[LOC] The Root

[Hivestuck]

sypon

Something's wrong here; the roof is at a pitch. It looks as though at any minute it may collapse...

((encounter id has been changed.))  

[Magician Arcana]

it's time to r-r-r-rolllll
I cannot... even... I...  

[Magician Arcana]

OUT OF THE RESPITE BLOCK AND INTO...
The...
Respite block.
Huh. Mili blinked a few times and looked back and forth, waiting for the rimshot sound to cue the joke. But no such sound game. All the girl could do was shuffle awkwardly through the rooms. It smelled bad here too. Really bad.

Pieces of the ceiling were gone, giving patchwork frames to the night sky overhead. Mili paused and watched the stars twinkle, the light of the dual moons keeping it relatively bright and friendly for exploring. Despite the stink, it was nothing like the first room. The tiny troll's spirits were beginning to bolster.

Overhead the thrum of helicopter blades turned her trepidation into cold panic. She sprinted away from the open ceiling and dove towards a new room. This room lacked all ceiling. A thin layer of dust and grime lay tucked into the ground and surfaces like a blanket. Coughing, she noticed a large ablution stand still intact. A spot light flushed the room in front of her in bright contrast.

Scampering across the room, Milieu frantically clutched the door and ripped it open. A foul smell rolled around her, wrapping her in its arms of stench. Before the troll could balk, she tossed herself bodily in and slammed the door behind her with a KATHUNK. Panting, she breathed through her mouth. Even then the scent of decay and mold stung deep into her nose. It felt like forever, but eventually it sounded like the search party had left the area.

Bursting from the shower like some monster in a b-rated horror movie, Mili stumbled and fell onto all fours, where she gagged, coughed, and heaved. So far exploring was not fun. Not fun at all.  

[quite uneventful]

Vremea wanted to cry in the teen-turned-kid's arms, holding her tight but decided against it as she needed to COMPOSE herself, she was older (if only by appearance) so YES. She sighed softly nodding at her and wiping a yellow drop that had bubbled in the corner of her eye. "Yes... yes I-I am fine, I apologize for getting like this," She murmured, letting her go and rubbing her own neck. Listening to her words of comfort, Vremea calmed herself down, giving a small shudder and standing up straight. "You are right, Odette. Thank you. We should move..." After following her back to where they had just gone, Vremea pursed her lips and decided to take the initiative, carefully leading her somewhere else-- somewhere... peculiar.

Vremea crossed her arms and examined the area, pursing her lips. Turning toward Odette, she voiced her confusion-- "The building looks too new for it to collapse so easily..." She stated, confused at why the char marks were... different from a normal explosion. She huffed. "Do you think the news lied to the public?" She asked her, tapping her chin slightly, feeling a little betrayed... just another reason for her to feel anger toward the highbloods.


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Vremea Everai is currently traveling with Odette Cygnet! (Kimbley Kitty)

 

[zeflamigo]

Odette studied the char marks, eyebrows scrunching down in thought. "Maybe," she replied to Vremea, "but it doesn't make sense." She took a step back. Her immediate thought was that it was the royalists, but how could that be true. The facts just didn't add up.

"Why would anyone choose to bring down a brand new building?" Odette asked. "If they wanted to... kill off lowbloods... why do it this way? They would want to be smart and choose an old building, something that fit the story."

Odette looked up at Vremea with a scared look, "They either don't know what really happened... Or they're hiding something worse..."

Odette moved on, and ended up back at the garden again. Only this time, the roof had caved in and exposed the penthouse. Sparing no time, Odette jumped down, pushing some wind under her feet to cushion her fall. "I'm going to check to see if anyone's stuck here!" she told Vremea. "Could you keep watch for me please?"

Odette shuffled through the debris, checking under the pieces she could pick up. "Anyone here? I want to help." Odette called out. Her eyes scanned the room— standard highblood fare, but it looks like most of it had been looted in one way or another. Then there was a... mannequin with orangeblood clothes? Highbloods sure were strange...

WAIT. It moved! Mannequins don't move, which meant it was- it was a real troll! Startled, Odette jumped back and got her ankle caught in the debris. She fell into the concrete, making quite the noise.  

[Sypon]

Ganyma couldn't help himself. One of his childhood walks was directly past The Root - it seemed like the loss of an old friend. He'd even been there when it was creaky and seemed ready to fall. That was before the earthquake. He guessed that the drones must have done a pretty bad job, and felt a pit in his stomach. Drones... If they couldn't do that right, what good could they do? That was no way to live. Like their name, they were aimless followers of the Queen. There was no drone uprising in store, not like the elevated goals of the rebellion currently operating on Alternia. Pitiable they might be, but helpless? They were adults. Even younger trolls had more gumption.

Ganyma found himself at the base of The Root and looked up at the leaning structure. He would only poke his head in a little -- just for old time's sake. He was prepared for the consequences, of course, but his curiosity had gotten the best of him.

Ganyma looked over his shoulder conspiratorially. No Strochio. Some days, he thought he'd grow out of his nervous habits. But every New Hemisect street sign reminded him that he never would.

No sooner than he had stepped under a tear in the boundary outside of The Root did he come across a strange artifact. Ganyma lifted the half-sphere from its place on the dirty ground and rubbed it against his tanktop. It seemed in good condition -- maybe he could find someone who could tell him what it was? The slowly blinking blue light was also a mystery, and he wondered what it signified.  

[seekingCylem]

[ Very little had actually managed to befall Didero once he'd left the hiveblock he'd come in through. His desire not to renter that foul-smelling room was enough to keep Didero motivated in picking his way further into the building.

He had no idea where he was going. He'd gotten turned-around early on. The labyrinthine hallways of The Root looked fairly similar before falling to pieces. Didero decided if he couldn't figure out whether he was heading left or right anymore, he may as well try heading up.

After a while, Didero made it to the roof. He assumed it was the roof, at least, since there was nothing left to climb on top of, and he could see the sky. Hatoful Dad, quite pleased by this development, took a lap in flight around the building before coming back to rest by Didero.

The footing up there was incredibly precarious. Of course, it had been precarious the whole time, but Didero was just now realizing this was the maximum height he could possibly fall in this death trap. Didero inched up to the pit that took up most of the floor and peered down.

Oh! The penthouse! Didero whistled. Hatoful Dad bobbed in acknowledgement as he settled next to Didero. Didero took the accompaniment as encouragement to continue.

"This must've been really nice in it's prime..."

Hatoful Dad refocused one of his eyes on Didero. Don't you dare...

Didero had found some vines and was in the process of knotting them together--sitting with his legs dangling over the edge of the hole. Hatoful Dad squawked at his son's blatant disregard for his own safety.

Didero paid his lusus no mind. He'd already secured one end of the makeshift rope to a mass of rebar and concrete. ]

 

[zeflamigo]

Odette stared at the orangeblood, face still frozen in initial shock. She laughed nervously at the girl's suggestion. "I wasn't trying to be sneaky, I'm trying to find anyone who's hurt..." She muttered, eyes looking at the ground in shame. She supposed that she really did need to work on her sneakiness. After all, it was the only thing keeping her alive.

Odette looked back at the girl who was reaching out to her. "Thank you kindly," she said. She took the girl's hand and pulled herself up. She dusted her knees off and took a glance at swanmom, making sure she wasn't hurt in the fall. Not a scratch. She sighed in relief.

Odette turned her attention once again to the orangeblood. She was interesting looking that was sure, especially with the dark make-up around her eyes. But more importantly, she looked friendly. "Are you traveling alone?" she asked the girl curiously, with a helpful gleam in her eye. Maybe the girl could join her and Vremea?

"Sorry I didn't introduce myself..." Odette apologized. "My name is Odette Cygnet, and I'm traveling here with my faithful friend Vremea..." She gestured to the opening of the roof. "Vremea, come down!" she whispered as loudly as she could, taking the hint from the orangeblood. She turned her head to the vines, awaiting her friend. Instead she saw that someone else was already climbing down the vines, and it was certainly not her yellowblooded friend.

"That's not her," She whispered to the orangeblood, eyes wide with fear. How did they pass Vremea's watch? Odette expected the worst, that this troll was a real danger. She reached into her bag for the blade of her glaive and clutched it tightly.

KitsuneAura

seekingCylem

 

[kamileunaire]

"Oh." Larque dug a few inches deeper, before realizing that he had touched something wet. Well, nothing useful there, he conceded, yanking his hands back and wiping them on his pants without looking at the damp substance. At Tamiya's suggestion, he nodded, not entirely certain what she meant by 'spillage', but still willing to continue their investigation all the same.

Their discovery of the cave-in earned a sneer from the little greenblood. "No kidding. We should ride my lusus back down, it'd be faster..." He murmured, and glanced back at her. Before he could motion her over, though, something else caught his eye. It was shimmery, shiny....stuff. He couldn't quite come to a conclusion on it, but Mantismom was on top of his cognitive shortcoming.

With a hiss, the massive insect charged forward, scuttling up over Larque and Tamiya both, and lowering her front half closer to the ground. The shimmering, powdered substance drifted down, and they were protected beneath the umbrella of her chitoned body. Her movements had left Larque in a dazed heap, knocked down by one of her many legs, but mostly unscathed.

(tamiya and larque are toegtehrrrr)  

[thyPOPE]

"They're...you can make poultices with them. For getting better." Alifax shrugged, a barely-there smile tugging at his lips again. "They're kind of pricy and I'm not a gardener by any means and I can't really afford medical care, either." That was why he'd taken the medic classes during that mothergrub fiasco - Alifax really did need to be able to fix himself up. He cleared his throat, quite unaccustomed to speaking so much. "It's always nice to - "

The floor was rumbling beneath them, very effectively stopping Alifax's dialogue. His mouth hung open, and he glanced over at Kursha before carefully crouching down. It wasn't until the tremors had stopped that he got up again, and he followed the kid over to...a hole, to the background music of a certain raptor's screeches. Wow - Alifax was not very interested in that.

"Of course not," Alifax said, eyes wide. "We should probably step away." The Colonel would probably rip him to pieces if she caught him walking out of the Root without her charge.

He made a sharp turn away, hoping to get somewhere, well, closer to the outer edges of the ruins - preferably where the Colonel was -

Oh, Alternia. That was a strong wind, and that - that was glass. Alifax found himself ducking again, throwing an arm over his face and reaching out blindly to help shield Kursha's - not that he really was sure how the kid was oriented in relation to himself. Still, he definitely felt himself nicked in the elbow by the sharp debris, and he winced. "Is someone throwing rocks?" He really didn't understand why someone would do that here and now, of all places.

Alifax is traveling with Kursha (Katanari)
Personal inventory: n/a
Group inventory: Pidge, beetles and herbs.  

[seekingCylem]

[ Didero realized halfway down into the pit, that maybe this was a stupid idea. He wasn't sure he had the strength to pull himself back up his makeshift rope. Also considering that rope made by a child was probably not the highest quality material, Didero decided his best bet was to lower himself as quickly as (was safely) possible.

Didero managed to slide down his rope for most of the height of the drop, but by the end, the friction burns on his hands caused him to lose his grip. Didero dropped off the rope a couple of feet before he'd planned. Technically, he hit the ground feet first, but immediately fell on his butt.

"Aah! Ah! Ah! Ahooowwww..." Didero wailed. His ankles hurt, his tailbone hurt, and his hands stung! Didero flailed his arms to try to cool the burn.

Didero had fallen with his back to the other trolls in the room, though he was far too preoccupied with his pain to have noticed them regardless. Hatoful Dad, quickly fluttered down into the room at the sound of his charge's cries.

Hatoful Dad was quick to note that Didero was, by all accounts, fine. His relief (and slight exasperation) was short-lived as he soon noticed the other trolls in the room. They appeared to be children around Didero's age, and lowbloods at that. While certainly not the most threatening bunch, Hatoful Dad was acutely aware of his own lack of intimidating presence. He hopped and shuffled around his equally benign son, attempting to covertly get him to shut up and pay attention, while not breaking eye-contact with the strangers. ]

KitsuneAura

Kimbley Kitty

 

[Green Minuet]

[+] Kursha Vidari

Kursha was fairly amused with the Alifax's discomfort. A part of him wanted to stay just to see the redblood squirm but there was too little time for that. They still had the rest of the hive to explore and who knew how much starlight left. He followed Alifax back up the stairs...

And into a cloud of shimmering death.

In the few seconds it took Kursha to figure out what it was and open his mouth to make a complaint, Alifax had yanked him aside. The greenblood was stunned. He watched with wide eyes. Was the teenager... protecting him? Certainly, Kursha had elected to bring the redblood along in case he needed protection but he had been thinking more in terms of his physical prowess. Not... Not anything like this. Did the older troll pity him? Was that what this was? Kursha was too mind-boggled to make any sort of sensible conclusion. He almost even forgot to shield the pidgeon.

Suddenly, behind the redblood, he spotted two other figures in the hall taking cover from the glass whirlwind. Then he realised that it was not two figures. It was two lusii, one an enormous mantis-like creature, and their two charges. Kursha squinted. It was hard to see through the haze but... yes, one was definitely a purpleblood if the colour on her sash was any indication. It was time to be gone.

Grabbing Alifax by the wrist, Kursha tugged him back into the stairwell. It meant that for a moment he had to bear the sting of the glass but it was better than bearing the wrath of a highblood. He dragged the older troll all the way up the stairs, back to the top of the building at a run. That put a safe distance between them and the trolls below.

“Ha!” Kursha panted. “Now we're even!” He smiled broadly. Despite all the dangers involved, so far the whole adventure seemed a game to him, even with the stinging wounds inflicted by the glass. He wiped a streak of green blood from his arm. Suddenly he seemed to note the state of the rooftop... or rather the complete lack of a rooftop. “Hey, weren't we just up here? When do you think this happened? When the other floor collapsed maybe?”

OoC: What the poop, these numbers are ridiculous.

Kursha is travelling with Alifax (thyPOPE)!
Personal inventory: n/a
Group inventory: Pidge, beetles and herbs.  

[quite uneventful]

"It really does not make sense at all..." Vremea murmured to herself, playing with a lock of her hair, listening to her. She turns toward Odette, shocked at her assumption, pursing her lips together, deep in thought when suddenly they were off-- moving all the way back up, up, up... But hey, what!? "When did... this happen?" She murmured to herself, then nodded at Odette's request, turning around and watching the area, being careful...

She had looked away for FIVE SECONDS. Five freakin seconds, and another troll begins to slide down. She hadn't the time to react-- instead, she panicked, hearing more than one voice echoing down there, teeth chattering in fear. "N-no way..." It was a green blood, she was sure. Sure, they weren't a blueblood, but after the disaster from the roof with the purpleblood and the greenblood from earlier, Vremea couldn't help but wrinkle her nose and wonder if it was that one. Hearing the urgent whisper in the wind, the yellowblood nervously grabbed onto one of the vines, realizing a little too late that dresses, heels and vines should never go together.

By the time she reached the bottom, Vremea was a shaking mess, but at least she could say she made it work... at least, a little. She was covered in plant stains and her hair was frazzled, but at least she made it down. She patted her hair as she carefully navigated toward Odette(whom was thankfully, not far) and the other troll, a orangeblood, throwing a glance toward the greenblood from afar. "I am sorry, I let my gaze stray for a few seconds and suddenly some child had slipped right past me. I sincerely apologize, oh gosh..." She was so nervous. What if it was the same troll?! She really hoped it wasn't...Having a panicked look on her face, the teen fumbled with the hem of her skirt again, feeling extremely nervous.


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Vremea Everai is currently traveling with Odette Cygnet! (Kimbley Kitty)


Kimbley Kitty


KitsuneAura


seekingCylem