(August) 2021 Test Drive Meme

[reddosmod]

AUGUST 2021 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to our first-ever live Test Drive Meme! Thank you so much for your interest! While our applications and reserves this upcoming round are for Early Access Members only, this Test Drive Meme is to open to everyone - both brand new players and old!

All Test Drive Memes are game canon. Players can choose to keep their TDM threads canon or not. TDM threads can be used for AC and can be used as your writing sample for your application.

Our TDMs serve as a way to build into the actual lore and worldbuilding of Deer Country and we strongly encourage everyone to enjoy and participate! Current players are always welcome to pull prompts from the TDM to reference on the Network or bring into logs as well as tag out to new characters top-leveling on the TDM itself.

Characters will always be able to actively die during TDMs as this is an extremely dangerous world. You can still have this be game canon! Check out how character death in Deer Country works here.

If you have any questions about the TDM, please ask down below!

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Lego face down on beach shore.]
[Image Two: Melting ice cream cone.]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Person screaming underwater.]
[Image Two: Waves crashing on rocks.]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Woman on a piano in the middle of the ocean.]
[Image Two: Pirate ship on wave during storm.]

Dates to Remember!
Read our Game Open information here.

Early Access is only applicable to those who played in Deerington from Dec2020-June2021. Public Access is applicable to everyone regardless of whether or not you previously played in Deerington.

August 27th: Reserves open for Early Access Members open.
September 1st: Applications for Early Access Members open.
September 26th: Public Access reserves open.
October 1st: Game officially opens. Public Access applications open.

[NAVIGATION]

TDM Questions • Reserves • Taken • Applications • Full Navigation

[Jump to Comments]

STANDARD ARRIVAL

WHEN: August
WHERE: The Farther Shores/Boardwalk
CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A

---

You're one of the lucky ones. Your journey is smooth sailing and you wind up exactly where you're supposed to: on the Farther Shores. You grow out of your squid body without a hitch, either with the help of another Sleeper or one of the Wakers, and you get to discover this new world. All new Sleepers might take some time to find their bearings. It might be tricky to remember how to use your body parts the way you're supposed to. You might stumble around the beach or forget how to talk - but don't worry! It'll come back to you sooner or later.

Hopefully, you've found something to wear, either in your Welcoming Bag or otherwise, and can start familiarizing yourself with your surroundings. Maybe you help some other squids out on the beach. Waking up sucks! You feel for the little guys. And hey, maybe you're hoping one of those squids is a good friend...Stranger things have happened.

SEASONAL DETAILS ON THE BOARDWALK
August means colorful streamers and fairy lights twinkling over the Boardwalk, lighting the way. Although Trench is a grim world, there is a distinct summer vacation feeling to the Boardwalk in August. You can smell fried dough and hot dogs being prepared - and no worries! Everything on the Boardwalk is completely free to Sleepers. The workers know it's your first stop and that you, more than most, need a bit of charity right now. Stop by and get a deluxe sundae or ice cream cone at the temporary ice cream booth. Want something besides your welcoming robes to wear? There are a few small shacks selling some solid pirate and sailor-inspired looks. There are also some cute bathing suits for those who think taking a dip in the ocean could possibly ever be fun. Get these summer goods while the going's good. They won't be around in September!

Some people have even set up some crude form of volleyball out on the beach. Join in for a game! The ball is a little leathery and strange to the touch, but it's probably for the best if you just ignore that. Hit the ball around enough and you'll notice that if it gets away from your court, it seems to roll itself towards the ocean. Pick it up again and it's just a ball again! Weird...Just play with the ball and don't ask questions.

The Boardwalk really is a gentle introduction to Trench. It's easy to forget that you just woke up to a hellscape dominated by blood. But hey. The corruption here is low and maybe that's the point. Take it easy while you can, Sleepers. The tide is coming soon enough.

DIFFERENT TIDES

WHEN: WHEN EVENT
WHERE: Among the Rocks in small crevices and caves.
CONTENT WARNINGS: Drowning, crushing bones, intense claustrophobia, flesh eating crabs, possible animal death via burning, possible hallucinations via toxins.

---

While most Sleepers are lucky enough to wash up on the Farther Shores, not all are so fortunate. The ocean is unpredictable and in this world, the ocean also happens to be a temperamental living creature. Come in at the exactly wrong time and the Pthumerian Mariana might decide to send you on a harrowing course towards The Rocks. Having to wake up while being slammed up against slippery slopes of stone is no one's idea of a good time, and if you're not a strong swimmer, you might die before you even have a chance to realize where you are. Even if you are a strong swimmer, it's exhausting and brutal being slammed against slate again and again. But you're not the only one suffering. There are other Sleepers crashing against the Rocks with you. Maybe you can help each other out before it's too late.

If you have the ability, you can possibly grab hold on the side of the Rocks and cling for dear life. You might even discover the advantages of your newly reborn body and blood sooner than intended. Not too many can clash against the Rocks without spilling a little sacred blood but you might just be able to use that in your favor. Sometimes shedding blood in this world means getting a hell of an adrenaline kick - and you might need it right about now. Maybe you can climb to the top and back to safety?

Not everyone has to take a beating against the Rocks. Some are sucked into the undertide and carried directly inside of the Rocks. There are dozens of small caves and channels. If you're having a genuinely terrible day, you might break the surface of the water in a pitch-black space, with rock above you, rock all around you. There may be very little space between the water and the rocks surrounding you, making it harder to breathe and concentrate and easier to panic in. Cry out and you may get some help. Find your way to one of the open caves inside.

As you try to find your way in the dark, you hear a constant clicking noise all around you. It sounds like rocks bouncing together, clacking, clicking, some plopping into the water near you. You can feel them moving around you and eventually, one drops down onto your shoulder. It's a crab! The little guy is no bigger than a golf ball and he mostly just seems curious. Another little buddy joins him on your other shoulder. Looks like you have some friends! Maybe they are here to help you.

Then you feel a little sharp jab of pain. And another. And nope- these guys are not your friends. They use their small claws to take chunks out of your flesh and eat it. They are easy enough to brush off your shoulder, but the problem isn't their size, it's their quantity. As soon as you get one off, another is falling down. And some are a lot bigger than golf balls. They get as large as basketballs and when those land on you, brace yourself, because they are dense. You'll discover that the crabs seem completely impervious too. They have rock-hard shells and are resistant to blood magic - probably because they eat nothing but blood-and-flesh creatures. But like all living creatures, they do have a weakness or two: fire and light. You can completely stun and paralyze these creatures with a flash of light. The brighter the light, the longer they will be stunned. If you have a light source to carry around, the crabs won't come near you at all. Fire won't stun the crabs, but it does terrify them and will send them fleeing. If you set a crab on fire, you'll see why: it's the only way to kill them.

So congratulations, you have Trench Crabs. Not the best experience, but it's an easier experience for some than others. Unfortunately for Warmbloods, Palebloods, and Vilebloods there's a certain toxin in the crab's flaws that can cause mild hallucinations and confusion in response to your specific blood type. Hopefully, you're stuck with another blood type who isn't affected by the crab toxins. To get rid of the side effects, you will need to thoroughly clean out all of your wounds with warm salt-water.

Let's just hope you can all make it out of the Rocks alive. Good luck.

QUICK FAQ

1. Those whose Patron Pthumerian is Mariana will be much luckier in the waves. Some may even discover that the water urges them towards safer passages. If they ask for direct help, the water might directly respond with immediate help. In the most extreme cases, the water might heal flesh wounds, but it will burn a little. Never a good idea to put salt (water) on an open wound, but hey, better than bleeding out!

This applies to the third prompt as well. 2. Characters can either find their way across the Rocks and climb to the area around the Sanguine Station or wind up at the Farther Shores. Wakers would be quick to help any mangled Sleepers.

3. Other characters can go to the Rocks and try to help save the Sleepers being brutalized. Maybe throw someone a rope or if you have the power of flight you can try and get them to safety.

OVERBOARD

WHEN: Pirates continually sail the Pthumerian Ocean therefore this event could take place at any time.
WHERE: Somewhere beyond the Fishing Zone of the Pthumerian Ocean
CONTENT WARNINGS: Drowning, kidnapping, imprisonment, "human" trafficking, cannibalism.

---

Some Sleepers don't make it to the Farther Shores or the Rocks. Your body might regenerate in the middle of the Pthumerian Ocean and the only thing in your favor is at least you're not reborn naked here (unless maybe you are - dealer's choice). You're cloaked in some long, white garment - not that it does much against the crashing waves all around you. This is not a great place to wake up! And it looks like you woke up in the middle of the storm only it's not really a storm...This is just the natural state of the Pthumerian Ocean: violent and unpredictable.

Waves crash and pull all around you, thundering through the air, the wind and skies above just as hostile and aggressive. You can't tell if it's raining or if you're just being constantly splattered by the mist and water of waves nearby. Whirlpools spin in gurgling clusters and it's easy to get sucked into them. Thankfully, you're not completely alone in this terrible situations. You can see other Sleepers nearby...And furniture?

Chunks of furniture float by. Couches, mattresses, pianos, bookcases. There is the debris of ruined ships too: flanks of wood, doors that could probably hold two people if you actually tried, masts, barrels, and the like. Might not be a bad idea to try and hold onto some of that stuff. Better than the alternative! Another thing going in your favor is that you showed up in August. The Pthumerian Ocean is a brutal place, but you won't be freezing to death in these waters. At least not this month. But what about where you are? Where you need to go? Well. That's answered for you.

There are few things tougher in Deer Country than the pirates who live by the law of the ocean. Their ships have been coated in blood magic, cutting through waves, navigating the tidal waves and the whirlpools with abnormal grace normal sailors could only ever dream of. But the people aboard are not human. Not anymore. Most have become completely corrupt by the violence of the ocean and they're more than happy to scoop up poor, disoriented Sleepers they find along the way. You'll find no mercy from these pirates. Instead, it's off to the brig with you! The people on the ship have disoriented appearances, looking more like sea creatures than humans, and they have the manners you'd expect from pufferfish and tiger sharks. They cannot be reasoned with - after all, they aren't just rude. They are blood corrupted and some of them are borderline on their way to full beasthood.

Pirates will value Sleepers for their blood and plan to either eat the Sleepers, use their blood for blood magic, or sell them to other pirates and most won't immediately try to kill a Sleeper. They might be violent, but they aren't stupid. Pirates may simply throw you in a cell or chain you up. They may put Sleepers in a cell together or separate them into cages. If Sleepers are especially mouthy, they may make you walk the plank, tied up with heavy chains that will surely bring you to the bottom (if there even is a bottom) of the ocean. Players can choose the severity of the imprisonment of Sleepers and how Sleepers may escape their situation. Maybe they sneak out of bond and steal a lifeboat. Maybe they overpower their captors and kill most of them or throw them overboard and steal their ship. Either way, once they have met some kind of escape, the Pthumerian Mariana will be impressed enough by their hardiness to help guide them through the currents all the way to the Farther Shores.

CODING

Comments

Wu || Legend of Korra (Deerington CRAU)

[royalfling]

a. crabs
[ What you hear first is screaming.

Maybe you're already out of the water, trying to find your way out of the caves. Maybe you're still under the water, sound still sort of travels through it. And the screaming is loud, really loud, and echoes off the wet walls of the caves ]

No, no, no, no, gross get off me!

[ Wu lets out another shriek, shaking his arms and legs, trying to dislodge the crabs that fell on him. He can't see them, not really, but he can feel them and it feels real bad. Help him? ]

b. to find a raccoon
[ Back on land, Wu feels pretty wobbily, his legs aren't quite listening to him, and while this robe feels nice, he's not really the type to just walk around in public wearing so little. He hasn't found his friends and, mostly importantly to his exhausted mind, he hasn't found Fritter the raccoon.

Woozy and tired and confused, Wu stagger over the boardwalk, his eyes wide, calling out for her: ]

Fritter! Fritter! Baby, where are you? Please?

[ He gets more and more desperate as he goes along, looking along the ground, along benches. She's so small and young and all alone! What if she got caught in the ocean?! He won't even entertain the idea that she drowned. No, she can't have drowned. She's Princess Fritter. She's half his heart. He has to find her. ]

c. crisis averted
[ Raccoon located, Wu is feeling a lot better. Fritter perches on his shoulders, and he keeps a hand on her just to reassure himself that she's there. He's still unsteady on his feet, but he's able to walk.

They survived. They really survived. They went home, they came back, and they went through the door and they survived. He's giddy with it. He's giddy and excited and maybe he was nearly almost eaten by crabs, but he's alive and this is a real place and he remembers everything, he remembers Deerington and his life at home and he knows he's going to round a corner and there will be Mako or Chuck or Raleigh or Manabu or Ruby or Lysithea, any of the friends who he made in Deerington, who made all those months less of a living hell and more, well, nice. And hell, but a hell he could live with.

He sees you, whoever you are, and if he recognizes you at all, there's a huge smile on his face and he shouts your name, rushing toward you.

If he doesn't know you, if you're new, you still get a big smile because he recognizes that Sleepers are somehow Other here, they have robes, they're all a little distressed, confused, and you're one of them. ]

Welcome to... wherever we are! We made it!

d. wildcard!
((Hit me with whatever, or come plot with me on plurk spudbud))

b-ish

[arclightning]

[ Mako has had—

honestly really just a terrible day. The worst day.

It's not like he was expecting his arrival in wherever they were going to be easy. Nothing Deerington ever throws at them is easy (he's pretty sure) and so Mako was expecting to have to struggle and fight and try.

He just wasn't expecting to have to struggle and fight so much. First the pirates (Mako is so tired of being in jail) and then the crabs (Mako is also tired of things trying to eat him) and now his limbs won't work and he's entirely naked and there's sand in his mouth as he tries on shaky limbs to push himself out of waves still lapping at his body. He hasn't even really put together the fact that he is naked and public. He's still trying not to throw up, or think about the strange bits of material somehow still clinging to him after almost being eaten by crabs, and most importantly—

("Fritter!" cries Wu, far away)

—Mako's head, aching and fuzzy and drenched, snaps up. He shoves himself up on aching limbs, ignoring pinpricks and stumbling and sand and water sluicing off him in waves. He can't make his tongue work. All he can do is stumble toward that voice, because there are people Mako has to find, and he can't rest until he finds them. ]

[royalfling]

[ Wu makes his way down to the sand, wondering if Fritter might like that better, or, Spirits, if she washed up on her own. He isn't quite thinking straight about how an adolescent raccoon would make its way to a place like this, but he knows that she has to be here. She was with him when he left, she has to be here now.

He's so focused on that that he doesn't spot Mako at first. He's looking at the ground, looking for a small black and grey shape, so when his eyes hit feet, he thinks nothing of it. But then those feet are stumbling right toward him, and he looks up, ready to snap at whoever this is.

He sucks in a breath, his feet stumbling to a halt.

It's Mako.

It's Mako and he looks awful and he's naked and he's right here and he's here and ]

Mako! Mako! Oh, wow you look terrible. Mako, are you okay, you--

[ He stumbles toward Mako, his eyes wide and staring, thoughts of Fritter gone for the moment. ]

[arclightning]

Nn.

[ It's the only thing Mako can make his mouth actually form. He's too relieved and disoriented to think about several pieces of reality right now: namely, the naked thing, and also the fact that Wu was desperately searching for Fritter and... not Mako?

Nope. Not thinking about that. Or any of it. They crash against each other like clumsy waves, Mako still-half-stumbling, and water washes coldly up over his bare feet and he just presses his face into Wu's hair and sucks in a hard breath. ]

Was... looking for you.

[royalfling]

[ Wu's arms automatically wrap around Mako, holding him close and tight. He's cold, really cold, and that just makes Wu hug him tighter, trying to warm him up. A knot of worry he didn't know he was carrying loosens and his breath hitches. He was looking for Fritter, but he was worried about Mako, too. He was worried that Mako wouldn't be here. He was worried that Mako might have ended up somewhere else, might have moved on without him.

He doesn't quite realize that he's crying until he starts sniffling, burying his face in the crook of Mako's neck ]

Where were you?!

omg A

[monoceroscaeli]

[He can hear the screaming, instantly putting him on high alert. Making his way forward, he rounds a corner and sees someone vaguely familiar...

Oh goodness there are crabs on this guy and he can see there's more getting ready to pounce.]

H-Hey, hold still! I can't get them off you if you keep dancing around like that!

[royalfling]

[ Oh good! Good! Someone's here! Someone can help! Wu does not in fact stop dancing, but he does look up at Childe with wide eyes. ]

Help! Help! They're trying to eat me!

[ He lets out a high pitched shriek, shaking his head when one of them lands on his hair. ]

[monoceroscaeli]

Calm down, they're not trying to-

[He begins to say as he steps closer to Wu, hands open and trying to devise a strategy to try to brush off these crabs without getting snapped himself when-]

Gaaaaaaah!!!! [They'd snuck up behind him and took a chunk out of his leg! Then two of them use a tactical drop and land on his head from who knows where.] What did you do to anger them so much?!

[royalfling]

Oh no, oh no, oh boy--

[ Things certainly escalated quickly! Wu stares at that bite, dumbstruck. They hadn't hurt him that badly yet, and now his savior is hurt and oh no what does that mean for him?! ]

I didn't do anything! I just washed up here! I don't want to die here! Please please please don't let me die here!

c

[entreats]

[ Usually Ange would just file away this elation as.. well, a general Wu-like thing.

But right now she understands it. Even if washing up in this place wasn't exactly the most pleasant experience of her life, it's true that they did make it. Somehow. All of them - or at least most of them, judging by how many familiar faces Ange has already ran into so far. ]

Are you the welcomig committee now? [ She jokes - lightly though, and Ange even actually smiles after she says it. ] It's good to see you.

[ It's good to see anyone who safely managed to get here at this point, really. ]

[royalfling]

It's good to see you too!

[ He laughs, bright and easy and he's pretty sure Ange isn't a hugger, but his inhibitions aren't quite back to where they were in Deerington just yet, and Ange is being enveloped in a tight hug from both Wu and Fritter, her little arms holding on to Ange's shoulder ]

Wow! I'm so glad so many of us are here! I was really scared, but now we're all okay and this place doesn't seem so bad.

[entreats]

[ She is so definitely not a hugger. But.. honestly, under the current circumstances, Ange figures she can live with getting a hug for once. She's in a good mood, after all, and there is a cute critter involved.

So she'll take it for now, even briefly moving her arms up to pat his back in turn. There, there, Wu. You're okay now, big guy. ]

Really? [ Apparently she hasn't gotten to look around too much yet - or she's just a little less trusting, since.. ] You're sure there aren't monsters lurking around some corner, ready to devour us?

[royalfling]

[ She gets a squeeze before he lets go. ]

Oh, well. Some crabs did already try to eat me? But that wasn't here here. It was in a cave, out there.

[ He waves vaguely back toward the ocean. It was hours ago! In the past! ]

But this! This is great. Free food, free clothes!

[frogfear]

[Willow vaguely remembers seeing Wu next door after she moved into Ozpin's mansion, even though they never really had a chance to talk. She's run into enough people she knows by now that the memories are coming easier and more frequently.

She returns the smile with a grin of her own and a friendly wave for him and Fritter both.]

Oh hey! Yeah, I guess we did, huh? It's, uh, some place we landed.

[royalfling]

It really is! Have you tried the sundaes?

[ Wu is very excited about the sundaes. And the hotdogs. And the free robes. It's all very nice and so different from what he expected after walking through the Flesh Door. ]

Did you get here okay? I got a bit delayed by some very rude crabs.

[frogfear]

[It's easy to mirror his excitement. It's good to be back to herself again even if it's a little confusing, and the welcome they've received aside from little glitches like pirates and apparently rude crabs has been pretty warm.

Willow nods vigorously.]

Oh my god. The sundaes are amazing! Everyone's been really nice too since we got to shore!

I didn't see any rude crabs, no, but I had a run in with some pirates- at least one of them could have been, like, a distant cousin or something.

crisis averted!!

[shiro2hero]

[Shiro's completely lost in thought when Wu ends up nearby. Completely. Trying to place this strange world, this city he doesn't recognize. It can't be another layer of Deerington, can it? Nothing in their research ever pointed to it. But maybe they were wrong, maybe they had no real idea, ever.]

[Poor Wu likely has to call his name a couple times before he remembers to come back down to earth again. How much of that is the disorientation and how much is just Trademark Shiro Brooding, we're not sure. But the look on his face definitely brightens a fraction when he focuses on the figure rushing his way.]

Wu? [There's hope there, in that question. If he's here then...]

[royalfling]

[ Oh, he only has to call your name a couple times, because then he's wrapping his arms tight around your waist, Shiro! You get a hug! That's great, right?

Fritter is hugging you, too, her little arms wrapped around your arm ]

Shiro! It's so good to see you! Are you okay? You made it here, too! It seems like everyone is here! I'm so glad, I was really worried that we might have gotten separated in the ocean!

[shiro2hero]

[Oh, oh a hug. Oh he's... needed that. More than someone like Shiro wants to admit. He returns it, too, for all he's worth. Hopefully it doesn't end up crushing poor Wu.]

[Look, Fritter is welcome to hug too. Everyone get in here.]

Yeah I - I'm fine. [Ha ha ha.] Are you - you're okay? You're not hurt?

a

[spiritwalks]

Aw, buddy, no! You've got crabs. I think there's a shampoo for that, hold on—

[Vyng reflexively reaches for a satchel, but his hand...swipes through thin air.

...Oh. Oh yeah. He doesn't have anything on him. At all. Except for the glowing amethyst geode lodged in his chest. But that feels normal for some reason? So he doesn't pay it any mind.

Weird that he reached for a phantom bag, though. Does he usually walk around with crab shampoo? Ah well, not important!]

Uhhh, hold on! I can help.

[Vyng tries to pry the critters off, but...for each crab he removes, it seems like several more start swarming Wu. And Vyng too. What's worse, the crab army brings a chorus of "I shall pinch you! I shall eat you! Flesh! FLESH!" to his druid ears.]

Woah! These guys are hungry!

[royalfling]

Hungry?! Don't eat me!

[ He would be highly amused by Vyng's antics if he wasn't so worried about being eaten by crabs. He thought they were just annoyed that he was there! But now they want to eat him! ]

I think we need more than shampoo to fight these guys!

[ Wu lets out another scream, and then he's running over to Vyng, grabbing onto his arm, heedless of their nudity. At least he can see by the light of that gem. Now isn't the time to ask about that, either ]

Can you do something about them? You can talk to animals, right! Talk to them! Tell them I taste horrible! I'm just skin and bones!

[spiritwalks]

[Yeah, screaming is about the reaction he expected. Most people don't respond well to hearing they're about to become crab food. Especially if it involves getting pinched to death by hundreds of little claws. So when Wu clings onto him, Vyng doesn't even blink.]

Alright. I'll try my best. [Ahem.] ...Listen up, you little shits! Wait, no, that's now how crabs talk— Uhhh...

[Okay. Deep breath! Let's try again. This time, a stream of clacking emits from Vyng's mouth — piercing through the ruckus in short, agitated bursts. But to the crabs, he's saying:

"Hey! This isn't some all-you-can-eat buffet. This is my friend and me! So you better get the fuck outta here. Or I'll...light you all on fire. Don't test me! I'll do it."

Seriously. This has been a long...day? Several days? A long adventure, for sure. Of being reborn, almost getting turned into blood fodder by pirates, and now this. Vyng's patience is wearing thin. So just to prove his point, an angry flame blooms in the palm of his hand. He holds it menacingly over himself, Wu, and the crabs swarming both of them.]

A

[survivalthroughhate]

[Maul's already been having a hell of a time with the crabs, trying to get the small but evil creatures to stop using him for a snack. He's bleeding in half a dozen places, a strange green color that he's fairly certain his blood shouldn't be the color of, but he'll deal with that when he has a moment to think. For now, his memories are mostly missing, he can't talk, and oh-- there's someone else in here now.

Maul has had it. What he means to do is simply use the Force to yank the crabs off Wu and himself, throwing them as far back into the caves as he possibly can. But being so newly Zabrak again means his Force powers lack their usual finesse, so while he does fling a few crabs away, he also cracks the cave walls and roof, bringing large chunks of rock down as well.

Oops. Well, sorry about that Wu.

Move fast to make sure you don't end up getting conked on the head by one of them. Maul would hate to have to drag your unconscious ass out of here while saving his own as well.]

[royalfling]

[ The crabs are suddenly ripped from his body and Wu just shrieks louder, cowering where he is-- until he hears that crack. He looks back with wild, wide eyes and launches himself in the other direction. His limbs feel weird and uncoordinated, but surviving is more important than feeling weird. At least living in Deerington for half a year encouraged him to have a sense of self-preservation.

That doesn't stop him from breaking down, though, tears streaming from his eyes as he runs, nearly slipping on the slick ground. He's naked, he almost drowned, he was attacked, and now the cave is coming down around him. This was supposed to be the next place, a place where they could live and be happy! Not another horrible, awful place where he nearly dies every week.

He isn't looking where he runs and slams headlong into Maul, head cracking against his chest. ]

[survivalthroughhate]

[While his sense of pain has been dulled thanks to being a Vileblood, the sensation of someone running smack-on into him isn't just something Maul can shake off. There's a small grunt of pain and then he rubs at the sore spot on his chest. Still, he's solid enough, made up of metal and muscle as he is, that he doesn't get pushed back by Wu. He doesn't say anything (or rather he can't say anything given he can't remember how to talk just yet) and just stares at Wu with a curious expression on his face.

He would have thought the man some sort of illusion brought on by the crab toxins were it not for the fact he'd run into Maul and proved himself to be a very solid presence. He looks Wu over but he doesn't seem to be all that hurt which is fortunate. He taps Wu on the shoulder with his clawed hand and points to the way where the cave entrance is that they'd entered to get tossed into the cave in the first place. They need to get out of here before the crabs ]