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

Lets go team creepy!

[elevatoravatar]

[Humming a disturbing tune as she wanders through the portal, sipping on a milk shake as she does so, Elizabeth peers around not terribly thrown from the transition of downtown to dunetown.]

Jack... I believe you will be of great use here.

[Shrugging she starts to look towards the east]

[a_crazygirl]

[Oh, man, Toni is a city girl, she's not cut out for this stuff. She turns around at the sound of someone else coming through the portal and gives the milkshake a longing glance.]

Anybody bring a fan? An icepack? Anything?

[theboywiththebook]

[Grey had to be kidding. A desert? They were going to roast at this point. But, there is no point in complaining. The boy had packed a bunch of supplies again just like in the carnival. He's put on a hat now and the moment he steps inside he feels a blast of wind in his face.

Covering his eyes as the sand turns and the heat blazes the boy ventures forth. The wind keeps blowing in one direction...so he can only guess that may be the direction he should head in.]

[1_truth]

[ Oh great. Kids in the desert. Always a horrible mix. At least he looks somewhat prepared. ]

Oooooi!

[1_truth]

[ Conan isn't out looking for trouble, honest! His ribs feel a lot better than they did so moving around isn't as painful as it has been the past few weeks. The problem is that his makeshift family is away-all except for the drone Ran who isn't any kind of company and doesn't even have her cooking skills. How lame. ]

[ He's unsure at first, he still isn't sure which street Gin is on but he's certain Gin would not have found out where Conan lived that quickly, nor would he rush a strike against Sherlock Holmes. Chances are that there was some other reason for his fake!parents' absence. His search for either one of them leads him to the portal. A desert. Nice. ]

[ He's not sure what'll happen once he crosses through the weird portal and decides that he should maybe grab a few survival supplies before passing through and feeling the immediate difference. He can't stay here too long-he's in a severely weakened kid's body after all, and there's no telling what could be around the corner. ]

[kyrannical]

[He wishes he had his normal clothes from home, for once; he'd have a little more cover, and he can already feel himself getting a sunburn. Still, he's an adult; when he sees Conan walking around, he's even more concerned.]

Excuse me! Are you alright?

[hatesboys]

[Frances recognizes the boy from the Kids Next Door meeting-- good, someone she can boss around. She can always use some of those.]

Hey! Kid!

[relic_hunter]

[If anything, Locke's curiosity got the better of him. It wasn't the first, and it wouldn't be the last. He had been wandering downtown when he had come across that portal. There was a tilt of the head, and then a tilt the other way.

Was this supposed to be here? The drones, even in their state of acting weird, didn't seem to take notice of it.

Eventually, he wandered down the alley and decided to investigate it. After a moment or so of looking at it from all possible angles he could, Locke finally ventured forth. After all, why would a portal lead to nothing but a desert? He knew of a desert... it was only natural for him to want to check it out.]

[mayfield_mods]

[Saddle up, everything's going nuts!]

[theverymodel]

[After finding the portal, Mordin continues scanning with his omnitool, finding nothing different from yesterday's]

Still inconclusive. One option left.

[getsciencedone]

[GLaDOS happens to be walking by.]

Find something?

[lettertomyfutureself]

-Heather is realizing it probably would have been an ACE idea to change out of her work uniform first before heading into this abyss of sand. She was hoping for some kind of clue. SOMEthing that made this all seem like a good idea, but...-

Good going, Heather... best idea yet. Sure.

... Where should I even go?

[relic_hunter]

[Lucky for her!... this one hadn't ventured too far. Upon noticing her, he called out to her. She didn't seem to be very well equipped for this sort of travel at all.]

Heather! What're you...

[nanocerancowboy]

[Gat's just stepped through the portal after discovering it entirely by chance while walking past the malt shop. If it weren't for the seemingly infinite stretch of dunes, Gat might have felt as if he were back on Moatoob, somewhere in the Kugu Desert. The winds certainly play the part if nothing else.]

[That strange message in the mail mentioned something about the city librarian being a key to stopping whatever Mayfield's masters are planning to do to the rest of them—and that these portals were places "outside Mayfield" where they could find things to jog her memory.]

[Gat glances around the desert horizon.]

This is goin' to be like tryin' to find a needle in a haystack ...

[With no real points of interest immediately visible, the only option is to try heading in the direction the winds are blowing—so Gat starts walking straight in that direction, trying to stay vigilant for anything ... or anyone ... that would stick out here in the desert. Maybe he'll spot something of interest before long. He just hopes that the portal won't be impossible to find once he's through searching here ...]

[virtualdiva]

[Miku was curious. Curious enough to step through this portal and check out whatever's going on, though now she sort of regrets it, because one, it's hot, holy crap, and two, she didn't bring any water.

She's been wandering for an hour or so when she finally spots somebody.]

Hey!

[originalnumber]

He'd thought he spotted something while he was flying overhead- turns out he had.

Unfortunately, he hadn't expected to wind up in the middle of this, and quite abruptly he's got no way back.

...Good thing he had that bottle of water in his bag... What was originally there so that he could do what he liked while in the air might be all he has now.

As it is. The wind comes from one direction, and he finds himself rather curious about it. Flight gives him a bit of an advantage here...

But just how rough will it be for him, flying against this wind?

[mayfield_mods]

[Very rough indeed. The winds have no mercy regardless of how high he flies, and the further west he tries to fly, the more impossible it becomes. The wind, oddly, is fixated solely on the east, not shifting even in an inch in any other direction.]

[hatesboys]

[Luckily, 86 had brought a bottle of sunscreen in her backpack, along with sunglasses and several other supplies meant to keep pale little girls from frying in the sun. The light glints sharply off her helmet, but she just puts the glasses on and starts walking. There's only one place to walk: east.]

[imjustpicky]

[Well hey, there's another kid heading east, too. Another kid that seemed to have stocked himself up for the trip as good as he could. The backpack on his back is stuffed to the brim, he's got a ballcap and sunglasses on,, and he's only looking a little like he'd like to fall over and die.

Just a little. Really.]

H...hey! Hey!

[That was one of Pokey's friends, wasn't it? What was her name again?]

86! Hey!

[imjustpicky]

[Picky got a later start than many of the others, but that's because he was spending some time stocking up for the trip. If you're in the desert, you need water! So he filled some canteens and stuffed them in his backpack. He threw on a ball cap. He put on some sunglasses. He dressed in light clothes.

He's still having a hard time, for all of his efforts. And he's scared, though he'd hate to admit it. Every so many steps he takes, he casts a glance back to the portal to make sure it's still really really actually there. Maybe... maybe if he doesn't see anything soon, he'll go back.

Maybe. Just maybe.]

[kyrannical]

[Ky probably should've planned ahead a little more, and being in such an empty landscape was hinderingly disorienting; he's not sure if he's advancing forward, though he figures out pretty shortly that the wind keeps blowing in the same direction. That in and of itself is enough that he's fairly confident he can make his way back, if he needs to, but if they wanted to pick a good hiding spot, they couldn't do better than endless sand.]

[He's... concerned, seeing children here, even if they seem more prepared. He can't help but want to check up on him, so he calls from a distance.]

Excuse me-- are you all right?

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[There are probably few people in Mayfield more prepared for a desert setting than Luke. He settles into the desert heat instantly, finding it almost comforting and very familiar. His skin is semi-permanently tanned from a lifetime of desert living and is well adjusted to the blazing sun.

He's packed as many capsules of water as he can carry in a pack and has covered himself in very loose-fitting and light-colored clothing, with a wide-brimmed hat to shield his face. He's also packed a warm blanket in his pack, both for cover from sandstorms and as shelter from the freezing night temperatures. He's well-armed with both his lightsaber and his blaster hung from a belt, and is wearing the most solid and comfortable boots he could find in town to keep out the sand.

As knowledgeable, experienced, and familiar as Luke is with this climate, he's not exactly excited. Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing and too much of a bad thing... well, let's just say he's learned to hate the desert.

He comes to the top of a dune and scans the horizon to search for... anything really. People, structures, whatever he can find here. On a whim he closes his eyes and stretches out with the Force, attempting to feel a stirring, a presence, or some other indication of what he should be heading towards or looking for.

A disadvantage Luke has is that he's so accustomed to desert winds that he's completely ignoring the direction it wants to push him in.]

[hunterkiller]

[HK follows his "Master" into the harsh desert, battle plating installed, shotgun in hand, and hunting rifle slung from his back. After making a decidedly disdainful sound at all the sand, HK scans the area.]

"Statement: Sensors indicate that the temperature is 45 degrees celcius. My assassination protocols indicate that humans are highly vulnerable at this high of a temperature. Please be cautious, Master."

[eyesofaserpent]

[It really is a good thing Crowley likes the heat, but even his serpentine senses have him looking around for a cool rock or some sort of shade to hide under. In his human shape, he's lived and traveled in deserts like this before, so he quickly converts his suit into white robes and his shirt and tie into a canteen of water. He heads straight on from the portal and will continue doing so for as long as it takes.]

[8tears]

[ Rui eyes him at the clothes changing and how he produces the canteen. ]

That's pretty practical. What sort of power is that?

[thenewnancydrew]

[ Upside: Bella was smart enough to wear tennis shoes as opposed to ridiculous heels or sparkly sandals. She also happened to bring a bottle of water.

Downside: She didn't think about bringing any clothes but the ones on her back, which means she's severally lacking in the sun-shelter department.

Large sunglasses are settled firmly in front of her eyes, and she has her bare arms wrapped around each other, as if that's supposed to protect them from the sun. She's walking into the wind, and she's talking to herself. ]

I'm going to be redder than that prom dress I never got to wear at this rate. Won't that be awesome. I'll die looking like a very fashionable lobster. [ A moment of silence. ] Hey God? You know what would be really cool right now? Some more clothes. Or a walking gazebo. With a fan. And a pool. And maybe even some Vogue.

[kyrannical]

[Even without his normal ridiculous outfit, if there's one thing Ky Kiske is known for, it's a ridiculous number of layers. Was wearing a sports jacket in the desert a smart choice? Nope. But it could have its upsides.]

[So he's handing out his (pretty ugly, honestly, what is this horrible 1950s pattern) jacket, his face and hands already alarmingly pinkish.]

I can't help with the rest, unfortunately. [he's not even sure what half of those things are]

[8tears]

[ As Rui enters the portal, heat hits her head-on. For once she's glad that she hasn't got her powers left; the thought of going into her Lost State in a place like this is pretty horrifying. She would be dead within the minute. With the sun hitting her, Rui is glad that she snatched the jacket Yukihina had owned since they were both Re:Codes from him as she left this morning. That it was made out of leather wasn't exactly ideal, but she could deal with that.

As she starts to look around to take in all of her surroundings, she wishes Yukihina had been with her. She, and anyone else in this place, would definitely benefit from his powers in a place like this.

Among all the things running through her head, she utters one out loud. ]

Where is this place... There wasn't any desert near town, was it?

[mayfield_mods]

[Saddle up, everything's going nuts!]

[balaton]

[It is not Hungary's intention to locate the portal at all, set for all purposes on chasing down the brat who's hopped on her precious motorbike and zoomed away down the narrow alley. Her stamina and strength keeps her from toppling over into a heap, but her face is red with anger, if not exhaustion.]'

When I catch you you'll wish you were never born, seggfej

[sothis_rising]

[Sirius is very conveniently ignoring her and her screaming as he drives into the alleyway with Remus firmly connected to his beck. There was no way he was going to do this without at least one of the Marauders by his side, and James had decided that he wanted to do something romantic for Lily instead of steal a motor bike. Ponce.]

You'll never catch up on foot doll!

[He was laughing as he went through the portal, not even realizing that they'd gone through.]

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY

[mayfield_mods]

[Whether you are in the desert or the town, things take a distinct turn for the worse.

A group of horsemen ride into the town, they're faceless. But even without expressions, their intent is clear. They draw their guns and will try and shoot anyone in the town, if they take refuge in a building then they will set fire to that building.

Out in the desert a massive sandstorm blows up, winds harsh and sand stinging and blinding.]

Re: EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY

[theboywiththebook]

[Well Henry is going to cover his eyes as he runs back towards the portal, slipping through the sand. The storm is picking up blowing it in his face as he moves.]