[B6*] Stage One: The Shifting Sands [LIVE]

[Shazari]

It came to pass, in the time of kings and princes, that there was to the north a huge expanse of desert. And in this desert, all manner of crop withered, and the horizon undulated forever in crests of camel-white sand, and it was forsaken of all rain. And, too, in this desert, there was a cave, a hollow of rock and empty space nestled into the sand; and the first blessing within this cave was the shade -- within the black rhombus of its mouth, there was a coolness, a still place where the sand never dusted very far inward, and all the rock floor was strangely bare.

And there were stairs, of a kind, and down the stairs the air grew cooler still, and thicker, humid; and when the stairs went on no farther, and the ground opened up into a cavernous hall, there was a chill in the air; and all was dank and moist; and all was quiet. In this place, the sound -- when sound was dared at all -- did not echo and ricochet around the room, but instead seemed to whisper in the darkness, slithering on its belly like a snake, scuttling up the walls like a scarab. Shifting underfoot, like fine grains of sand.

And so, too, it was, that in this cavern there were no rushes on the floor, and there was no sand, yet something else, some other thing entire -- but the sun was low on the horizon, red and bloated, and far, far, too far above the deep cavern for its watery light to reach. All was dark, save the smallest orange pinprick of light from somewhere closeby.

Thus it was in the cave: darkness, and silence, and cold.

[So begins Stage One of the Shifting Sands region. Stages One, Two, and Three of this region are all potentially lethal -- please remember there is no gaurantee of your character's survival. Be mindful that in this stage you must post within 24 hours of your turn.

This portion of Stage 1 is a Meet and Greet period; nothing in this area will do you any harm (unless you intend it to). After some exploration, you will be informed of a door in the cave, which is, at this time, sealed -- however, as soon as you'd like to move into the live portion of Stage 1, any character may take the appropriate action to open the locked door and your stage will go live. On Friday, all threads that are not yet live will go live.

Feel free to explore this area. Any actions you take, whether they be examining things, attempting to pick things up, and so forth, will generate a GM response informing you of the result, but again, the thread will not go live until characters open the sealed door.

In general there is no specific posting order for the Meet and Greet portion of Stage 1, so you can exercise your discretion in deciding when to post and when not to; however, please try to give other people the chance to speak up as well! Further posting instructions will be given when the thread goes live -- please coordinate with your team members before forcing the thread into its live state!

Please begin with your arrival at the mouth of the cave (not down the stairs deep inside the cave), as that is as far as those people riding on the magic carpet will be taken.]  

[Xaki]

They had been riding on the magic carpet for quite some time now, Boreas, Howl, Raite, and Scylla. Seth hadn't gone undeterred by the heat, his white dress shirt clinging to his body, sticky with sweat. At least he was fortunate enough to be able to take off his jacket early on, once again echoing his sentiments that senshi had a bit more trouble with their uniform.

While the others may have talked and conversed during their travel, Raite was off sitting in his corner, giving the most minimal of replies when he had to, but otherwise did not take any further measures to speak. Any attempts at truth or dare, cards, or any other game was buffered by silence. It was unclear how he retained his sanity, when Scylla was so close to losing hers (at times). But perhaps being near emotionless, or at the very least, always having the same quiet scowl did it for him.

He caught sight of the same thing that Jada had, but he presented himself with a bit more decency, his gray eyes flickering in realization. "A cave." His voice finally entered their conversation. The cave was the first thing that they had come across, since Raite and Scylla had boarded the carpet, that was different from the never-ending sand of the desert. To be honest, none of them had any ideas on whether the cave was truly safe or not. But the desert offered nothing else.

"Thank you Nelumbo." Raite said in a rare gesture of thanks, an almost affectionate pet for the carpet that had strained to take them there, despite her missing corner. He jumped off the carpet with minimal trouble, landing at the mouth of the cave. He kneeled down to examine the edges, while his body was thankful for the shade it offered for the blazing heat.  

[LizzyMoo]

Despite how atrocious he must have looked thanks to the desert heat, the teal-haired lad of the group remained an absolute delight. He had been careful to not make himself sound ridiculously pathetic during his and Boreas' strange wanderings through the desert, but at times, he could not help but slip up a detail which made him sound much more fragile than he should have.

The mention of such juvenile games were tastefully ignored.

To avoid sounding like a parrot, when the carpet slowed, Howl kept his mouth shut as the obvious was stated by the silent Lieutenant. There was indeed a cave.

When the female senshi mentioned her concerns, the Lieutenant got off of the carpet, and shortly following, Howl carefully slid off, tucking the saddlebag under his left arm. His toes tensed against the sand, not wanting to get the little grains between his toes. The effort was completely in vain though, for those grains easily lodged themselves between his toes.

With his right hand, he extended it to the young lady, his manners once again insisting their presence even in this hot desert sun.

"Miss Scylla, would you like a hand?" His hand was held out carefully in front of her, there if she'd like it, but not thrusting it in her face, just in case she was not comfortable with the offer. For a moment, his eyes behind the sunglasses glanced to Boreas, almost as if trying to make certain he was not getting himself into too much trouble.  

[Moving Pictures]

Hours or maybe even days seemed to pass as Boreas and the other three travelers glided across the burning hot desert aboard the magic carpet known as Nelumbo. Thanks to the insane sun that constantly kept its position in the sky, Boreas could no longer tell how much time had passed from the last moment he had looked up. Though the journey had been made much easier thanks to the magic carpet, Boreas still felt the unfortunate symptoms of the desert heat. His entire uniform seemed to stick to every inch of his skin and the fur was hot to the touch. Boreas wished he could strip down to the bare essentials, but he was stuck in winter attire for the time being.

He kept his strong hold on the tassels of the carpet and made sure to put his whole attention on the course ahead. Though Nelumbo did most of the work, Boreas still had to keep the direction secure and the carpet steady enough to handle the four travelers aboard. However, once the cave came into sight, Nelumbo took full control and came to a swift, hovering stop in front of the entrance. This focus, combined with the heat, made it hard for Boreas to pay careful attention to the conversation and he barely could recall it once they arrived at the entrance to the cave. Raite's words went in one ear and out the others as Boreas eagerly hopped off his perch at the front of the carpet.

"I am eternally grateful for your help Nelumbo! We would have never made it this far without your guidance!"

He gave the carpet a gentle pat and turned to the entrance of the cave. Boreas didn't even think about the dangers it could possibly hold. All the senshi of winter could see was shade and a place that was hopefully free of the atrocious desert sun. With barely a glance back to his fellow travelers, Boreas was ready to run full speed ahead, regardless if his friends were ready to do the same.

"Everyone ready to head under those rocks? I don't know about the rest of you, but I have had enough of this crazy sun!"

He had kept a smile on his face the entire way there and it didn't fade as he looked ahead.  

[LizzyMoo]

"You are quite welcome." His head bobbed into a slight nod as he released his gentle hold of the young lady's gloved hand. Once all others had cleared the carpet, Howl once more petted the carpet delicately rather than rushing to the shade. He had been barefoot for most of the journey, a few more minutes was not going to make his skin completely melt off of his bones.

"Nelumbo, dear, will you still be accompanying us? We would greatly appreciate your company if you are willing to join us."

Delicately, he trailed his fingers to her tassel and gently rubbed his thumb over it. With a soft smile, he then mentioned "Regardless of your decision, Nelumbo, I still thank you for your assistance." Returning his right hand back to his side, he then began to make his way to the shade with the rest of his group. There was such a drastic difference in temperature from the sand that was in the direct sunlight and the sand that was shaded gently by the cave.  

[Excited Apathy]

The respite from the desert's heat had been all too brief. With nothing but the clothes on her back, Erin had little choice but to do as the polite desert-dweller had asked. It was a ticket to information, information that she dearly needed and sorely wanted. There were far too many questions buzzing around in her head, begging for answers.

Where was this desert? Why was the sky red? There was a city--what was it like, and where was it?

The last question, of course, was what had brought her here, clutching a roll of paper and a stick of charcoal. A cave, the first shade since the tent she and Rosa had stumbled upon. It wasn't what held her attention at this moment, however. That honor was reserved for the flying carpet near it. If the blood-red sky hadn't been a clear sign that she was somewhere very not normal, this certainly was. Somewhat belatedly, she realized there were people already here. Some were dressed strangely, but as a flying carpet was at the top of the 'strange' list right now, she didn't decide to examine this thought very closely. She did, however, decide to make her arrival known.

A cough, a slight wave. "Hello..." She trailed off. What did you say, in a place like this? 'Hi, the sky's a lovely color today?'

Awkward.  

[LizzyMoo]

He had barely been within the shade for about a minute when a faint sound reached his ears.

"Hello..."

Glancing up, he found a stranger there to greet them. Politely, he lifted his sunglasses away from his line of vision to get a better look. It was a young lady with hair nearly the same teal color as his own, though with a hint more blue than green. Her eyes were dark in color, but she was not close enough to tell the exact color at the moment. However, he was able to tell from his current distance that she had freckles dotting her features. She carried some objects with her which seemed a bit out of place, but considering that Howl was carrying a saddlebag, he was not one to complain about such an oddity.

Waving his free right hand at the young lady, he greeted her with all the polite energy he could possibly muster. "Greetings to you as well, Miss. Are there others with you? If so, you are all welcome to join us. Please, pay Nelumbo no mind and come closer." The effeminate teal-haired lad offered the kindest of smiles and signaled with a hand that it was safe to come closer. He couldn't help but glance curiously at the carpet, wondering if it would still accompany them. Nelumbo could still be a rather useful asset to the group.  

[Moving Pictures]

Completely oblivious to the stranger behind the group of travelers, Boreas didn't even hear her greeting. It was only when he heard the voice of his teal haired companion and the senshi of the kraken, that he took notice. Though he didn't have much time until he then saw Scylla walk past him into the dark, foreboding cave.

"Wait up, Scylla! I want to come to!"

He put one foot into the dark entrance before he then suddenly remember that they had a new guest in their midst. He turned to face her and gave a big grin.

"Hello! I'm Sailor Boreas. It's nice to meet you! Would you like to come with us into the cave?"

Boreas then turned back to Scylla and entered into the cool enclave. The sudden drop in temperature was evident and incredibly refreshing for Boreas and a sigh of relief escaped his lips as he stood, barely visible in the soft light that barely reached past the entrance.  

[Nothing Yet]

He had been wandering for an awfully long time. Sailor Pyxis was pretty sure that he'd been in this desert for months, though he had no real way of knowing. There was no candy here, water was nowhere to be found, and that pesky sun never seemed to move. Somewhere along the way, he'd lost one of his shoes, and apparently neglected to ever retrieve it. The only thing protecting his right foot from hot sand was a rainbow stocking, which somehow did the trick.

Regardless of how long he had been here, the young Senshi had learned one crucial thing - the water in the distance wasn't real, and you couldn't be too sure that anything else was, either. This didn't stop him from continuing to scratch at the nonexistent bugs all over his arms, his mind still insisting that they were making his freckles all shifty like that...if it had been freckles at all spelling out the "NORTH" on his arms.

It was not particularly surprising that he immediately regarded the people and the change of scenery before him as yet another illusion. Doggedly, he wandered towards them, appearing defeated and maybe a little out of his mind.

"Are...are you guys even real?" Without waiting for an answer, he sat down on the sand and stared off towards what appeared to be the mouth of a cave. He didn't expect an answer. They were probably trees. Or more bugs. Or sentient freckles.  

[LizzyMoo]

At least his companions seemed to have manners enough to greet the new girl. However, they did seem a bit more distracted by the fact there was a cave than by the fact the newest young lady to join their company was probably filled with just as many questions as Miss Scylla had been upon their initial meeting. Hoping to be as accommodating as possible, he remained standing with his feet in the shade, but remaining outside of the cave itself.

However, something managed to catch his ear. Something that sounded exasperated at best. Trying to keep his tone as mindful as possible, he offered a simple "I suspect we are far more real than anything this strange desert has to offer, young sir." The way the boy sat down only seemed to remind Howl how hot the sand was.

"I suspect you would be more comfortable if you joined us, young sir, in the shade. Please, come forward so we can be introduced properly." Much like with the teal-haired young lady, he signaled for the boy to come forward with his right hand while offering an inviting smile.  

[Nothing Yet]

Whether the person was real or not, Pyxis wasn't impolite enough to ignore when someone was speaking to him. He blinked warily, feeling comforted by the stranger's statement that they were not like the other illusions that the heat and endless expanse of sand had already thrown in his direction. The shade did look incredibly appealing; he wondered how he had failed to notice something so obvious, fearing how easily he was beginning to filter out anything that wasn't bad in this deserted place.

"You noticed that I'm a boy...!" Had he been in a better state of mind, this likely would have been an indication that the person in front of him was not real, and his mind was only trying to make him feel a little better about being horribly uncomfortable in the middle of a giant sandbox. He took wobbly, excited steps towards the group, hugging the one who had greeted him once he reached the shade. "You can call me Pyxis. I'm awful tired. I'm just..." He yawned, unable to finish the end of his sentence. He hadn't let go of the stranger, but it was probably more credited to his fatigue than any amount of affection.