event: portal two | the desert

[mayfield_mods]

The second portal will most likely require a double-take to locate: it's found at the end of an alley between the malt shop and the roller rink, and you might glance it out of the corner of your eye while passing by. Drones, as before, don't seem to notice it at all, strolling right by the alley as if it didn't suddenly lead into a great swathe of sand.

Stepping through the portal can be a bit of a jarring experience. One moment you're standing amidst the bustle of downtown Mayfield; the next moment your face is being whipped by sand, the sun is blazing down on your neck, and the only noise you can hear is the distant, lonely keening of the wind across the dunes. Looking back at the portal, you can still see Mayfield's streets through the lens of the alleyway- but don't stare too long, because that portal closes within a day...

As far as the heat is concerned, you might as well have stepped into a pressure cooker. Not only does the sun beat down on you from above, but the heat also rises up from the sand: hopefully you're not going barefoot, otherwise you'll be suffering from some badly burned soles. On that note, unless you brought some very powerful sunscreen, you're going to want to cover up: any exposed skin is going to be suffering sunburn pretty fast. If you were smart, you brought something to drink: there's no water to be found here, only sand as far as the eye can see.

The great dunes rise and fall like unmoving waves. The horizon around you shows nothing, no buildings or signposts, only an endless sea of sand. Unlike the beach, there's no sign of habitation here- any footprints that might have been have long since been swept away. The wind is constant, unyielding, insistent, and focused on one direction alone: east.

Comments

[balaton]

[Hungary's first instinct is to pull her hat over her brow, trusting her hair to shield her face and the back of her brow. She turns away from the wind, letting it lash at her back as she sprints towards the town.]

[werewolfoflondon]

Oh hell.

[Remus squeezes his eyes shut against what feels like a wall of sand pelting him in the face. He coughs, pulling the edge of his jacket up over his nose. Distantly, he hears gunshots, but the sand is too thick for him to tell which direction they're headed any longer.

Still clinging to Sirius' waist, Remus leans up to yell over the wind.]

Stop! We have to help the girl!

[sothis_rising]

I know that!

[Sirius growls out, pulling the bike to a halt to try and stave off some of the oncoming wind. e pulls his own jacket over his face to try and shield himself from the wind as he turns to look at Remus, shouting to be heard over everything.]

Stay with the bike, I'll grab her. This monster can probably fit three and I can use a spell to stave off the wind ... I think.

[He tries to carefully slide his way off the bike, slipping i the sands a it as he makes is way slowly toward Hungry.]

[balaton]

[She's overestimated the force of the wind, and while she's well covered (save for cheeks already sunburnt and reddened), she can't quite move from her spot. Her legs are buried in the sand up to her calves, and she's hardly tall.]

You need to get out of here!

[werewolfoflondon]

[Remus watches Sirius disappear into the storm with an unmistakable bout of anxiety. A spell, to stave off this wind? Right. And Remus is the bloody queen of France.

It's only been a few moments, but already Remus is fighting back the desire to run after his friend. Remus squints hard into the direction Sirius had gone, and then leans over the back of the bike, cupping his hands to call out.]

HURRY UP, PADFOOT!

[sothis_rising]

[Remus's voice is drown out by the wind even though Sirius isn't that far away. He reaches out to Hungry.]

Give me your hand!

[balaton]

[She can't hear him over the force of the wind, but she guesses enough to extend a gloved hand, wading through the sand.] Hurry!

[werewolfoflondon]

[Remus can only wait helplessly on the bike, trying to guide them back with his voice. All that yelling makes his voice go hoarse fairly quickly, and he doesn't even want to think about how much sand he's swallowing. But the last thing he wants is to lose Sirius to a sandstorm.]

[sothis_rising]

[He pulls her along, moving as fast as he can through the piling sand until he gets back to the bike. He carefully lifts her up behind Remus and leans in close, trying to convey the idea for her to hold onto Remus, then he carefully pulls out his wand, shielding it from the storm with his coat.]

Which spell Rems?

[balaton]

[The brunette clamps her legs on either side of the bike instinctively after a year of riding it around, arms going around the boy and face buried in his back. It's selfish, she knows, but there's enough sand in her nose to keep her from breathing that she has yet to cough out.]

[werewolfoflondon]

[Remus is too relieved to be embarrassed by the girl wrapping herself around him from behind. He thinks for a moment, as if scanning some mental compendium, before he calls back:]

Impedimenta, maybe. Or mobiliarbus. And bubble-head all of us, won't you?

[sothis_rising]

[Sirius gives a short nod before following instructions from inside his coat. It's hard enough to cast with sand flying in your mouth, but doing so with sand flying in your mouth and hiding under a coat is even harder.]

[balaton]

[The ringing in her ears suddenly stops, and she can open her eyes once more without the burning sand stinging them, blinking a few tears away. Were she not clinging to the other boy fiercely, Hungary would have tapped the side of her bubble.]

Well, that's convenient!

[werewolfoflondon]

Isn't it just?

[Remus shakes a bit of sand out of his hair, though quite honestly, that doesn't change the color of it much. He offers a smile to Sirius, before casting his gaze back toward the direction of the distant town.]

...now what? Should we keep going?

[sothis_rising]

[Sirius returns his wand to his pocket.]

I'd say so. What else are we going to do, go home and knit sweaters?

[Of course they weren't going home. They were heading forward and into the unknown.]

[balaton]

Could you argue like a married couple after we've gotten the hell out of here?!

[werewolfoflondon]

[Remus casts a strange look back at the girl, but beckons Sirius back onto the bike, wrapping his arms securely around the man once he'd gotten himself in place.]

The town was that way, I think. [Remus points ahead.] We were heading straight for it. If we keep going that way, we're bound it hit it eventually, right?

[sothis_rising]

Bound to.

[Sirius is only repeating because he's not entirely sure where they are anymore. They haven't moved really since the storm, and he's hoping to hell there's not too much sand in the engines.]

You know, if you'd give me about twenty minutes I could make her fly.