forum Drawn to the Valley - Character Chat - Always Open

Started March 31, 2020 by @Mojack group

tune

"I'm Akira." Akira looked back at the girl, a soft smile on her face. "You?"

"Elara," she responded. Sighing, she added, "I just hope we aren't stuck out here forever. I don't want to die out here. Well I mean, I wouldn't mind you being with me when I die, but, you know- this isn't what I would want to die on. An unknown place where no-one can find me? The worst-"

"Uh, my name is Jordan," he said, joining their conversation. "And to answer your question, 'what is this place,' I don't know, but-" Jordan pointed to Dewey. "I think he does."

Conner kicked a small stone out from between his sandalled toes and nodded. Taking another look at the bottom of the…whatever it was, he heaved a sigh and headed down, following Caesar.

After taking a couple steps, he glanced back at Conner. Noticing what he was looking at, Caesar leaned to take a quick look before getting shivers. He wondered what was at the bottom, a portal or just an abyss of darkness? Whatever it was, he didn't want to be the one falling into the unknown, so he kept walking.

Caesar keep his eyes forward while walking. His shoulders stood up as his pacing slowed down a bit. He purposefully started to take small steps so he wasn't ahead. Glancing down at the ground, all he could see well were his shoes. His mind swirled with words yet he bit the inside of his cheek; the silence that hung in the night bothered him. When they were close, he stopped while looking over at Conner,"Here."

Ava stood to the side and listened to others instead of joining in on conversations. She took out her phone but it was completely dead. Not that she really knew how to use the GPS on it or even really use the phone herself. She wasn't great at talking to people so she just stayed there.

Akira nodded, walking over to the person that Jordan had pointed to.
"I was told that-that you know what this place is," she said.

Dewey, arms still folded, stopped looking at the sky and went to looking at Akira. “Well, I do know what it was. It was owned by the government a few years back, but they discovered better areas and thus abandoned this..place.”

"Is it… safe?" Jordan asked. He couldn't tell what it was about this place, but he wanted to know more. He wanted to explore it.

"What were they using it for?" Elara questioned. But she remembered that they were also stuck in the middle of nowhere, and quickly added, "Oh, nevermind- it's a silly question…"

Akira shuddered. "To be honest, I don't want to know the answer."

“As far as I’m aware, all of what you can see right here is completely safe - aside from your regular hazards, like falling and sharp stuff.” Dewey gestured outwards. “And it’s not a silly question - in fact, the answer to it is relatively simple!”

He took a step back, pointing to himself. “The answer..is standing right in front of you all.”

"…what?" Elara asked, confused. "What do you mean? I'm so confused!"

Though his expression nor face was not visible, he was quite expressive in terms of gestures. “Well, what I mean is like - the government tested weapons here a long time ago. And vehicles. And vehicles with weapons on them. And sometimes, being the test subject for that is..risky work, get what I’m saying? The point is, humans are incredibly fragile and only have one life.”

Dewey gestured to himself with one finger again. “What I’m saying here, is that you need someone to test those things who doesn’t have one life, someone who just keeps coming back. And that, my friends, is me. The name’s Dewey, by the way.”

Jordan started at him, dumbfounded. "You're immortal," he said, more as a statement than a question. "Is that the right word?"

Dewey almost seemed to move to speak again, but paused. After a few seconds in thought, he answered. “In a way, I suppose I am immortal. I can still die…just not permanently.”

"So," Akira began, "If you die… you come back to life? That's…" Akira tilted her head. "Odd."

Conner noticed that Caesar had slowed down, and squinted to see the group of others, which they were gaining on. Once he caught up, he asked, "So, uh, this is it, huh?" His heart felt for some reason like it was pounding in his throat. There was something off about this place that put knots in his stomach.

In response to Dewey's answer, Elara started, "So like a phoenix?"

To her that's what it seemed like- a phoenix, but a human, and probably no ashes?

“Mm, sort of?” Dewey considered it. “It’s like, I ‘pop’ back into existence shortly after ‘dying.’ Completely unharmed and just as I was pre-death.” He went back to folding his arms.

“So yes, I think a Phoenix is close to that.”

Digging his heel into the dirt, Caesar kept his focus at the other people a few space away. He wondered if he strolled over at the wrong time. Abandoned? Government? Immortal? Personally, Caesar felt like what he just heard is more perplexing compared to everything else around them.

He noticed Conner then gave him a quick glance. Looking over, he noticed a worried look on Conner's face. "It appears so.", he nodded before patting Conner,"You'll be fine, it's not like there's some dangerous deity dragging us in for some reason." Caesar leaned close to whisper something else but just kept glancing over at Dewey. His lips pursed while he lightly shook his head, there's more to wherever they are; there's got to be.

Jordan raised his eyebrows, impressed. "That's… amazing," he breathed. "Can- can we go in there? In the valley?"
He wasn't quite sure why he wanted to go so badly, but he knew he had to. He had forgotten all about his home, the run he was supposed to be on, and focused solely on the canyon in front of him.

“Of course- I’d just recommend staying away from any caves if you see anything. Not that there’s anyone in there.. it’s more like, they’re kind of like a maze once you wind up inside one of them.” He took a step back, gesturing towards the overall valley. “Feel free to ask me any questions..think of me as a…tour..tour guide!”

"Will the trip be too physically straining?" Elara wanted to go with them, but she couldn't risk making things worse- she was already starting to get tremors every now and then in her left hand.