride at it. She hadn't originally experienced much of anything beyond the dull hum of disillusion in her sponge clots, but maybe she hadn't done so bad on her own. That was something, wasn't it?

"O-Oh, Tierte..." It wouldn't take much to coax the orangeblood into sitting. The promise of medical attention was an added bonus, quite honestly, when all she'd wanted to do in the first place was sit and not move for a while. Weight melted out of her, flowing from her fingertips like water as she took a seat and let the redblood take her hand.

"Thank you..." she murmured, her stutter very momentarily banished by exhaustion and genuine gratitude. It would return, as it always did, fueled by anxiety and utterly habitual. That was alright. Nahori felt... okay for a moment. Not great, but okay.

"I'm glad you're h-here, Adamaz!" she called over the edge, the faintest of almost-smiles twitching the corner of her lips. She's say she felt the same for everyone else, especially the flailing greenblood who'd been thankfully saved by Adamaz's lusus, but she didn't know them. It would sound strange and she felt too awkward even thinking it. At least until Alifax fell from the unusual exit, too.

"A-Ah, Alifax!" She crawled to her knees, eyes sparkling so very, very slightly as she waved down to him. Were Nahori the type, she might actually laugh. It still hadn't dawned on her the absolute ridiculousness of the ladder she'd thrown down if they were to believe this place was a legitimate trap. All she could think was how relieving it was that they wouldn't end up incarcerated in the greenblood's hive forever.

Adamaz made it up the ladder just as Nahori plopped back onto her bottom, looking so worn, but still okay. Her eyes widened at his outstretched hand, but for once she didn't hesitate. With a soft, pleased sound, she reached out with her good hand and gently papped his. "W-We made it... I-Is everything okay down there w-with those h-highbloods? A-Are you okay?"

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Yunonia

Wizardy Herbert

thyPOPE

Ancient_Guardian

KitsuneAura

Micillia

((Not everyone quoted is addressed directly, but I hit everyone up with a mention... just lemme know if you want off this quote train, LOL.))  

[Micillia]

Chiara Moteku
xxxxxOUT
Chiara looked at Lorata with a serious expression. "A talk huh? Fine." She responded. Then came the splashes of trolls falling into the lake. "Adamaz!" Chiara yelled as her partner came sliding down next to her. She gave him a push towards the ladder and then her attention was on the next troll she recognized coming into the water. "Ahahaha Hazmas what an entrance!!" She swam over to him and jumped on him, momentarily pushing him under water. Once the boy resurfaced Chiara made sure to have her arms around him and gave Lorata a look. "Glad you made it out alive and in one piece buddy!" After nearly drowning him it was about time she help him towards the ladder. With all the important troll safe and secure Chiara lazily rolled onto her back in the water and floated near Lorata. "So? Talk then."

KitsuneAura

Wizardy Herbert

Ancient_Guardian

 

[Ancient_Guardian]

Ҕᾁʐɱᾁʂ Ҏӫςɧῒɱ
xxxxOutside
Hazmas had thought himself a goner for sure before something snagged his collar and dragged him tot he surface. Gasping for air, Hazmas flapped his arms again turning his head to see what had him by the collar. He spotted something small and white before a pair of hands pushed him under again. The greenblood kicked violently before his head popped up above the water again and a pair of arms were around him, helping him stay above water. Gripping his trollian savior with one hand, Hazmas rubbed a hand over his face and blinked up at the troll he clung to. It was Chiara. He tried to give her a smile but ended up in a coughing fit as his lungs tried to expel the small amount of seawater he'd swallowed.

With the ladder's edge in hand, Hazmas gave Chiara a grateful nod and climbed his way up, vaguely aware of something caught in between his neck and collar. Reaching the top, the young greenblood climbed up and onto the grassy edge, inexpressibly grateful to be on solid land. There were other trolls there two, several he didn't recognize and the young orange blood from the hivestem. His observations came to a brief halt as the mysterious something wriggled in his collar, prompting him to reach back and see what it was.

Grabbing the mysterious little thing, Hazmas discovered it was a white insect lusus - probably the very same that had saved him from drowning.

"Are you the one that saved me?" he asked, holding it in his hand. He didn't know if the lusus gave an answer but proceeded to smile anyway. The greenblood let out a breathless chuckle and put his hand down so as to allow the little lusus easier access to the ground. "Tell your kid thanks for me! I never woulda made it if you hadn't come." As the lusus skittered out of his hand, another familiar sound reached his sponge clots.

'HAZMAS!!!!!!'

With a flap and a flail, the winged ape landed haphazardly across the green and barreled over to her charge. Hooting wildly, she scooped up her soaking chirrin, carrying him farther away from the edge. Hazmas replied in kind, hooting and chattering joyfully as he gripped and nuzzled against her fur. He yammered at her about how he'd been saved by his blueblood friend, Chiara, and a white roach lusus and how he never wanted to go anywhere without her again. Sitting down on the green, Machim nuzzled her charge before looking around for the little lusus who'd saved her chirrin. Hazmas looked around too and paused when he saw the roach near Adamaz.

Grunting to his lusus, the youngster climbed out of Machim's arms and made his way over to the orange blood. "Hey," he said breathlessly, "is uh, is that your lusus?" He wanted to introduce himself, to say something more, but it seemed his teeth were chattering to hard to get a sensible word out. Hopefully they'd understand. Hopefully.

KitsuneAura

Micillia

Wizardy Herbert

THE WING-ED MESSIAH

saedusk

 

[Wizardy Herbert]

"I’m glad you made it out too Nahori. It was lookin’ hairy for a bit. But we survived." And that was all that mattered right? They made it out to live and breathe another day. Perfect victory. At mention of the highbloods, he coughed and glanced down the ladder. "They seem occupied with each other. I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m sure whatever they're talkin’ about, it’s harmless."

saedusk

Papa Roach skittered to Adamaz’s extremely soggy shoe, and Adamaz picked him up as he was addressed by Hazmas. "Yeah, he’s my lusus. You looked like you needed some help." He grinned and outstretched a hand. "Adamaz Karoth. You are welcome." He noticed that the greenblood was shivering, and then noticed that he was too. He'd kind of forgotten that he was cold? That happens when you live up Busthind. Eh, he thought, I'll keep forgetting. No use letting a little cold get in the way of victory. All he needed was a little distraction. Only one thing came to mind.

"It was so cool when Mr. Ioyana blasted the door open for us, right?" He didn't have an intended audience; the comment was to no one in particular, but for the sake of conversation. Adamaz's eyes twinkled in the fading starlight. "He's a nice guy. He told me to help people get out, and that's what I did. I bet he'd be impressed with me."

Ancient_Guardian