Surviving Parum (a RP)

[Sord]

Aight, time to get this thing started. I realize this is very much a wall post, but it's the opening. I wouldn't expect this much from anyone (or myself) again. If people want to backtrack to give their viewpoint of the fall, that's fine. Or you can just start where I left off. Again, you do not have to write the way I do, however you feel comfortable writing is fine so long as it's legible.

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Being jarringly awoken during a nap is such a joy kill. I opened my eyes, groggily letting the harsh lights in the transport shuttle invade my sight as my mind fought to come to terms with where I was again. Looking out the window I could see the rolling green hills of Parum's terraformed landscape passing below me as the ship flew through the atmosphere. It was spring, and plants were in full bloom. Flowers coloring the fields with pretty whites, pinks and purples even from this high up. The occasional cluster of trees dotting the fields and standing tall with their bright new green leaves.

On the other side of me was the passenger aisle, rows of seats lining it, filled with all sorts of humans, beasts and casts (not to mention the mixed smell of sweat and grease, each emanating from their respective mass of people, living or mechanical.) I was in a standard airfare cabin, white everywhere with plush grey seats and a red stripe of carpet cutting down the aisle. A window in every row, "for your viewing pleasure." Bah.

That's right, vacation, thank god my time for it was here. I was finally getting out of that butcher shop back on Moatoob, first vacation since I started working there at twenty-two. Fuckin long overdue if you ask me. Beasts love meat though, any way you cut, cured, and spiced it. It was an honest enough living. Rick the butcher, 's'what they called me, didn't fancy it much though on account of it sounding like I was a serial killer. Was great to be able to wear a black shirt and blue jeans with the knowledge I wouldn't be putting a smock over it to be covered in blood.

Like a robot, I can't help but reach up to my cap, pulling it down close to my head like every other time I'm in public. Nearly thirty-six and already balding, Christ. 'Course, I suppose I shouldn't feel too bad in comparison to the bugger sitting across the aisle from me. Creepy looking pale Newman, must be an albino, has to be with skin as pale as a ghost and the long shaggy hair. Normally I wouldn't stare, but in addition to that disturbing hue of skin was an eye-patch covering the socket facing me, so it's not like she could tell I was looking (I hope.) I have to wonder what kind of dating life someone like that leads, if at all. What type of person would love to see those kinds of features in a girl? Suppose I shouldn't talk though, I'm not winning anyone over with my age, inattention to facial hair and a beer gut.

The ship shook again, much heavier this time than the one that woke me up. A pleasing female voice rings in over the intercom, telling everyone not to worry, we're just experiencing turbulence as we enter a front. Sure enough clouds quickly cover the window, and the surface below us becomes obscured as the clouds engulf us. The cabin dims as the sun light is stolen by the clouds and only the interior artificial light remains. Time for another nap.

This time, waking up is far, far more frightening. The ship makes a quick jerk, lifting me off my seat for a few brief milliseconds to slam me back into it, waking me up. The whole ship begins rattling, shaking, people start screaming. The emergency intercom comes on, telling people to buckle if they haven't and don't panic. Breathers drop and we're instructed to put them on. I don't. Looking out the window the clouds quickly seem to fly up, and when I see the surface of the planet, realization hits me. Those clouds didn't move up, we're moving down, fast. Oh fuck, fuck fuck fuck. WHY IS THE GROUND MOVING UP SO FAST. WHY IS THE GROUND THAT STEEP? IS THAT A GOD DAMN MOUTAIN? FUCK HERE IT COMES, SHI-

The loudest noise I have ever heard goes off in my ears like ten thousand tons of dynamite detonating on my ear drum. The whole front end of the transport quickly accordions up, crushing against the earth. The wall of metal being pushed back into the shuttle comes rushing up the aisle towards me before coming to a halt a few rows up. Had I been ten seats further ahead I would have been dead in that moment. It didn't pay to be in first class that day.

Immediately following the impact I felt the back end of the transport drop itself against the ground, slamming me so hard I could feel it through my whole spine. A large grumble followed, as the shuttle started to slide backwards. FUCK, WE ARE SLIDING DOWN A GOD DAMN MOUNTAIN.

Had the emergency seatbelts not auto-locked around my chest I would have slammed into the seat in front of me on impact and probably be dead. Again they saved me as the ship shifted down the earth, sliding to its side before starting to roll. The people who didn't get their seatbelts on tumbled around in the cabin, hitting other people and slamming against the walls, seats and windows. One man narrowly missed me, hitting the roof above (or rather, below) me during the tumble, a sickening mix of a crack and thud leaving no doubt that the man's skull was shattered to piecemeal. The rolling could have only been a few seconds, but it felt like forever.

Again, another jarring slam, this time ending with the transport stopping. I look out my window and see the slope of the ground continuing down below me, so steep it might as well be a drop. That albino Newman across the aisle is "uphill" from me, and I can see ground though her window. So we're still on a slant. I unbuckle, I'm getting the fuck out of here. It seems several other people (who were still conscious) had the same idea. Others stayed put in their seats, tight in their belts, presumably out of fear the ship would roll again. Or perhaps they were still petrified with fear and shock. Someone beats me to the emergency hatch, slamming the lever down and pushing the door open, hopping out. I follow suit, not thinking of anything but getting out, the fear of death hot on my heels and telling me to get the fuck out before something else happens.

Only a few people, myself included and a couple behind me, make it out before a loud crack can be heard, turning around I can see why. The reason the shuttle had stopped rolling was because it had slammed into a few choice trees that grew on the somewhat flatter expanse I was currently standing on. We were on a cliff, with the trees that had caught the shuttle growing out of the edge of it. The trees were mostly broken from impact, and the limbs and trunks were still snapping from the weight of the transport stressing it. I could only watch in silence as the final crack split not long after I had jumped out and turned around. There was someone else at the hatch just then, looked like just your average Joe-blow business man. Short cut brown hair, well shaven, a bit on the pudgy side and dressed in a nice cut suit. I saw the look of terror on his face as the last tree snapped and the plane began to fall again underneath his feet. Eyes wide, mouth gaping, a wild fear twisting what would otherwise be soft features. He screamed, he tried to jump out but to no avail, he was too late. He only succeeded in falling with the shuttle, just on the outside now. I think I heard him yell a woman's name.

Running up to the edge of the cliff I watched the smashed up transport fall down the steep cliff side, whilst the man had only hit the ground and stopped after rolling a bit, deader than dead. The rumble of the transport faded away as it kept rolling and sliding further and further away down the mountain. It was a long way down. I didn't watch the plane tumble the rest of the way, I couldn't. Plenty of people had stood up to get out, but only a handful of people were standing around me. Everyone else that had gotten up was undoubtedly dead, tossed around in that metal can of death as it fell. I'm sure the walls would be painted red by the time it stopped moving.

I fell to my ass, the exhaustion of fear, shock, bewilderment, the joy of still being alive and of escape hitting my body. My legs felt like jello, I couldn't stand. I closed my eyes, opened them again, hoping this was all a dream. It wasn't. Fuck. I started laughing, and then it turned into sobs, before I finally just went silent. I felt insane. This was insane. What the fuck happened. What do I do now?

I managed to calm myself, gained my composure back, telling myself sitting here wasn't going to solve anything. I turned my head, looking around. The edge of the cliff I was on was rocky, but ten feet back it became dirt. This part of the mountain was mostly just that, rock and dirt, occasionally a tree here and there, smaller than normal having grown at this kind of altitude. Grey and dark brown all over the place. Over the cliff, where the shuttle had tumbled, was a forest. It looked like we had stopped above it, trekking a few miles downhill would probably put us at the edge of it.

I looked around at the other people, and wondered what the hell I should do. A hike in the wilderness with strangers was not what I had in mind for vacation. I could only think of one thing. Laying down on my back, looking up at them, my voice harsh from yelling during the tumble and cracked with shock, I managed to choke out, "Hey. I'm Rick. Who are you guys?"

[FOkyasuta]

After faintly hearing what sounded like someone revealing their name in pitch-black darkness I had finally known I had been knocked out cold with my back on the ground as i woke up. Then I began to ask myself, "How long was I knocked out for? Who was this guy talking about? Why’s my head hurting with this throbbing pain? And why does my face have a slight stinging feeling?" No… It wasn’t a stinging feeling anymore… It was burning like bubbling lava dancing across my face!

Next thing I know it seemed like I let out the loudest scream of my life while I got up and quickly wiped the clear liquid from my dirty face and cleaned it with the now dirty Sky-Blue Alchemy suit. As I managed to grab a quick glimpse around me i managed to put my hands over my face in an attempt to calm the massive throbbing pain while my hair came undone from the hairband that kept in place, but atlas it was of no use and I found myself quickly on my knees fighting the pain. Then it had literally hit me this time. A banshee screaming in your ear couldn’t even bother to compare to the pain… Not only did the plane i was riding on crashed into a lush forest on a mountain; a piece had fallen right on top of me knocking me out cold yet again. At least my head wasn’t hurting anymore… It almost felt quite new and young now that i mention it...

[Taijutsu-Joshua]

This isn't me, I thought. We were a small group, yes, but I was further away from them, sitting alone in that gray and brown plain we ended up on. I was thinking to myself, what had just happened. It was so fast...

I sat quietly in my seat, rocking along to the beat of the music I was listening to in my MP3. Eighteen, I thought. IM FREAKIN' EIGHTEEN. I could do what I want as an adult now, I thought. Starting with visiting an old friend in Parum. I looked around to see the other passengers of the plane doing whatever it was they would do at this time. Some were just talking, but inaudibly because of the loud noise I heard in my headphones. Another man was sleeping his ass off, cap covering his face. As I laughed, a quick jerk of the whole plane shut me up.

The hell? I thought. I scoffed it off, as I heard the emergency intercom telling us to buckle up and that everything was fine. I thought to myself, this is the part where all the bad crap happens. I paused my MP3 to take a quick look around, and I hear a terrifyingly disturbing noise.

Maybe most of the others hadn't heard it, but I sure as fuck did. It sounded like, screaming metal. We hit something. Dear God, or any other existing higher deity, we hit something.

I decided to get up and proceed to yell, but before my voice rose, it was too late.

The second jerk hit harder, and I stumbled, reaching a seat in time to break my fall. Everyone began to panic, and decided it was time to make it or break it. I chose to break for it. I dropped my MP3 and ran as fast as I could to the emergency exit. People were flying around past me, hitting objects and probably dying right there. We were rolling, somehow, somewhere, and I fell again when I realized. I looked at an old woman, whose seat belt was tightly strapped on. She had a straight face. Maybe she gave up and decided this would be it. But not me.

I was the first to the hatch, opening it and running out, noticing the sleeping guy right behind me. I ran to the edge of the cliff to see the tragic end of whoever hadn't made it. It all happened so fast. I hadn't even taken the time to catch my breath. As I sat down and began to think, a voice not too far goes, "Hey. I'm Rick. Who are you guys?"

[yoshiblue]

As soon as Luneth saw the door open, he made his way towards the door. His left leg being injured when a suitcase slammed into it, he limped as fast as he could towards the door. Desperate to get off the accursed plane he chose to ride in. As soon as he made it out, he stumbled over and fell on the floor.

“I’m amazed I made it out. “ Luneth thought”. Crawling away from the group to the mountain side, he continued to think. “Maybe if I wasn’t clinging to the chair so tightly, maybe I would have gone with the rest.” He thought as he stared towards the forest. Then he laughed. Other may have thought him turning insane. Why he laughed because he thought about that suitcase. “Maybe if that stupid suitcase didn’t hit my leg I could have round house kicked the plane into the mountain side”. “This was supposed to be a simple flight to my friend’s town. Why did it end up like this?”. He taped his head and remember that the key is to keep himself in a good mood if he is to succeed. He then thought “Time to check inventory” .

He started to dig in his pockets. His left pocket contained his wallet, a stick of gum and a double sided screwdriver. “I’m sure glad this didn’t fly out and try to kill me! Left a good bruise though.” He thought as he stared at it while rubbing his leg. “Ok, other pocket.”. The right pocket contained his cell phone, a mp4 player, and his cycling gloves which he uses more for fashion then for cycling. The cell phone was broken however. “She’s going to kill me when she doesn’t get a call back from me. Hope my stop watch is ok”. He quickly grabbed it from around his neck and thoroughly examined it. A memento from an old friend of his, he treasures it dearly. “ A large cut on the side how nice. You should take better care of your things you know Luneth. Too bad he isn’t around to laugh it up. Shame he can’t be around anymore.”

He heard a loud voice coming from the group which distracted him. “Hey, I’m Rick. Who are you guy?” said a man. Luneth then got up and said “ Rick huh? I’m Luneth. Glad to see your still in good condition. Eh, so to speak.”

[Sayara]

After a few others escaped through the door, a girl exited from the door. Her walk was disoriented. The long flight and the disturbance of the flight did a number on her balance.

She thought to herself, 'whatever suitcase I had is probably gone amiss by now' It didn't really matter, all it had was some clothes, and other misc. essentials. She wasn't a hunter, it was not like she had a lot of weapons to carry with her on a passenger plane. The disoriented girl twitched to all of the speaking and noise. Her pointed ears were really perceptive of hearing everything in louder as if they were experiencing a migraine. The last voice came from an older gentlemen who had a peculiar mood for being rumbled and tumbled.

"Hey. I'm Rick. Who are you guys?" their voice called for. The girl in exhausted kneeled back to the ground. It was probably better to be closer to the ground at this point. She could barely walk as it was in the dizzy fatigue.
"S-s-s-s-s-saayara." She finally emitted staring at the ground. Dust had finally resided on her gray petticoat. It probably wasn't her best fashion thought, but at the time she was just leaving the north heading back to Parum's Capital City. She breathed heavily trying to regain her composure once again from the wreck.

[Taijutsu-Joshua]

My thoughts were interrupted by the many voices clamoring, responding to the sleeping guy's question.

Good, I thought. I'm not much of a thinking guy anyway.

Some of the voices that stood out spoke, "S-s-s-s-s-saayara." A voice of a weak girl, who was about my age by the looks of it. Sounded like a goddamn snake. I heard another say, "Rick huh? I’m Luneth. Glad to see you're still in good condition. Eh, so to speak.” A guy with a slight limp.

I laughed to myself, getting up and approaching the group. My hands behind my head and my usual nonchalant gesture, I said proudly,

"My name's Raven Wolfkrone, but you could call me Rave. That way I sound less like a demon vampire and more like a carefree guy."

Evil looks shot at me, and if they could speak, they'd say "Why the hell are you so cool about this?" Was it wrong to be lighthearted? Well, seeing as how a whole crapload of people just died, and how I seem unaffected, maybe it was wrong.

[Weeaboolits]

I hate long flights, especially when they stick my in the right aisle, I can't stand having people darting back and forth on my bad side, it puts me on edge. I was on my way back to Parum to report in on my last job, I'm not sure why I couldn't just call in, but hey, if they wanna waste my time, that's fine, so long as they front the expenses.

I glanced at my window, I could see the reflection of some fat old guy staring at me, he probably didn't think I could see him. whatever, I thought, it ain't like I ain't used to that. I could smell him from across the aisle, he reeked of koltova blood, not that I smelled much better at the moment, having come straight to the flyer base after completing the job.
I glanced over again to see his eyes had closed, not a bad plan, I was dead tired myself and decided to follow his lead. I could hear something come over the PA, but I was already drifting off and couldn't be assed to listen.

I was jarred awake suddenly, felt like I hadn't slept at all, the shuttle was shaking violently, a lot worse than your average turbulence, I glanced out the window to see that we were rapidly dropping altitude. My attention was momentarily stolen away as my oxygen masks dropped down, smacking lightly into my bad eye. No sooner did it drop down as a mountain came into view, we were headed right toward it. I braced myself for impact, we slammed hard, really hard, everything went black.

I opened my eye groggily, I'm not sure how long I was out, but the shuttle had come to a stop. Well mostly, it felt rather unstable, I unbuckled my seat-belt and climbed to my feet. I worked my way quickly toward the hatch, I could feel the floor shifting beneath my feet, it was probably safer out there than in here. I saw several others had the same idea, the old guy among them. No sooner did I step through the hatch than the shuttle finally lost its bearings and toppled down the cliff, the rest of the passengers were as good as dead.

I plopped down on the ground, my heart was pounding, I'm no stranger to dangerous situations like this, but even so, there's some things you never really get used to. As the adrenaline tapered off, my fatigue returned to me, my body ached from the impact. I took off my hat and brushed the sweat from my brow, I could hear voices behind me, I looked to see the other survivors had begun introducing themselves. I didn't bother joining in, I wasn't really in the mood to talk quite yet, and I had other things on my mind, like how I was gonna get to Holtes without the shuttle, but mostly I was just tired.

[Taijutsu-Joshua]

As I silently walked away from the deadly looks I'd been given, something struck my eye.

It was a bland, dull, whitish color not too far away. I decided to check it out.

But of course, the color belonged to a woman. Scratch that, a girl. An albino Newman, rockin' an eyepatch. Wow. Now that's something you don't see everyday.

She was just laying down not too far away, looking parched and tired. Maybe she'd hurt herself? By the time I was close enough to speak, she spoke first. "No, I don't need any help, thank you."She was fanning herself with her own hand, trying not to sweat any more than she had. What a bitch. Her tone sounded mean enough to send anyone over the edge, but I persisted, of course. "Whether you like it, or not, we're stuck together in this damn mess, so you're gonna need help sooner or later." "I think I'm fine on my own, I don't feel so much like talking right about now."

Hmph. She certainly had that edge to her, at least. But then again, who wouldn't have felt the same after an accident like this? People not too far from us were discussing, and other groups were panicking,screaming, hollering, praying, ripping their hair out. I say if you've got time to do all that, why not use that time for something else?

"You just said you don't feel like talking about anything right now, but you're talking to me, about something." I said, and a very slight crack of a smirk showed on her face. Hah! I got her. Maybe she was laughing at how much of a dumbass I was, but so what? I got her to smile.

"You're an odd person, you know that?" She calmly concluded.
"Yeah, they say that a lot."

[yoshiblue]

(Was waiting for Siyamak to make he next move lol)


Within the chattering Luneth just stayed quiet and listen to what everyone had to say. “I’m amazed I was able to say hello like that. I wonder if anyone survived that plummet to the forest?”. He limped towards the edge to see the damage. A few craters followed with fallen trees and a few fires here and there. “So much for a scenic view with all this smoke in the way. Not to mention that there’s no way to recharge my mp4 player now. Wish I could make it all go away”. Sitting there he tried to wander off by looking at what laid before him until he heard the bantering of two behind him.

“Seems those two aren’t getting along well. Should I go stop them? We have enough problems as is.” He thought to himself as he stared. Tapping his head he pondered the thought but decided to let them work it out. “I don’t need to make thing worse.” he concluded.

He then turn to the other to see if they thought of anything. “Wonder if they made a plan or decided on a leader yet?”. He then look up in the air only to see clouds everywere. “I wonder if someone crashed this plane on propose?”

[Sord]

(I've been waiting for Nitro_Vordex and Airalean to do their posts, but despite my persistence in reminding them this has started, they have hardly budged an inch. I've also asked HUcast for details as to weather he is with us or actually down in the forest, since he says he is, but I've yet to get anything from him.)

Well, Rick, seems you've wound up with some interesting folks. You should probably get off your ass now, you're probably the oldest one here and that sobbing a bit ago was hardly dignified. Right, yeah.

Finally standing to his feet, Rick exhales, pulls his cap down and finally gives everyone a good look over. The Wolfkrone kid was over pestering the albino gal about something or another, and with such a carefree demeanor as that kid displayed, Rick doubted it could hardly be anything worth listening to. The other dude, Luneth, mister music man with his mp4 player, was looking out over the cliff. He decided to approach the newman girl that was still sitting on the ground. How'd she say her name again? Sayara, yeah.

"Hey, can you stand? I'm as winded by this as anyone else, but it's gonna get dark here. We might want to get on the move if we hope to get anywhere before dark falls." Rick tried to put some comfort in his tone, but it didn't come off very well with his gruff voice. You don't talk too much to people when your primary hangout is a meat locker. Regardless, the girl nodded and took Rick's extended hand to help her to her feet. The two walked over to Luneth, joining him at the edge of the cliff.

Glancing at the spiky haired man to signal his attention, and then out over the cliff itself, surveying the path of wreckage, Rick spoke, "So, Luneth, right? You wouldn't happen to have a phone?"

"I do, but it doesn't work anymore." Luneth's voice seemed pretty deadpan, to the point.

"Well, keep it around anyway, battery might come in handy or something. If we can make a spark with it, maybe we can make a fire later. Find any paths down? I don't think any of us will fancy the idea of scaling down this cliff."

Luneth nodded in reply, "Yeah, look, over there." Luneth raised his hand to point to an area over to the left, where the slope of the mountain was less severe, and it lead down to the forest. Slowly turning, Rick examined the rocky outcropping of the portion of the mountain they were on. The landscape was jagged, filled with boulders and rocks both sharp and smooth. Most of it looked pretty solid, hopefully no one would loose footing to gravel or loose dirt. They'd have to go up the mountain a little, than walk to the left for awhile before they could reach the slope. It'd probably be a half hour walk just to get to the start of the slope. There was still plenty of daylight, the sun was already past it's zenith, probably only a couple hours after noon. Still, Rick figured they should hoof it while they could. Get to that forest by nightfall, figure out a way to start a fire. Rick did not feel like going through the whole night without a light source.

"Right then, I suppose we should get hoofin' it." Rick nodded to himself, turning around to try and address the others.

"Hey, guys, I'm thinkin we should make our way down this mountain, find the shuttle. Maybe we can radio for help or something, unless someone has a working phone." The look of response on everyone's faces shown clearly that they didn't. Talk about bad luck, then again, Rick hadn't even brought one himself. This was supposed to be his vacation, he didn't want anyone contacting him with their petty nuisances. Now he regretted his decision.

"Right, well, I say we get going then." Nodding again to himself, Rick gave his hat a tug and started walking.