|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2025 9:24 am
Quote: Vaclaytion (9) : With rain brings mud, which on its own isn’t particularly worrisome in a place like Destiny City. Unless you find a strange, thick, mud puddle in a fairly odd place. On the surface, it seems pretty straight forward–it’s a dirty brown, clay-like sludge that smells like earth. It just acts like something else. Step too close, and it moves. It grabs. Out of the puddles and patches of dark clay, a near-human shape unfurls and reaches an arm-like appendage out for the nearest living creature. With impossible strength, it can pull anyone into its mucky form. A hard clay shell immediately begins to form, capable of fully encasing someone in a matter of seconds. People have been found fully trapped. The only way to break out is for someone to chip away the clay, to somehow manage enough force to break it from the inside, or to pray a hard rain will soften it up enough for you to escape. It’s a wonder no one has suffocated yet. No one seems to remember what happened clearly–or if they do, it’s too impossible to believe. Ultimately, it’s a horrible experience; even if your skin feels oddly refreshed, this is the worst mud bath you’ll ever have.
Well, Saiph thought, this was new. There was something that, from a distance, looked like a mud puddle sitting in the middle of the path into the park. But nothing else looked wet or muddy, so it wasn't the sprinkler systems acting up. It hadn't rained recently. So how was there a mud puddle? Moving closer, she puzzled things out. Now, someone could have spilled something and not bothered to clean it up. That was more common than the city probably liked to admit. And now that she was a few feet away, she could smell the faint, earthy scent of mud.
The more she considered it, the more she believed that someone had done something rude like spilling melted ice out of a cooler without a care. Annoying, but not something that she needed to worry too much about. Snorting a little, she felt a tickle at the back of her brain that she recognized as another Order type being nearby. Maybe she'd be able to talk to them? Feeling cheered by the prospect, she hurried past the mud puddle, only pausing when instinct started shrieking in her head. Turning slightly, she saw the mud rising up in an almost people shaped form. Screaming as arm like appendages seized her, Saiph fought to get away. But the mud was inexorable. She was pulled closer and she felt mud creeping up her legs. She screamed again as the mud began to crawl up her torso.
Oh, this was such bullshit, she thought.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2025 4:03 pm
Tianyi had hoped to have a quiet night, inasmuch as those existed in Destiny City. It was easy to find himself a park bench and enjoy the change of seasons, take in the beautiful riot of colors that the leaves had become. Even if some of the plants were dying, it was still....beautiful, in its way.
The calm was shattered with a scream.
For a moment, Tianyi wasn't entirely sure it was real--he slept so little, and sometimes he thought he heard--
But it came again, and he was sure this time that it had to be someone, and so he leapt off his bench and ran in the direction of the cries, heart pounding.
It was terrifying to hear, and he felt something twist in his chest.
Jet had told him he needed to choose. If someone was in danger--would he be able to fight? Or would fear prevent him from doing anything at all?
At least, when he found he source of the screams, it wasn't the sort of thing he needed to think much about. A fellow Senshi, strange mud crawling up her leg--he reached out.
"Here, take my hands, we can pull you away!"
He was supposed to be stronger now, wasn't he? So he just had to try and help.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2025 8:25 am
Desperately trying to kick and thrash her way out, Saiph felt panic press down on her chest at the realization that the mud was already hardening around her legs and torso. And it was still moving, trying to cover the rest of her. The sense of another powered signature nearby barely registered until suddenly, a yellow and pink senshi was in front of her, urging her to take their hands. Eyes wide with panic, she reached one hand latching on and squeezing. Her other hand was already stuck and though the mud around it hadn’t hardened yet, she couldn’t pull free. “Just pull,” she whispered, fear palpable in her voice. “Don’t worry about hurting me.” She didn’t particularly enjoy the thought of being pulled and possibly having joints dislocated, but when the alternative was drowning in mud, well. Just call her Limbless McGee!
“Please hurry,” she said, voice barely audible as she felt a thread of mud crawling up her spine. She squeezed the hand she held once more and tried to smile reassuringly at her potential rescuer, though the expression came out as more of a rictus than anything. Closing her eyes, because she didn’t really enjoy the thought of watching herself be encased in weird mud, Saiph began to silently pray. She wasn’t sure who to. She wasn’t really picky at the moment. She just wanted to get away from the mud and she didn;t want the other senshi to get caught either.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2025 1:49 pm
It was honestly a little scary, seeing the mud growing, and Tianyi wondered, briefly, if he was also in danger--but that didn't matter, did it? There was someone here in front of him that desperately needed help, and Tianyi desperately wanted to help them.
So he wrapped both of his hands around her arm, set his feet, and pulled. Pulled as hard as he could, putting all his Senshi strength into fighting against the mud that threatened to consume her. With enough force, he hoped, they could break her free, and then--well, and then they could figure things out.
"It's gonna be okay, I've got you," he said, even if he didn't know it was true. Sometimes you had to lie a little to make yourself believe the truth, he supposed. Because he needed this to be okay. He needed to be able to save one person, or...
Or maybe he was useless after all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2025 3:22 pm
It turned out that having your arm pulled while being encased in hard mud really ******** hurt! But she didn’t say anything, not when the other senshi looked as desperate to get her out as she was to get out. And even if she didn’t believe in his words, the sound of them was immensely comforting. She’d been ready to give herself up for lost when the mud made its way up her chest and hardened. But then, she felt something give.
She moved.
It was only a tiny bit, but she knew she hadn’t imagined it. Glancing with wide eyes at her rescuer, she wondered if he’d felt it too. An experimental wriggle proved she wasn’t crazy and she began to struggle again, doing her best to work with the other senshi’s pulling. “I think it’s working,” she whispered harshly. “I can feel give!” Sure, she was stuck in hardened muck, but she could still see and hear and breathe. That counted for a lot. “Punch or kick if you think you need to,” she offered suddenly, thinking about the tiny spot where she’d felt the mud loosen. “Ah, around chest height or so… Please don’t give up!”
This last entreaty came moments before the mud covered her face, leaving only her arm free.
Nori Songbird feel free to have him yank her out! smile apparently i delight in giving my children new traumas lol
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2025 6:02 pm
He wasn't fast enough to stop it from covering her face. But it seemed like they were making progress, and he could see cracks around where she indicated, so--keeping his hands on her arm, Tianyi shifted his weight to balance on one foot and kick at the area she'd indicated.
It was stupid. He was not very strong. But he was very determined, and as the clay started to give, he shifted once again to a hard yank--
The clay cracked, and he stumbled backwards, keeping his grip on her arm as he fell. No reason to assume that everything was alright until he was sure she was free, but sprawling out on the ground together did sort of suggest it, when he landed and finally let go.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry if I hurt you." But they both knew it had been necessary, so...maybe it was okay.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2025 6:20 pm
For a moment, Saiph had been convinced that she was going to die, asphyxiating in hardened mud. Then, she felt the mud around her shuddering under what had to be repeated blows. Around the point that she wasn't sure that she could hold her breath any longer, she felt a tremendous yank on her arm, forcing the mud around her to give way as she fell forward.
she hit the ground sprawled beside the other senshi, who she only now noticed had small horns and cute goat-like ears. Coughing and sucking in clean air, Saiph managed a thumbs up and a weak smile. Once she felt a little steadier, she reached out for the senshi's hand and squeezing in gratitude.
"Thank you," she rasped, brain skittering away from just how close she'd come to shuffling off the mortal coil. "Thank you!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2025 6:28 pm
Tianyi let out a breath. They'd managed to get her out, and at least she seemed to be no worse for the wear.
"Good, I'm glad," he said, reaching over to squeeze her hand back. "I suppose that means I should definitely watch out for any mystery mud puddles. Goodness, that was harrowing. More for you than for me, I suspect."
He pushed himself up to sit. "Maybe we can stick together for a little bit? Just to make sure nothing else messy happens tonight."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2025 6:34 pm
"I would like that a lot," she replied simply. Glancing to where the mud had been, it seemed to have vanished. But just because it was gone didn't mean it was forgotten. The idea of being by herself while still processing everything was horrifying... "But, maybe we can just sit somewhere quiet and hag out? Please?"
Sitting up a little straighter, she managed to lever herself back up onto her feet. "Or maybe I can get you a coffee or a cocoa? I know there's a cart nearby. My treat. It's really the least I can do for you."
The cold knot in her gut was beginning to loosen up. Just the prospect of sitting quietly with company... It was better for her than anything else right now.
"My name is Saiph, by the way. How long have you been on Earth?" Simple, quiet conversation and company. That was all she needed right now. She'd worrying about senshi-ing later.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
