duskofthegods_logs | (no subject)

Who: Ellie, OTA
What: The goddess of the wilds and hunt has a different understanding of where the wilderness ends than most people.
Where: The forest, and throughout the town
When: A couple of days after night and day start happening
Other: In this log, you don't have to interact with Ellie - if you just want to react to the plant grown and/or try to beat it back with other characters, you're welcome to - just indicate so in the subject!

1. Meet Ellie
A young redhead walks around, who blends in well with the other natives. She looks a bit rough, maybe, with a scar through her eyebrow and worn clothing, but superficially similar. The way she walks, however, is different from most fifteen year olds. It's a little too sharp, and she keeps carefully to the side. If anyone watches closely enough, it's clear to see that she's keeping an eye on everyone who comes close. Between that and her guarded body language, she doesn't quite fit in.

Of course, the hunting bow on her back and the american accent make it much more obvious that she's not local.

But she needs food. For the moment, most of the locals are happy to share, considering everything goes back to where it was every day. The grocery stores all just stay vaguely open, for the moment - there are people who show up, but there's not much in the way of money exchange. Of course, it's only that way until the crisis is over, but...

Ellie gets to try interesting things, if nothing else. Today, it's a frozen pizza, oranges, and some packets of 'soy sauce.' It's obviously supposed to go on top of stuff, but since there isn't any 'sushi' in this place, Ellie thinks pizza might work. Maybe?

Ellie shoves the food into her backpack, pulling out her bow completely to make room for everything. It's tall and polished, some dark grain of wood she doesn't know the name of, but it's nice - probably too nice for a teenager.

It's not like she's announced herself as the hunter god, though some might recognize the bow. Ellie knows she's impulsive, but she's ~~too paranoid~~ not stupid enough to post a video of herself, like some of these people. She's still mortal and shit, this is just some weird way of helping out this place.

"Shit," Ellie swears quietly as her bow tips over, clattering on the tile floor. It's loud and makes her want to wig out. So much for being a stealthy fucking god.

2. It's Not Easy Being Green

This city doesn't look right to Ellie. While she never really walked in the woods until a year and a half ago, she has been surrounded by plant life. It's hard to keep things running when you're desperately trying to keep the civilians from revolting and the zombies from invading. Most of the world she's seen is dilapidated, with plants cracking through the roads and vines climbing up the walls. Even when houses aren't destroyed, vegetation spreads through them, wild and unchecked. Ellie never thought about it, and still doesn't, not really.

She just thinks that something looks off.

The vegetation flourishes almost overnight, blooming quickly. First, the forest is revitalized, the trees growing and sprawling into a thick copse. The next day, plants start growing in the paths, wherever they can find respite from the shade of the trees. It makes the forest hard to navigate, but not impossible.

It's the second night that the vegetation starts encroaching on the city. While not even the power of a goddess can break through the roads so quickly, the plants take the opportunity to climb buildings, bridges - whatever they can find, in a desperate quest for sunlight. Mold starts forming in the damp, much faster than it did before. Little weeds start surfacing through the cracks in the sidewalk, and the farm fields are quickly overtaken by tall grass and thick bushes.

In short, it's a mess.

Ellie walks away from the city, heading towards some of the farms. The dark bow is sticking out of her backpack, but she's not giving it or her surroundings much attention. She just walks slowly, lost in thought as she hikes through the underbrush, off any obvious path. The way she's able to adjust for a rock or disrupted earth is automatic, simple. Every now and again the sound of a far-off car makes her look up sharply, but after a moment she continues walking.

[OOC: a barely maintained walkway, and concept art for her world, to give you a sense of what the city is starting to look like. Beware of zombies after the "Pittsburgh" sign in the second link.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The trouble for Zelda is that she has prayed. Every single day for ten years of her life she prayed, with no result, until it turned to begging and bitterness. Once her power awakened it didn’t work through prayer- it worked through will and a spirituality that had nothing to do with communication. She doesn’t know how to explain that.

Ellie apparently doesn’t need the help though, and Zelda watches raptly as the fungus recedes. Then the girl’s words snap her out of her revery, and she rises to her feet.

“That was incredible! There are a few more spots, but that was the biggest.” She waits for Ellie to get up before leading her to the next cool, neglected corner.

Ellie hesitates a bit, but she ends up relaxing and following Zelda around the library. It feels a bit ridiculous to scold the mold, but it seems to be working.

Zelda's interesting. As they walk around, Ellie finally gets that Zelda doesn't really give a shit about Ellie, and more about the library. That's good. Ellie doesn't want people who pay too much attention to her, or want her for more than her job entails.

As they finish up with the last set of books, Ellie turns to Zelda.

"It's Ellie, by the way. Um, sorry for being an asshole."

Zelda is much pleased by the state they leave the library in once finished, a rare happy expression on her otherwise fairly closed face. She turns to Ellie, her hands clasped in front of her.

"Ellie. I am terribly grateful for your help." She even bows, though it's not very low. Just enough for a princess to a young interim goddess.

"If there is anything I can do to repay you, do not hesitate to ask."

"Erm, yeah. It's fine." Ellie's discomfited by the bowing, and shuffles in place. "...is it okay if I come back here? I've never seen such a full library."

"Oh, of course." Zelda is surprised Ellie even has to ask. "This building is public, it seems. But you are also welcome in my temple, if you like. I'm collecting books there as well."

Ellie just shrugs. Would she probably have come back anyway to get a book or ten? Probably. Still, knowing she won't get chased away is nice.

"Right. We'll see." Ellie pauses. "Hey. Um, if you need me, can you just leave a note at the... my temple, instead of looking for me in the woods?"

Ellie doesn't want to get into all the details of why with Zelda, but she's not a fan of people seeking her out.

Edited 2018-01-13 22:28 (UTC)

It's an odd request, but not really a difficult one. In fact, it would be much easier for everyone if Zelda never had to go traipsing into the woods again looking for someone.

"Yes, of course. Shall I tell the others as well?"

"Yeah, that'd be fine." Ellie shrugs. "I need to, um, talk about some things anyway, on the message network. I guess I could give you that, if you need to talk to me, too?" That seems like less of a risk than the temple, but people know where the temples are, regardless of Ellie's feelings. They'll show up whether she wants them to or not.

"Ah, that's right. The... 'phone' things?" She thinks she has the right word, but it's a totally alien one. She has to check.

"That would be more efficient, wouldn't it." Incredible devices, able to carry messages in the blink of an eye.

"Yeah, here." Ellie pulls hers out and pokes at it, offering the screen to Zelda and rattling off the number. "It seems too big to be a phone, but I guess so?" It does the trick, anyway.

Edited (fever brain = redundancy, wheeee) 2018-01-18 05:13 (UTC)

"Too big?" It seems tiny to her, but it's a rhetorical question. She pulls out her own phone and makes a note of the number. She'll figure out how to save it later.

"Thank you again, Ellie. You've been a great help."

Ellie shrugs, but doesn't explain as Zelda goes on. Sure, the tablet is thin, but it's larger than a walkie-talkie. "Sure, yeah. Um, good luck with everything, Zelda." Ellie returns her tablet to her backpack and hoists it.

"I'm gonna..." Ellie makes a vague gesture back towards the doors. She'll be back soon, but she probably needs to get some things done before she can get any books.

"Safe travels, Ellie." Zelda flashes another smile and raises a hand in farewell.

Ellie gives a nod back and returns the wave, before leaving and going out the doors. She doesn't look back, comfortable that Zelda won't try to attack her.