[IC] Aether Eternum

[SadCubone]

Luke looked around at everyone. He sighed again, this one deeper. He knew he looked ridiculous and he knew what he was doing was probably crazy but it's not like there was a five star restaurant around the corner. "This isn't is as bad as it looks, once you get passed the smell, the taste, and basically everything about it. Look it's good to have something in your stomach, so when we find out a way out of this field we aren't hungry. Don't go judging me cause I was the first one to find food and make weapons." Luke wasn't one to go and snap at people but it was true. A little appreciation goes a long way. He cut another piece of venison and held it up to one of them "Here you honestly do look hungry and it would be good for you to eat."

@VitaVitaAR

[WeepingLiberty]

Skylar looked at Adam, folding her arms and nodding at the snake-girl with an "I told you so" vibe. She had to admit, the entire ordeal was rather ridiculous... And that was excluding the old man eating the rotten meat. Sighing heavily, she finally turned her attention to the old man. "I question you men sometimes... So quick to assume meat is the only thing around here able to sustain you." Rolling her eyes, Skylar plucked a strand of tall grass from the ground and put it in her mouth. Chewing it slowly, she began marching after Adam while calling to the folk behind her. "We're surrounded by vegetation. I doubt we'll starve." Skylar called out with confidence. Well, most of us at least. She thought to herself with a slight chuckle. Her new legs kept pace with Adam easily, finding it smarter to align herself with the scary looking guy. She was less likely to be attacked if people were frightened of her travelling partner.

"Name's Nova, by the way. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Skylar nodded internally, liking how the new name fell off her tongue. It was a strange name for a strange new world, a fresh start in every way possible. She remembered Adam mentioning that anyone who wanted to follow could, so she didn't bother asking if her tagging along was alright... Not that she was going to anyway, it wouldn't have fit the new image she was trying to create.

@Zombehs@SadCubone

[SadCubone]

Luke was feeling attacked. All he tried to do was gather food for these people who he didn't even know. He picked up one of the spears he made and stood up. He chuckled because he wanted to seem like he had it all together. He also chuckled at the fact that someone could stay alive off of just grass. While grass is edible, it's not exactly Luke's first pick for a survival snack. He brushed himself off and said "I made spears for yall and if anyone WANTS any meat, instead of just attacking me for trying, it's here. I don't know about yall but I don't wanna be here when it comes night time so I say we eat up and move out, but that's me." Luke knew he was rushing things. But honestly, he was stranded in the middle of god knows where with people he didn't know. He wanted to go home as soon as possible, so he had to get moving.

[Tokki]

Rae-Ah quietly nodded in response to Nova's introduction. The girl had an air of self-confidence around her, so there was no doubt she was also confident they were going to make it through the day the way they were. However, the girl was not sure of Nova's choices in edible supplement. How did she know the oddly-colored tall grass was edible? That information was not ingrained in anyone else, otherwise they would have eaten the plants earlier. Certainly, not even the older man knew, Rae-Ah deducted as she watched him slice a chunk of the venison and hold it out in her direction. God knows where the deer even came from, but she'd have to trust the group that formed, otherwise she'd be all alone in this foreign land.

"If our circumstances absolutely demand it, I suppose we should travel. After all, the plains lay scarce of any traces of water..." the girl took a step behind Marcus to bring herself out of everyone else's line of sight. That was the most she'd said during the entire day. Rae-Ah's hunger was beginning to get painful, along with her thirst- but definitely not for water.

Her head increased in temperature drastically, which worried Rae-Ah. The red markings on her forehead started to emit a bright, crimson aura. The more pain she was in, the more light it shone. From behind Marcus, Rae-ah reached an arm out towards Luke who openly offered the meat, only to retract it once she realized it was probably rude to ask first. She proceeded to keep her head down as she stood in Marcus' shadow.

@PKMNB0Y @WeepingLiberty @SadCubone

[VitaVitaAR]

"... Yes yes, it's great you made weapons."

Yeah, that was great, though with the wisdom of eating a rotting carcass she couldn't be sure how useful the weapons would possibly be. For the moment, all Rika's panic had dissipated into frustration. How was it that this person hadn't figured out that eating rotten meat was a bad idea? What made him think it was safe to eat a dead deer that smelled like that? Was she supposed to just leave him until he was getting sick all over the place? The... well, she had to be an elf with those ears, there was no way it wasn't the case, seemed to agree rather wholeheartedly. Though, somehow... the idea of eating grass seemed repulsive to her. Rika couldn't understand why, it wasn't like it was great but she wasn't some idiot who would turn up food if they absolutely had no other choice.

Besides, wasn't bread made out of a type of grass? That's what most grains were, wasn't it?

... Why did bread sound so gross to her now? Well... whatever.

"That deer carcass stinks, it's clearly way past being safely edible," Rika continued, folding her arms across her chest. The tip of her tail continued to twitch with her mounting irritation, "Eating something like that is a terrible idea. I'm going to assume none of us our starving, all that would do is give people food poisoning. Then we'd get sick and start losing moisture and whatever we... whatever we..."

Rika looked down at herself. The panic was rising again.

"... Is... i-is this even my body...? I... the human part is... a lot like me... but my legs are..."

@SadCubone

[SadCubone]

Luke, tired of these people telling him off about the decision he made, cut up some more slices of venison and put them in his pocket. With his weapon in his hand there was nothing else here for him. "Look I have tried to be nice. I made weapons for you, found a dead animal and cleaned it out to the best of my ability for us to eat and all you have done is judge and criticize me.No, thank you or thanks for trying or I appreciate the offer. Just slaps to the face with your words. Well okay then, I don't even have to take this. You guys don't know me and I don't know you so excuse me for trying. Goodbye to you all." Luke gave them all one last look and turned around and started walking. He had absolutely no clue where to go. There was no stream to follow, no trees, just grass. But he was determined to find something so he just kept on walking in the only direction he could. Forward.

[PKMNB0Y]

Marcus threw his hand in the air at the sheer inanity of the statements that the old man was throwing at them. What, so it was a GOOD thing that he was eating a deer that was CLEARLY not safe for consumption by anything less than the insects that were wriggling about on the ground? Was this man all right in the head?

"...Yeah, that's it, wait up a sec, Ada-" he began to say as Rae-Ah began to reach for the deer offered by the crazy rancher... Person... Thing. Actually, at this point, Marcus wasn't too far off from just labeling the man as insane and no more.
"...Yeah, sorry, don't think it's a good idea to eat that stuff, regardless of what you are now." he said, and, with a sigh, shook his head as he turned towards Adam and Nova as Luke seemed to storm off in the opposite direction.

"...Don't worry, just leave him be." he said to both Rika and Rae-Ah, the only two who seemed to remain hesitant about the situation. "If he's going to insist on eating that godforsaken decaying flesh, then let him. Come on, we've got civilization to find."

Glancing at Rae-Ah, though, Marcus noticed the quite out-of-place glow on the center of her forehead, which worried him. Shit. That was... Probably not a good sign. Maybe it was...?

The heat coming off of her was getting increasingly stronger, and by the looks of things it was DEFINITELY not a fever...

"I don't think it's safe to wait around, though. Let's move."

It worried him, but with absolutely no clue about the girl's physiological state all he could really do was push forward.

"Yo, Adam! Wait up!" Marcus exclaimed, jogging over to the other two before beckoning those behind him to follow behind. Surely they weren't going to follow that madman, right?

@Tokki@SadCubone@VitaVitaAR@WeepingLiberty@Zombehs

[Zombehs]

Well, it seemed he’d have company for the journey ahead; a bit comforting, but Adam hoped he wouldn’t have to coddle any of them. Things were looking to be difficult enough already… As he glanced back at the elf who busied with some of the grass that surrounded them, he couldn’t help but shake his head. “If this is anything like the grass back home, the human stomach ain’t meant to process it. We might feel full, but we aren’t going to be getting anything from it.” Just one of the pieces of useful knowledge he’d retained from survival class, but he didn't want to simply disagree with someone who'd be his travel companion for the forseeable future.

“Likewise. Let’s make the best of our time together,” he replied with a curt nod of his head before facing forward once more. Bit more friendly than he was to most strangers, but then again the situation was rather extraordinary.

He slowed down slightly as Marcus called out from behind, but didn’t quite come to a halt. What did bring him to a complete stop was the unnatural light he saw from behind the other male as Marcus ran up. Hunched over, with a crimson glow from the marking on her forehead, Rae looked like she could hardly move. Running a hand through his hair he grit his teeth and muttered, “Fucking great…” Probably unnecessary to curse, but it about summed up his current thoughts of the situation. For all he knew, Rae was about to flip out and transform into some giant fox; they were generally supposed to be tricksters and shapeshifters in most myths right?

“You two, stay here please.” Despite the urge to bark orders, Adam knew the three of them didn’t have the relation required for that to be effective; hell he’d probably just alienate Nova and Marcus if that was the case. “We don’t need all three of us in possible danger.” And while he couldn’t be sure of what was happening with Rae, none of them probably did, the ominous feeling that washed over him with the red glow set alarm bells off in his head.

“Please,” he muttered once more towards the two before he ran back towards the girl. It only took a few seconds, but by the time he was close enough to almost touch Rae he couldn’t even keep his eyes fully open thanks to the red light. “Rae! Look at me!” With no idea exactly what the problem was, he had to grab her attention first, hopefully distract her from the cause of this. If worst came to worst he wasn’t above simply trying to subdue the girl, but for several reasons that wasn’t exactly the most preferable of options.
@PKMNB0Y@Tokki@WeepingLiberty

[Tokki]

The light had grown almost blinding by the time everyone was done talking. Rae-Ah didn't notice this with her eyes shut in cold sweat. Everything came as a blur, barely being able to comprehend their words in between the white, hot flashes of pain. The man earlier, Luke, he was heading towards the opposite direction. But why? Why couldn't they all stay together? The questions flew in circles around her head, bombarding her conscience. The priestess did not belong here. Much less, not in that monstrous form...

“We don’t need all three of us in possible danger.”

Danger...? I don't...

“Rae! Look at me!”

Adam's yelling brought her back to her senses. Eventually, the markings faltered with its glow, but it hadn't stopped completely; it was dim at the least... and it would stay like that- unless they found something to eat within the next couple of hours. The heat and pressure from her head caused a tiny stream of blood to flow from her nose, but it was nothing she couldn't handle.

"I... I truly am sorry, I did not mean to alarm anyone. The events of today... has rendered me a little weaker than what I am normally. I am sorry, again, but please do not worry!" her voice shook but she was steadfast in her response. Rae-Ah decided she simply could not hold them back from proceeding further into salvation. For the good of everyone on the team, she had to suck it up for as long as she could manage, no matter how much discomfort she was going through.

Rae-Ah held a hand up to her face to provide pressure to her nasal canal in an effort to stop the bleeding. The blood stained the sleeve of her previously immaculate robe, but that didn't matter. They had to move-- and quick. She gave a reassuring look to everyone within the vicinity, with a flash of worry as soon as she glanced at Luke. Rae-Ah probably could not convince him if she tried, but she looked to Marcus and Adam to reconsider bringing him along with them.

@PKMNB0Y @Zombehs @SadCubone

[VitaVitaAR]

For a few moments, Rika was once again taken from her panic to stare blankly at the proceedings. That idiotic man... she was trying to stop him from getting himself sick, not attack him or whatever it is that he thought she was doing. Ugh. Maybe he'd realize how foolish he was being and return of his own volition... For now, the other people seemed more sensible... and given their nature not too shocked by the fact that she had a snake tail instead of legs. Bringing her palm to her face for a moment as he stormed off, she let out a sigh and straightened before deciding to follow the others... At least... at least until she felt the head. And smelled the blood. She was confused about that for a moment, but she could definitely identify the iron tang of blood in the air. She paused for a moment, drawing herself back on her serpentine tail. Why was someone bleeding? Why had it gotten so hot?

... It was the kitsune...? She was... nosebleeding and so hot that Rika could feel it... though it seemed like it was subsiding. What was even happening? Rika couldn't help but be concerned for a moment. Certainly, that girl hadn't seemed to have done anything wrong. Why couldn't it had happened to the person who tried to feed them spoiled meat? Maybe it would jog him to his senses.

"What... happened...?" was all she could ask as she slithered towards them, trying to keep her mind on things other then the drastic change that had been inflicted on her own body. At least moving with the snake tail wasn't difficult, even if she wasn't completely sure how she had so easily taken to it. But it looked like the kitsune girl was sick... This was such a confusing mess right now. "... Well... she... she needs somewhere to rest. If we want to find actually edible food we need to stay away from the rotting corpse and find... some other meat."

She couldn't even think about eating anything plant-based. It made her feel a little ill, though not as bad as the deer carcass had.

@PKMNB0Y@Tokki@Zombehs@WeepingLiberty

[SadCubone]

Mumbling angrily to himself Luke carried on his direction. He could just hear them still criticizing him in his head. Yeah he knew dead deer corpse wasn't exactly the best thing to eat but so what. He was hungry, had to eat, and wanted to feed the others. He had to get over it, just steaming about it would cloud his thoughts. He kept walking and griped his spear. As he walked forward the ground he was on got more, wooden. It got creaky and and hallow. He looked down and noticed it was made of wood. Before he could react the wood was pulled away and he fell down a dark hole.

[PKMNB0Y]

Marcus took a moment to try and comprehend what just happened. So the foxgirl wasn't sick? But then what the heck was that heat about...?
Then it hit him: Magic. Right. Felt like something straight out of a fantasy novel for sure. There didn't seem to be any other plausible explanations either, which only further cemented the idea in his head. Though he wanted to take a closer look at what was going on himself, Adam did have a point; with all crazy crazy stuff that had gone down in the last few minutes, he'd be damned before tossing himself into anything remotely life-threatening.
...
Well, for the moment, at least. As Adam seemed to resolve the issue, Marcus let out a sigh of relief. Okay, so things weren't going to go nuclear. That was good. But... Well, they were still out here in the middle of nowhere, and that old meat-eating weirdo had disappeared from his line of sight to go... Somewhere. Well, not their problem any more.

"If the issue's been resolved... Should we keep moving?" Marcus asked, looking over everyone carefully to see if they were still on edge. Well, the fact that Adam had resolved the situation without incident made him a bit more trustworthy in his eyes, but... What of the rest?

@Tokki@WeepingLiberty@VitaVitaAR@Zombehs
--------
The hole that had opened up beneath Luke's feet extended surprisingly far down, and the landing he made surely resounded in the middle of the cavern he had just landed in. The stout dwarf, appearing to be roughly half his height and holding a heavy metal pickaxe, seemed to be shocked by the giant human who had just landed in front of him.
"Wh-what in the blazes is goin' on?! There aren't supposed to be any humans in this place!" the dwarf exclaimed, jumping back a few feet and holding his pickaxe at the ready. "Gotta tell the chief about this! It'll be bad in those dang humans get this hands on this mine!"

@SadCubone

[SadCubone]

Luke dazed and confused about what was going on tried to say something but before he could the dwarf was gone. Luke got up to his feet and brushed himself off. There was dirt on the venison so Luke just threw it away. It was gross the more and more he looked at it. Made him wanna throw up. Throw up. His stomach started to makes noises that felt bad. Uh oh. He tried to fallow the dwarf man. He didn't want to run though, he didn't want to come off strong, but he didn't want to lose the dwarf man either. The more he walked however the more his stomach hurt. It had to be the venison. Did he regret eating it? No, it was a split decision of survival that had to be mind. At the time it felt right. Food was needed and grass was not gonna cut it. Oh god, but maybe he should've waited. He continued to follow the dwarf.

[Zombehs]

Though the urge to sigh in relief was immense, Adam held it in check for appearance’s sake. Confidence could do wonders for morale and hope, both of which would probably be precious in the coming days. The light faded quickly enough to a softer glow that he no longer had to squint and besides a small nose bleed, Rae didn’t seem any worse off for the incident. Maybe a bit shaken up by the experience, but nonetheless undaunted and willing to press on. “Good to hear, come on, let’s get going.” A hand was offered just in case she felt a bit unsteady, but if she refused to take it then Adam would continue on.

“No idea, no time to find out,” he remarked towards Rika as the lamia slid closer; damn was it an odd sight to see. “And yes, lets.” It was good to see that the others seemed to be taking all this in stride and fairly well. Hopefully the five of them would be able to make a good pace without incident for a while, though frankly Adam wasn’t too optimistic; things had already gone plenty wrong with this whole world swap in the first place.
@PKMNB0Y@VitaVitaAR@Tokki@WeepingLiberty

[Tokki]

"If the issue's been resolved... Should we keep moving?"

Still slightly dizzied from the ordeal, Rae-Ah nodded in response to Marcus' proposition. If they were to make it anywhere before sunset, they had better start now.

“Good to hear, come on, let’s get going.” Adam's hand was directed towards the girl, supposedly to keep her steady, given she looked like hell and probably wouldn't have been able to make it any further without any support. Rae-Ah slipped her frail hand in his, determined to make sure she doesn't slow down their exploration any further. Scanning her surroundings, she listened for the group members' breathing, double-checking to make sure none of them would be left behind. Marcus and Adam - check. Rika, the serpentess - check. Nova, the elf - check. The only other person apart from the group was Luke, who'd already stormed the opposite direction than what they intended.

"Everyone, I believe one of us has gone astray. Shall we go to look for him or find shelter before the sun sets?" Rae-Ah felt confident she was finally back on her feet. Although she felt anxious for the deer-eater, she also worried for the group, as none of them knew what would occur once their only known source of light disappears.

---

@PKMNB0Y @Zombehs @WeepingLiberty @VitaVitaAR

[WeepingLiberty]

Ofcourse she knew that the grass she was chewing on wouldn't sustain her forever, but it appeared as if they had missed the point. Even in an open field, grass wasn't necessarily the only plant their was. Small fruit bearing plants might be growing in patches close to the ground that they couldn't see from far away... Her solution wasn't meant as a permanent one, but something for them to stave off the hunger pains until they could find real food. Which brought about a thought of other beings in the new world they had found themselves in. Were there even others here, what if they were the first and had to figure things out on their own... The thought never recieved an answer due to Nova's attention being pulled to the glowing light and radiating heat from the fox-girl, Rae.

Nova hung back as Adam had requested, taking the time to scan the area around them while he dealt with the glowing girl. Whatever her "new" form was, it must have been hard working adjusting. So many more senses to process, undiscovered abilites that a natural born would grow up learning... Now that she thought about it, she herself had no idea what her own transformation brought to the table. She felt incredibly light but aside from that, if she closed her eyes and concentrated, she could feel her body hum in unison with the world around her. Nova had no idea what it meant, but she found it intriguing enough to file it away in her brain.

She paid little attention to the conversation between Adam and Rae but welcomed them back to the group with a small nod. "Glad to see you're feeling a little better, hopefully we can find you something soon to get your strength up." Despite Nova's decision to be the tough character, she wasn't completely heartless. This girl before her was in obvious pain, she'd help in any way if she could. Her eyes trailed in the direction Luke had stormed in with a sigh. "If you're referring to the old man, he made his position clear. He'd rather make his own decisions than listen to the council of others, even if his decision lead him to bodily harm." She meant what she said, but she couldn't help but to stare in the direction he had disappeared suspiciously. It was entirely possible that they were far enough apart, and that the grass was high enough to hide his form from them... But something didn't sit right in her gut. Nova sighed again. "But if you're that worried about him we can always go check up on him. A little fresh air might have cleared his head. That being said, we should still search for somewhere to rest before the sun goes down. What do you three suggest?" She asked turning to Marcus, Adam and Rika to see if they had come up with any solutions to their "problem".

@Tokki@Zombehs@PKMNB0Y@VitaVitaAR

[VitaVitaAR]

Rika made to slither after the man. That was all, at the moment, she could do, aside from keep her eyes out for anything that looked like a good place to rest... and for any food. And try to keep her mind off the whole 'snake from the thighs down' thing. Panicking was not helpful though, she had to just keep herself from panicking as she slide along after the man. At least, until the elf...? girl brought up the matter of the older man who had run off for no apparent reason. Or because they had insulted his taste in meat. Or something. Rika sighed, folding her arms under her chest as she turned to face her.

"I think we're better off letting someone else take care of him," she said, looking quite unimpressed at the memory of the man who hadn't realized that he was giving out rotten meat. She didn't wish any harm on him, though if he had actually been near her she might have slapped him on the backside of the head for being such a fool. "They can keep him from giving himself food poisoning. Or worse. We need to find somewhere for the foxgirl to rest and... something to eat. Preferably something alive so we know it's fresh before we kill it and get to preparing it."

@PKMNB0Y @Tokki @WeepingLiberty @Zombehs

[PKMNB0Y]

Marcus sighed and shook his head, not wanting to have to deal with the crazy, rotten flesh-eating, possibly dense old man again... Well, at least, not for a while. Their current situation was quite possibly life or death, and having someone who would do such a thing in the group might negatively impact the outcome. Maybe if the circumstances were different, he would go look, but for now...

"I vote no to looking for the guy." Marcus said solemnly, walking further on through the field of grass. "We have no clue how this world functions, if the cycle of day and night is different, and if the possibility of us getting hunted down by some sort of predatory animal exists. There's a chance we'd be wasting our time if we went to go look for him now; I say we keep moving and hope that he doesn't die by dehydration... Or worse."

'Survival of the fittest,' was it? Well, technically the usage here was different than its initial intent (given how they weren't all the same species and all that), but if he was going to bring the group closer to extinction then it was just better to cut ties then and there. Better to live than to be let to ruin, right?

Of course, this kind of mentality was only until they got some shelter and food or something. he wasn't that much of a heartless bastard.

@Tokki@WeepingLiberty@Zombehs@VitaVitaAR

-----
The dwarf, who had immediately turned tail and started running (if it could even be called that) through the underground mine, was scared stiff when he glanced over his shoulder and noticed the burly human following close behind him.

"Help! Help! Human in the mine!" the dwarf shouted out, the sound echoing through the roomy caverns of the region. As the steps of the dwarf continued to make resounding noises throughout the otherwise empty-cavern, a pair of dwarven guards- fully armored and equipped wuth shining metal battle-axes, stood side by side. The miner slipped in between the two, who then immediately got into a defensive position to block the human's path.

"Halt, in the name of King Ivran!" they shouted simultaneously, their faces determined to stop their intruder at all costs.

@SadCubone

[Zombehs]

Adam shook his head at the two, denying the possibility of going to look for Luke. While it was human nature to stick together, the man had seemed quite troublesome and there was no way he was about to waste time on a search. “No point wasting energy on that. We’re going to need every bit until we can find a water source, but if you want to go then feel free.” He opened his hand at that, giving Rae the option of leaving in search of Luke if she wanted to, and turned to walk in his original intended direction.

It wasn’t more than a minute after that Adam glanced at those that had chosen to head towards the rising sun. “So any of you have skills that might be helpful in our situation? Served a bit, so I’ve got the basics, but I want to know what jobs you guys can do.” Hopefully at least one of the others had some relevant survival training or experience, but Adam wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out he needed to give pointers and instructions after the group had found a suitable camp spot.

@PKMNB0Y@VitaVitaAR@Tokki@WeepingLiberty

[SadCubone]

-----
The dwarf, who had immediately turned tail and started running (if it could even be called that) through the underground mine, was scared stiff when he glanced over his shoulder and noticed the burly human following close behind him.

"Help! Help! Human in the mine!" the dwarf shouted out, the sound echoing through the roomy caverns of the region. As the steps of the dwarf continued to make resounding noises throughout the otherwise empty-cavern, a pair of dwarven guards- fully armored and equipped wuth shining metal battle-axes, stood side by side. The miner slipped in between the two, who then immediately got into a defensive position to block the human's path.

"Halt, in the name of King Ivran!" they shouted simultaneously, their faces determined to stop their intruder at all costs.

@SadCubone

@PKMNB0Y

Luke stopped. He was out numbered and out weapon-ed, so he dropped to his knees and put his hands on his head. "Look I surrender ok? I didn't mean to intrude on this hear mine I was just wondering around and fell in." Luke never felt so weak. Weak. His stomach began to curl and hurt again. "Now if yall can please be so kind as to show me where a bathroom is or like a doctor is, I think I may be coming down with some sort of sickness." Luke was hoping that plea would work, they seemed like tough fellas but maybe they would help a pour man in need? Emphases on the maybe.