graveyardsmash | TEST DRIVE MEME

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TEST DRIVE MEME

TEST DRIVE MEME: JANUARY

Welcome to the Ryslig Test Drive Meme! Below are a few prompts to get you started, but you may make up any prompt you desire! Please take a look at the navigation page for rules, setting information, and links to reserves and apps. Have fun!

SCENARIO ONE

You wake up on the beach thoroughly drenched with your mouth full of sand. The salt water causes various cuts and scrapes on your skin to sting and the sand isn't helping. The air is slightly humid, ruining any feeling of refreshment you might have gotten from your dip in the ocean. There are lights in the distance but the unfriendly scent of gunpowder fills the air. If you're lucky, you're alone. If not, you might find yourself staring up into a pair of monstrous eyes or down the barrel of a local's shotgun.

SCENARIO TWO

So you've just arrived, and already SOME the natives are trying to get on your good side. Offers of food, shelter and other luxuries in return for hoping you don't eat them. They even have some helpful pamphlets to share with you. "How To Deal With Changes", "Alternatives to Human Flesh", "What to Expect When You're Expecting (to turn into a monster)" are all great pamphlets. There's even some detailing certain monsters, and the changes they go through. Some of these seem to have been passed down from one monster to the next.

Among these however, are some... not so helpful ones. "Bunnyipyips And You", "Axe Thief Axehounds," and "So you're becoming a Fur Bearing Trout" among others. Sometimes they have marks on them from previous people who had them saying they are lies, or pointing out good "jokes." Then there's the people who aren't happy to see you at all. Glares and silent, judging stares if you're lucky. Torches and pitchforks attempting to drive you out of the town if you're not. You may need a friend to help you.

SCENARIO THREE

"Seek us out," the voice whispers in your head, and before you have time to question it you've found yourself in someplace entirely alien. Maybe it's the Fog God's ghostly town of Dyster, where exultant followers dance around bonfires and sing their praises to the skies above. Maybe it's the Fourth God's arcade, with small robots wheeling about amidst the lights and colors of old pinball machines. Only one thing is certain: you are not alone, in this sacred place.

SCENARIO FOUR

The time has come and you've found yourself becoming a monster. Is the change instant, or gradual? Are you familiar enough with monsters to know what's happening, or is it a complete shock? NOTE: Feel free to pick any monster type for this prompt, but note that you may not get the same one in game.

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[Dia isn't the only one who feels like this might be a dream...but where she thinks it's a dream, others are parsing it as a full-blown nightmare.

Falling on her face into the sand isn't...uncommon, exactly, but usually Ruby would remember doing that. She'd especially remember falling into the ocean, so waking up wet and sandy hasn't at all been her idea of a good time. Everything else, though...god, it's terrifying. The area looks like a scene right out of the start of a horror film (okay it's not THAT bad but it might as well be), and there are people flocked everywhere along a beach she doesn't recognize. It's definitely not Uchiura, and the more this sinks in, the closer Ruby gets to a panic-induced break down.

Before she can sit back in the sand and burst into tears, though, she hears a familiar voice calling- almost barking- to someone not far from where she is. It causes her to scramble shakily to her feet, calling out with a voice that breaks and thins into a barely audible squeak-]

O-Oneechaaan!!

[HELP]

[ Dia freezes. It's one thing to hear a familiar voice here but it's quite another to hear that one. She's still chilled to the bone but hearing Ruby calling out in such a frightened voice makes something ignite right in the bottom of her stomach. Abandoning her trek towards the lights, Dia goes rocketing across the sand in search of just where that voice had come from.

It doesn't matter if Dia's scared too. What matters is that Ruby is here and Dia needs to make sure she's okay. ]

Ruby! [ she barks out again, her voice steady and authoritative. certainly not afraid. she can't really afford to be afraid if Ruby's here. ] Where are you? Are you hurt?

Ah!

[Okay, yes, she's definitely not hearing things. That's Dia's voice, and she's...somewhere. Before she even spots her, Ruby darts across the sand, letting out a muffled shriek half behind the edge of her hands when she nearly runs into a looming local holding a shotgun in his arms oh no no no-]

Eeeeaaaahhh!!

[RUNNING, SO RUNNING-

Dia will feel a small impact into her side as Ruby all but barrels into her, and for a moment she doesn't even realize it's Dia that she's found. But when she pulls back enough to look up at her, Ruby immediately throws her arms around her waist, shaking like a leaf.]

[ Dia's so on edge that she can't help but yelp when she feels something collide with her -- in fact she almost shoves... whatever it is away. But that her brain catches up with her and she realizes the trembling little thing clinging on is her sister and just some of that tension melts away. She flings her arms around Ruby, tight enough that it almost seems she's afraid someone might steal the girl away if she lets go. ]

You're soaked to the skin...! [ As if Dia herself isn't also uncomfortably damp. ] You must be freezing -- but you're not hurt, are you?

I-I-I'm...I'm n-not hurt.

[She stops herself from saying she's okay, because she's certainly not okay. She's a little less terrified now that she's with Dia, but only just. She's shaking violently though, both from being scared and cold.

Ruby grips tightly at Dia's clothes as she looks briefly out over the sand again before quickly hiding her face against her chest, her voice muffled when she speaks.]

Where...are we?

[ Dia pulls her in closer, as close as she can get without just smothering the girl against her chest. It's as much for her own comfort as it is Ruby's. She needs a reminder that she's not on her own here and Dia's not quite sure she'd be able to hold it together quite as well as she is if it wasn't for Ruby's presence. ]

I'm... I'm not sure. This doesn't look like Uchiura but we can't rule out the possibility quite yet.

[ An ominous silence stretches out after those words, filled only by the gentle roar of the ocean. At any other times it would be a comforting noise but now it only serves to make Dia's skin crawl. ]

I think for now... we need to get out of the cold most of all. We're both soaked to the skin. If we stay out here much longer then we'll come down with terrible colds.

[ That and... Dia doesn't trust this darkness. It seems childish to be so afraid of the dark but anything could be hiding here along the beach where she and Ruby are standing. Anything could be watching, waiting for a moment of weakness.

The hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she tells herself it's paranoia. ]

Mm...

[Getting indoors somewhere sounds like a good idea to Ruby. She'd like to be outside as little as possible...especially in an unfamiliar seeming place like this. The strangers around don't seem all that friendly, either...she can hear people shouting in the distance, and it just makes her sidle closer to Dia.

Except...]

W...where should we go?

[ Another pause. She doesn't want to say "I don't know" again. This is a scary enough situation without confessing that she's just as clueless as Ruby is. If she can convince both of them that she has an idea of what to do then maybe this won't seem quite as terrifying. She takes a quick breath to steady herself and gives Ruby a gentle squeeze. ]

There's some lights not too far from here. I'm positive we must be close to a town of some kind. Once we're there, we should be able to talk to somebody about getting ourselves cleaned up and getting this all straightened out.

[ She leans back a little, just enough for Ruby to see the smile Dia forces onto her face. She really doesn't feel like smiling but she hopes it'll do something to inject a bit more conviction into her words. ]

It'll just be some sort of misunderstanding. We'll be home and dry in no time.

[Ruby has seen Dia's forced smiles before; she knows well what they're like. But she can't expect her to be at all happy about this, so of course her expression would be tense. All that matters to her right now is the reassurance. That alone makes her feel a little better, especially when she knows that Dia can handle this situation a lot better than Ruby ever could. She wouldn't even be able to make it through trying to ask someone else for help, shyness having nothing to do with it at this point given how intimidating literally everyone here is.

She does her best to relax her grip a bit on Dia so she's not hanging off of her so much, releasing one of her hands so she can wipe sand off of her face. It's all caught up in her pigtails too, but that can be dealt with later.]

Okay...s-someone will help us. Maybe Hanamaru-chan or Yoshiko-chan...o-or someone else is here too.

[It's a stretch, but not impossible if they both wound up here somehow.

But thinking about that just makes her expression grow concerned again as she looks back up at Dia.]

Ooh...should we look for them?

... For now, I think it might be best if we stick to heading for a bit of shelter.

[ She feels... all wrong saying it. If Yoshiko and Hanamaru -- if any of the others -- are here then by all means they should be finding each other and sticking together. Dia knows that. But what's forefront in her mind is the fact that she and Ruby are here seemingly alone and exposed with no protection whatsoever. The idea of leaving any of their friends behind makes Dia feel a little ill but... Ruby is her priority. It's not something she would be able to openly admit but she knows in her heart that she cares far more about guaranteeing Ruby's safety if not her immediate comfort than she does anything else right now. Including guaranteeing her own. ]

Those lights are very bright, aren't they? I'm sure if they're here, Hanamaru-san and Yoshiko-san will see them and have the same idea that we did. It'd be much better if we all met where it's warm and dry and safe than if we were wandering around on the beach in the dark and just missing each other.

Mm...you're right, onee-chan.

[She hadn't even thought about that, but there's a reason Dia is the older sister and Ruby isn't. After a moment, she decides to move so she's holding Dia's hand instead of holding onto her so it will be easier for them to both walk. She doesn't want to be stuck out on the sand any longer than she has to, not with everything that's going on right now.]

We should get going.

[ This is all wrong. Dia doesn't want to be here with her poor sodden sister clinging onto her hand. She wants to be home with nothing to worry about except school tomorrow and the mountain of paperwork sat on her desk in the student council meeting room. But she doesn't even think about letting any of that out. She just gives Ruby's hand a squeeze and starts to trudge along the sand again, picking her steps with care. ]

Careful you don't trip. Once we get into town, we'll find somewhere we can get cleaned up and -- you're not hurt, are you?

[ Dia herself is covered in what feels like a million tiny papercuts. It bears asking. ]

I'm...

[She starts to say "no", but now that she thinks about it...she is a little banged up, isn't she? She'd been so scared that she hadn't even realized.]

A l-little. Maybe I scraped myself on some rocks...

[If she was in the ocean for some bizarre reason, it would make sense, wouldn't it?]

... We'll both have to make sure to have a nice long bath once we're safe. We don't want sand and salt getting in any of those cuts. It's bad enough now, isn't it?

[ Just... keep talking about safety. About the eventuality, not the possibility, of a safe place. The less they think about the dark and the unfamiliar shoreline, the better.

At least, that's what Dia wants. But then a gunshot rings out through the darkness -- distant, but close enough to crack through the quiet and she freezes, her grip on Ruby's hand tightening to the point of pain. ]

... stay very quiet for a moment.

[WELL so much for just holding her hand.

Dia's going to be presented with the problem of Ruby suddenly darting behind her with her hand still held, both trying to hide and keep hold of her sister at the same time. No worries about her being quiet, she's turned hiding in plain sight into an art form.]

[ ... well. Really, that's to be expected.

And it's preferred, if Dia's honest. If Ruby's at her back then she has nothing to fear from someone who might pick a fight with Dia. And it might give her an extra few seconds to run, if need be.

She hates that this... wherever they are has unnerved her enough into thinking it's a possibility.

She squeezes Ruby's hand tight, keeping her ears pricked for anything that might suggest someone's approaching them. But the echoes die out and there isn't another shot following. Whatever they were aiming for... either they hit it, or it was too late to take another shot.

She swallows hard and then mutters in a soft but urgent voice. ]

Ruby. I think it'd be best if we moved as fast as we can.

[Ruby nods quickly. If she wasn't shaking from the cold before, she's definitely shaking thanks to fear now. She doesn't care who's doing the shooting or what the reason is, she just wants to be anywhere but here.

Lead the way, Dia. Your sister will be adhered to your side like superglue wherever you go.]

[ She doesn't bother with words now -- she just hurries across the sand with Ruby as quick as she dares. Every now and then her feet catch on an unruly bit of driftwood and she staggers but refuses to let herself trip. She doesn't dare risk going down when she's trying to guide Ruby along.

The lights are close enough to form the vague outline of a town when Dia speaks up again. It's nowhere she recognizes but... maybe, just maybe... ]

That... doesn't look like Numazu to you, does it?

[ please say yes. ]

[She wants to Dia, she really wants to...]

I...I don't recognize it, onee-chan.

... Alright.

[ It's not alright, really and Dia isn't trying to pretend it is but... that's not Ruby's fault. ]

We should go and introduce ourselves and see if we can find somewhere to stay.

[ ... despite saying this, she doesn't make a move to actually start heading to the town again. ]

[Ruby nods quickly, keeping her ears perked for any more strange noises. Gunshots...monsters...monsters aren't real, right?

Right.]

Mm! ...

[...]

W...who are we introducing ourselves to?

[ .......... that's a very good question and it's one that Dia doesn't presently have an answer to. It literally stalls her -- her face works for a moment like she's trying to settle on a good face to show Ruby before she forces another one of those plastic smiles. ]

The locals, of course. They should know what's going on and I'm sure they won't have a problem with helping us.

[ if she says it strenuously enough maybe it'll turn out to be true. ]

And who knows? The others might be there already wondering where we are.

[It's an actual miracle and a blessing that Dia is with Ruby today, because talking to strangers is Not a thing she can do yet. But what Dia says makes logical sense, and Ruby is willing to believe it if it will get them somewhere safe quicker.

She peers at the cityscape up ahead full of lights, and already she can see people scattered here and there from where they're standing. Some people are actually approaching others, handing them flyers and chattering at them, and that gets Ruby's attention right away.]

Look at that, onee-chan! They're helping those people!

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