theskyaccepts: (vongola tenth)
Tsunayoshi Sawada ([personal profile] theskyaccepts) wrote in [community profile] expiationlogs2024-07-02 07:39 pm

I've Been Through the Desert on a Horse with No Name

Who: Tsuna and you!
Where: In the Desert
What: To complete his sentencing, Tsuna has led an expedition out into the desert to find the ruins of Tresed, and see if anything has changed Last time
Warnings: Risk of injury and possible death, hallucinations, monsters. Additional warnings to be added if needed.
OOC Notes:
-You do not need to have responded to the OOC Interest Check or the IC Interest Check to join in. Please feel free to dive right in!
-Timeline wise, ICly the expedition will return prior to the 15th so that we're all back for the event, but please don't feel you have to rush anything
-On a more personal note, while there is a risk of death with this expedition and if that's a direction you're interested in going for please do, I would also like to keep the body count to a minimum if possible. The ramifications of leading a bunch of people to their deaths is not necessarily something I want to play out with Tsuna at this time. Thank you!



The Expedition and Scouting Parties

The thing about deserts is that they are harsh environments. Unforgiving, some might say. The sun beating down, the wind whipping sand, the sound of monsters making their way through the desert. It's not the kind of place anyone would really want to go into, and yet, Tsuna is determined. Whether it is the effects of his sentencing or his own backbone finally making itself known, he has led this group into the desert for answers. It's not easy, and it weighs on him, but his face is set as he sends out small scouting parties, consulting maps and other information that he has, hoping to find the ruins of Tresed.

Sandstorms are prevalent in the area, so small scouting parties are being sent out to try and find some paths through it. Going out too far runs the risk of getting lost, injury, or potentially death. There are some monsters about, but they also have to contend with the storm.


The Oasis

But eventually, relief comes. An Oasis is discovered with clean, fresh water and edible vegetation. A respite from the harsh winds of the sandstorm. It's a chance to catch their breath and consolidate what they have learned so far. But as is so often the case in this world, things are quick to go awry. Mirages, of course, a key part of any desert expedition, start to appear. Images from that previous trip out to the ruins.

If you were on that previous trip to the desert, you've seen these images before but something about them seems off, wrong, not quite right. Warped, some might say.

If this is all new to you, you're seeing something that's happened before. But if it is wrong or right, who's to say?

But it might not matter if you've been in the desert before or not, because this vision is from the perspective of one of the Shadow Creatures that attacked before, and were ultimately killed. It comes with feelings of aching hunger, despair, and mindless fear in those final moments.

Or maybe it isn't an image of the desert at all. Maybe it's something far more familiar. An image of home, in the past, the present, or the future.

The Message and Returning Home

A message appears on the Chosen's tablets. Text, barely legible but undeniably a message:

FIND ME

But despite searching, and Tsuna will want to be thorough, the source will not be found, and they will be unable to trace it.

It's not much, but it is something. And they can return to Aldrip with that knowledge. One thing is clear though. They are not done with the desert yet.
grappler: ([101])

[personal profile] grappler 2024-07-07 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
Huh. I'd never been in a desert before the last time I came to Tresed.

[everyone's worlds were so drastically different...]

We just lived in one whole stinking city.
nilhilistic: (09)

[personal profile] nilhilistic 2024-07-07 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
Elyos had many climes. Rich fields, rough terrains, cold mountains in the north. Islands and volcanos. It is a fertile place.

[ he absorbs that statement with a hum. ]

That seems like a difficult way to live.

Was there no way to leave?
grappler: ([113])

[personal profile] grappler 2024-07-08 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow... maybe the world outside the city has that, but I hadn't seen it.

[she purses her lips a little bit, and there's a bit of an edge to her voice. it's unintentionally directed at him... and she shoves her hands in her pockets.]

That'd require money. It'd also require all the people I care about ditching their homes... so no, not really.
nilhilistic: (57)

[personal profile] nilhilistic 2024-07-09 12:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ ah, of course. human lives. human security. he cannot fault them for that. ]

Perhaps in a time of peace, you will have a chance to travel.
grappler: ([31])

[personal profile] grappler 2024-07-14 02:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[she snorts.]

Peace is never going to happen.

[anyway. the matter at hand.]

Let's see if there's anything we can pick up from this place. Doesn't look like we're going to be able to go any further.
nilhilistic: (47)

[personal profile] nilhilistic 2024-07-15 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ hm. ]

Careful. Such things have a way of becoming the only truth.

[ he's found enough wars and battles to know how exhausting it can become. ]

But fine. What should we look for?
grappler: ([98])

[personal profile] grappler 2024-07-21 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
[she shrugs, then starts to kick the sand.]

Not sure. Cait's usually the one who investigates this stuff.

[and she's nerding out somewhere else... or whatever.]

I'd probably look to see if there's anything out of place, first.
nilhilistic: (52)

[personal profile] nilhilistic 2024-07-21 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ hm. in a desert . . . ]

Anything that hasn't been eroded by wind and sand would stand out. Any kind of architecture. Possible oasis and greenery might yield something too.
grappler: ([13])

[personal profile] grappler 2024-07-23 04:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[she nods, and then starts to walk around, glancing at her surroundings. she'd never been in an oasis before anyway... so what is she even looking for?]

We didn't come out here last time we went to the desert. Some fairies or something ripped a hole out so we could go straight to Tresed. Maybe because they knew even then that the desert was fucked up.
nilhilistic: (47)

[personal profile] nilhilistic 2024-07-24 02:12 am (UTC)(link)
If they feel that way, I suppose it bodes well for our expedition.

[ he bends down, pressing his palm against the sand. after a moment, he pulls away. ]

I don't sense any dead.
grappler: ([69])

[personal profile] grappler 2024-07-30 12:51 am (UTC)(link)
Last time they weren't buried.

[there's a long silence before she adds context to that, looking at some plants and pawing through the brush as if there's going to be something there.]

They were walking around and wrong.
nilhilistic: (07)

[personal profile] nilhilistic 2024-07-30 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
Were they now.

[ he seems bemused. an entity, copying the power of a fell dragon? his fingers itch to match his strength against theirs. ]

Well. It does not appear they lingered here. Or I would know.
grappler: ([16])

[personal profile] grappler 2024-08-03 01:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, looks like it's a dead end besides it just being a break from the sand. At least, so far.

[again, not like she's an expert on this sort of thing. that's all Caitlyn.]
nilhilistic: (82)

[personal profile] nilhilistic 2024-08-04 12:29 am (UTC)(link)
That's fine. A dead end simply means there's nothing to pursue here. It cuts off as a possibility.