🏝️ dulces sueños group excursion! 🏝️

[hearthwarming]

🏝️ who: intrepid adventurers (vacationers?) and more!
🏝️ what: ori organized (origanized?) a group trip to the resort! mass memshare ensues.
🏝️ when: fall 9-10
🏝️ where: dulces sueños resort
🏝️ warnings: threads will be marked as needed for memshares.

[ Hopefully everyone had fun on the Arco Lunar! The morning after the boat departs from the docks, a letter arrives to your mailbox: ]

Hello, intrepid adventurer!

I am excited to have you along for a group excursion to the mysterious new island! In two days' time, let us gather in the town square and set off from there! Please be prepared to stay the night. It will be so fulfilling and memorable for everyone to spend a night on an adventure together!

If you have any questions or concerns, please come find me at my flower shop in town or at the forest farm where I live!

Sincerely,
Oriphi

[ If she accidentally delivered it to a few wrong mailboxes, then... Oops!

On the promised day, once everyone (and likely a few surprise tag-alongs) has gathered or been gathered, Ori distributes little paper bags of snacks to everyone. Inside are cookies, oat snacks, and a freshly-picked apple from her and M-21's orchard. Do with them as you please... Just don't let her catch you throwing it into the sea or something. 🥺 ]

Alright. I think we should head out, then! Thanks for coming along, everyone! I hope it'll be a great time. Oh, and please don't forget to drink plenty of water and use this incredible ointment I discovered on this island! It's called "sunscreen!" Tieflings don't really get sunburnt, but you should use it!

[ And with that our intrepid adventurers set off to the mysterious, dangerous, unknowable... resort island! ]

( This is the ill-fated mass extinction memshare event. Please refer to the event for details on the resort and the plotting post for any specific details for characters' memshares! There are toplevels for each area of the resort (and for the memshare). Enjoy! )

Comments

[bluminescence]

[ His chin lifts higher, as if it might assist him in looking taller. It only serves to highlight the contrast between his baby face and the muscle forced on his frame when he puffs up his chest a little too. Far too much like his brother.

But little Kaspar hesitates, unsure why some stranger would even care at all. He still believes his canned response more than the slight quiver of his lip lets on. ]

I am ready for any fight. Any trial.

[ Then quieter, with a stray glance down the path, he whispers his childlike confusion at Steinbeck's existence. His eyes narrow at Steinbeck when they snap back to him. It is hard to look threatening with such a cute face. ]

... what's your rank?

[ Tall means military to him, but he isn't wearing any markings he recognizes. Yet the man hasn't corrected him or acted in the ways he expects, making the boy nervous.

It still feels like a trick. ]

[graftage]

Of course.

[He knew that already - he could feel that already, scars and all, on a body much older. Kaspar has had his fair share of trials. He wants to spare him from unnecessary ones.]

[He watches as the young boy glances up at him with familiar eyes, his heart softening at it in a way that only an older sibling can feel.]

Me? I'm really, uh, quite average, I suppose. [He scratches the side of his neck, bashfully.] Look. Regardless of rank, I wanted to check on you.

[bluminescence]

[ Kaspar is silent a moment, like he isn't sure how he is supposed to react. But ultimately, he doesn't read anything disingenuous in Steinbeck's behavior. He really wanted to check on him? Without resting or prodding or judgment in his eyes? Kaspar doesn't think of it this way, but it all swells into a gut feeling that has him blink. He relaxes his stance. Optimism and trust are difficult weeds to root out.

He finds the man strange, in a good way. And so, in stark contrast to his puffed chest, Kaspar lets out a genuine little laugh, almost a giggle. It is a brief moment where Kaspar seems his age. Just before the sounds of the crowd snatch it away again.

With a deep breath, he steadies his fists and begins his overly proud walk towards the end of the hall. ]

[graftage]

[He can't help it. He lets out a little huff of a laugh in reply, like a sent message in reply to a letter. Kaspar always makes him smile, it seems, no matter the time or place.]

[But it seems they can't stay here for long, and that damned older brother is still around, too. Can't forget about him - Steinbeck moves to follow, quietly, eyes flitting between the young boy and the hall up ahead.]

...Is there an assembly?

[bluminescence]

[ Kaspar shakes his head, walking on toward the room that open up in front of them. Before reaching the end of the hall, he answers quietly. ]

Placements.

[ He doesn't break his pace. Large and round, this entrance splits off three ways.
One forward into the arena filled with other children Kaspar's age dressed simarly in simple white. Scattered along the edges are men in white, stretchers already leaning against the stone walls. To the left and the right, steps lead to a tiered viewing area that spans the whole circle of the room.

Across the way, Aksel stands with a woman who shares his red eyes. Two cadets let Kaspar step down into the arena, but they are clearly there to stop anyone from interfering in this event. ]