Luca Paguro (
schoolingfish) wrote in
deercountry2022-03-14 12:03 am
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Welcome to the Jungle
Who: Luca and you! (Also one closed prompt for Reaper)
What: Various Jumanji prompts, plus non-event prompts with Luca swimming either in the ocean or, on the full moon night, in the Salt Lake and one closed prompt of him stealing from Reaper
When: Throughout the month
Where: In the jungle, in the ocean, in the Salt Lake, in Reaper's room
Content Warnings: A child drinking blood in the Reaper prompt, discussion of corruption in all prompts, a child being hunted in the Van Pelt prompt
Event Prompts
Rushing Rivers - OTA
He rolls the dice. His piece moves. And then...
'Every month at the quarter moon there'll be a monsoon in your lagoon.'
"Well, at least that sounds like something I..." And then he sees the size of the water rushing towards him. "Oh, carp."
Instantly he's swept away. Of course, of all the people who could be caught in something like this, Luca's better off than most. Sure, he's an ocean creature, not a river creature, but his species are nothing if not adaptable. They can change to survive on land, they can change to survive in the deep ocean, and like bull sharks and mollies and other highly adaptable fish, he's not going to die just because he's in fresh water, even though he wouldn't prefer it.
He might, however, die if he gets beaten to death against the rocks. He fears this might happen when the rush of water first cascades into him, smashing his body into what was now a river bed several times. His body instantly changes into his sea monster form, and while that doesn't save him from the initial battering he receives from the coursing river, his tail does give him an advantage in trying to gain some control. After getting bruised, scraped and battered against rocks and roots below him, Luca manages to get his tail moving and manages to work his way up, moving higher in the water as he goes, when he spots someone else trapped in the same situation. Someone who likely doesn't have gills.
Having managed to gain some control of his movement in the water, Luca manages to swim to the other person, grabbing them tightly and hoping that having someone grapple them when they're already struggling in the water won't make them panic and push him off. After all, he needs to get them to the surface.
Trophy Hunter - OTA
It's not the first time he's been hunted. It's not even the first time in the Trench he's been hunted. Not after that month where Darkbloods had the urge to hunt Vilebloods. Then of course, there was back home with Ercole hunting him. Home where there had been a 200,000 lira reward for dead sea monsters. He's terrified, but at the same time he knows how to do this, and he was determined to survive.
Luca doesn't make a sound, but simply scurries away from where he last saw Van Pelt, ears pricked for any sign that he's near. Spotting a mess of vines and ferns, he immediately gets down, covering himself in plant life to avoid being spotted. Not a moment too soon, either, because shortly after that he hears footsteps. When the other person approaches, though, he realizes that this isn't Van Pelt. If they happen to catch a glimpse of Luca, his finger will slowly rise to his lips, trying to shush them before they give their location away.
All Other Jumanji Prompts – OTA
When he sees the other person roll the dice, he watches, eyes wide, body tense in anticipation of some new horror he'll have to face. Luca's already been through so much with this, but he knows the only way to conquer it is to keep going, and that the sooner they face everything they have to face in this game, the sooner it can be over.
As he watches the piece move itself to it's new spot, Luca finally asks, "So...what's it say?"
He doesn't know if he'll understand it. He doesn't know if he'll have enough time after hearing what it says to do anything before the game does whatever it's going to do. Still, he wants any edge he can get in trying to prepare. He knows that even a split second of an advantage in this game can be the difference between life and death.
Non-Event Prompts
The Ocean – OTA
After everything that happened in the game, Luca can feel corruption creeping into his mind. He hasn't begun to physically change yet, but with the way he's flowed in and out of corruption lately, he's become familiar with it's shadow creeping in. The increased hunger for blood, the impulsivity, the feelings of shame and disgust with himself. The fear and paranoia. He's managing to keep it at bay, though.
He knows, of course, that he should go to his housemates to talk about it like Varian said, but it's harder once he begins to feel it's pull. Ultimately, he decides he'll try and relax. Try and get his mind off of things. Maybe try to remember various corruption remedies he might have heard or read about during his time here. And all this starts with going to the ocean.
Though he is curious about the land and loves it, at the end of the day, he is a creature of the sea and being near the ocean gives him a sense of familiarity and comfort. Besides, it's finally getting warmer. Sure, it's not warm enough yet that most people would consider it reasonable weather for a swim, but it's warm enough that the water shouldn't feel colder than a typical Ligurian winter, and seeing as he's used to being in the water year round, that means that the ocean should be just fine for him.
He's had some custom swimming attire made for just this sort of situation, since he'd been advised of the issues with regularly swimming in his clothes, and he strips down to a Victorian style swim suit and dives right in. Of course, he's had overlapping seams put in so he'd have a hidden opening for his tail, only visible when it grew in to fill the gap, so once he hits the water and changes to his sea monster form he's able to do so without damaging his clothing.
Once in the water, he begins to swim away from the shore, looking around at various objects and debris underwater, searching for anything he might be able to slip into a pocket to use for trade later, or perhaps a sea cucumber to snack on. He doesn't go far from the shore. He doesn't want to risk going too far from other people if he runs into trouble, after all. Still, he's careful to avoid fishing boats or crowded areas, and manages to avoid being spotted until he heads back to the dock to deposit his various rocks and other pretty things in one of the pockets of his discarded clothing before searching for more. That's when he spots someone looking at him.
"Oh. Um. Hi." He waits for a response, unsure of how they're going to react.
Baby shark, doo-doo, doo-doo – Closed to Reaper
He's managed to keep the corruption at bay until now, but he decides he really should go back to the house to talk about the problems he's experiencing. He gets derailed on that mission, though, when he passes Reaper's room. He doesn't know what it is at first, only that he smells something...tantalizing. He pauses by Reaper's door, taking in a deep breath, inhaling the scent. It's amazing.
At first he reasons that Reaper must have cooked something and taken it back to his room. After all, he's an amazing cook, and most of his food elicits a very similar reaction from Luca. But no, he realizes, it doesn't smell like Reaper's cooking usually does at all. It smells like blood.
Instantly concerned that Reaper might be hurt in there, Luca suddenly opens the door, "Reaper, are you--"
Then he realizes. No one is in there.
He knows it's foolish to enter Reaper's room. And yet, the smell draws him in. He can't resist it. He finds himself taking step after step further into the room. It makes sense, he assures himself, there's blood in Reaper's room and he needs to know what's going on. But that's not true and he knows it. He doesn't need to know Reaper's secret at all. He probably doesn't even want to know why there's blood in Reaper's room. He realizes as he pulls vials of blood from between the mattresses and begins to down the first one that he's only doing this because he's hungry.
Once the taste of blood fills his mouth, he doesn't even care that that's the reason. He's so lost drinking vial after vial that he doesn't even notice when Reaper returns to his room.
Salt Lake on a Full Moon Night – OTA
After the incident and....everything with Reaper, Luca realizes, as he stares at the full moon wondering what kind of monster he's become, that he needs to get this under control. Thankfully, he remembers the Salt Lake, and how he's heard it can heal corruption. It's exactly what he needs, and the idea of swimming again in the warm, pink, salty water sounds nice even just for the sake of being able to swim in it.
Soon anyone visiting the Salt Lake will find one more saltwater creature splashing around in it's waters as Luca strips down to his swimsuit and dives right in. He can already feel the weight and stress of his corruption lift as his sanity is slowly restored. Before long, from the sheer relief of it all, he finds himself laughing and leaping out of the water, chasing fish around and overall enjoying every moment of his saltwater bath.
What: Various Jumanji prompts, plus non-event prompts with Luca swimming either in the ocean or, on the full moon night, in the Salt Lake and one closed prompt of him stealing from Reaper
When: Throughout the month
Where: In the jungle, in the ocean, in the Salt Lake, in Reaper's room
Content Warnings: A child drinking blood in the Reaper prompt, discussion of corruption in all prompts, a child being hunted in the Van Pelt prompt
Event Prompts
Rushing Rivers - OTA
He rolls the dice. His piece moves. And then...
'Every month at the quarter moon there'll be a monsoon in your lagoon.'
"Well, at least that sounds like something I..." And then he sees the size of the water rushing towards him. "Oh, carp."
Instantly he's swept away. Of course, of all the people who could be caught in something like this, Luca's better off than most. Sure, he's an ocean creature, not a river creature, but his species are nothing if not adaptable. They can change to survive on land, they can change to survive in the deep ocean, and like bull sharks and mollies and other highly adaptable fish, he's not going to die just because he's in fresh water, even though he wouldn't prefer it.
He might, however, die if he gets beaten to death against the rocks. He fears this might happen when the rush of water first cascades into him, smashing his body into what was now a river bed several times. His body instantly changes into his sea monster form, and while that doesn't save him from the initial battering he receives from the coursing river, his tail does give him an advantage in trying to gain some control. After getting bruised, scraped and battered against rocks and roots below him, Luca manages to get his tail moving and manages to work his way up, moving higher in the water as he goes, when he spots someone else trapped in the same situation. Someone who likely doesn't have gills.
Having managed to gain some control of his movement in the water, Luca manages to swim to the other person, grabbing them tightly and hoping that having someone grapple them when they're already struggling in the water won't make them panic and push him off. After all, he needs to get them to the surface.
Trophy Hunter - OTA
It's not the first time he's been hunted. It's not even the first time in the Trench he's been hunted. Not after that month where Darkbloods had the urge to hunt Vilebloods. Then of course, there was back home with Ercole hunting him. Home where there had been a 200,000 lira reward for dead sea monsters. He's terrified, but at the same time he knows how to do this, and he was determined to survive.
Luca doesn't make a sound, but simply scurries away from where he last saw Van Pelt, ears pricked for any sign that he's near. Spotting a mess of vines and ferns, he immediately gets down, covering himself in plant life to avoid being spotted. Not a moment too soon, either, because shortly after that he hears footsteps. When the other person approaches, though, he realizes that this isn't Van Pelt. If they happen to catch a glimpse of Luca, his finger will slowly rise to his lips, trying to shush them before they give their location away.
All Other Jumanji Prompts – OTA
When he sees the other person roll the dice, he watches, eyes wide, body tense in anticipation of some new horror he'll have to face. Luca's already been through so much with this, but he knows the only way to conquer it is to keep going, and that the sooner they face everything they have to face in this game, the sooner it can be over.
As he watches the piece move itself to it's new spot, Luca finally asks, "So...what's it say?"
He doesn't know if he'll understand it. He doesn't know if he'll have enough time after hearing what it says to do anything before the game does whatever it's going to do. Still, he wants any edge he can get in trying to prepare. He knows that even a split second of an advantage in this game can be the difference between life and death.
Non-Event Prompts
The Ocean – OTA
After everything that happened in the game, Luca can feel corruption creeping into his mind. He hasn't begun to physically change yet, but with the way he's flowed in and out of corruption lately, he's become familiar with it's shadow creeping in. The increased hunger for blood, the impulsivity, the feelings of shame and disgust with himself. The fear and paranoia. He's managing to keep it at bay, though.
He knows, of course, that he should go to his housemates to talk about it like Varian said, but it's harder once he begins to feel it's pull. Ultimately, he decides he'll try and relax. Try and get his mind off of things. Maybe try to remember various corruption remedies he might have heard or read about during his time here. And all this starts with going to the ocean.
Though he is curious about the land and loves it, at the end of the day, he is a creature of the sea and being near the ocean gives him a sense of familiarity and comfort. Besides, it's finally getting warmer. Sure, it's not warm enough yet that most people would consider it reasonable weather for a swim, but it's warm enough that the water shouldn't feel colder than a typical Ligurian winter, and seeing as he's used to being in the water year round, that means that the ocean should be just fine for him.
He's had some custom swimming attire made for just this sort of situation, since he'd been advised of the issues with regularly swimming in his clothes, and he strips down to a Victorian style swim suit and dives right in. Of course, he's had overlapping seams put in so he'd have a hidden opening for his tail, only visible when it grew in to fill the gap, so once he hits the water and changes to his sea monster form he's able to do so without damaging his clothing.
Once in the water, he begins to swim away from the shore, looking around at various objects and debris underwater, searching for anything he might be able to slip into a pocket to use for trade later, or perhaps a sea cucumber to snack on. He doesn't go far from the shore. He doesn't want to risk going too far from other people if he runs into trouble, after all. Still, he's careful to avoid fishing boats or crowded areas, and manages to avoid being spotted until he heads back to the dock to deposit his various rocks and other pretty things in one of the pockets of his discarded clothing before searching for more. That's when he spots someone looking at him.
"Oh. Um. Hi." He waits for a response, unsure of how they're going to react.
Baby shark, doo-doo, doo-doo – Closed to Reaper
He's managed to keep the corruption at bay until now, but he decides he really should go back to the house to talk about the problems he's experiencing. He gets derailed on that mission, though, when he passes Reaper's room. He doesn't know what it is at first, only that he smells something...tantalizing. He pauses by Reaper's door, taking in a deep breath, inhaling the scent. It's amazing.
At first he reasons that Reaper must have cooked something and taken it back to his room. After all, he's an amazing cook, and most of his food elicits a very similar reaction from Luca. But no, he realizes, it doesn't smell like Reaper's cooking usually does at all. It smells like blood.
Instantly concerned that Reaper might be hurt in there, Luca suddenly opens the door, "Reaper, are you--"
Then he realizes. No one is in there.
He knows it's foolish to enter Reaper's room. And yet, the smell draws him in. He can't resist it. He finds himself taking step after step further into the room. It makes sense, he assures himself, there's blood in Reaper's room and he needs to know what's going on. But that's not true and he knows it. He doesn't need to know Reaper's secret at all. He probably doesn't even want to know why there's blood in Reaper's room. He realizes as he pulls vials of blood from between the mattresses and begins to down the first one that he's only doing this because he's hungry.
Once the taste of blood fills his mouth, he doesn't even care that that's the reason. He's so lost drinking vial after vial that he doesn't even notice when Reaper returns to his room.
Salt Lake on a Full Moon Night – OTA
After the incident and....everything with Reaper, Luca realizes, as he stares at the full moon wondering what kind of monster he's become, that he needs to get this under control. Thankfully, he remembers the Salt Lake, and how he's heard it can heal corruption. It's exactly what he needs, and the idea of swimming again in the warm, pink, salty water sounds nice even just for the sake of being able to swim in it.
Soon anyone visiting the Salt Lake will find one more saltwater creature splashing around in it's waters as Luca strips down to his swimsuit and dives right in. He can already feel the weight and stress of his corruption lift as his sanity is slowly restored. Before long, from the sheer relief of it all, he finds himself laughing and leaping out of the water, chasing fish around and overall enjoying every moment of his saltwater bath.
no subject
[But probably she's just getting used to the water. After all, their bond shares emotions, not physical sensation. Still, it's nice to think their bond might make her more comfortable. Then she mentions what brought him here, and, well...]
I...think the Jumanji game got to me. I mean, the flooding thing wasn't too bad, but I ran into that hunter, and it reminded me of being hunted back home. I mean, I know he hunts everyone who plays the game and it wasn't because I'm a sea monster, but...it still felt the same.
[Also the fear of impending death.]
Also...I'm not sure I should tell anyone this, but...Reaper's been drinking blood, too. I smelled sleeper blood in his room. Then I kind of walked in without realizing what I was doing and drank it all. He wasn't mad about it when he caught me though! I was worried he would be.
[It's kind of worrying how much difficulty he has sometimes stopping himself once he smells blood.]
no subject
[Luz naturally loved water, but she would be just as thrilled if it was something she shared with Luca]!
Ugh, that hunter! I ran into him a few times, he was NOT a nice guy. It's a good thing I wasn't with you. If he tried to shoot you in my presence, he would have had to deal with a hot foot courtesy of Luz town.
I'm sorry he reminded you of the way the townsfolk used to act toward you though. That must have been pretty scary.
[Not that Luz had been any less scared. Guns still had a tendency to freak her out].
Hmm. I'd be more worried about HOW he got the blood. If he's going around draining people, it's only a matter of time before we get an angry mob coming at our door, something that Fern was totally trying to avoid. Still, that doesn't seem like Reaper's style either.
And you couldn't stop yourself?
no subject
[After the month where vilebloods were targeted to be hunted and now this, it seems to be something that happens a lot to him.]
I mean, I wouldn't jump to assuming it's anything bad like that. I know when Charlie used to be here, he talked about selling his blood because there's a lot of stuff you can trade it for around here, and I know I've seen several Sleepers asking for donations so they can study it more. There's lots of ways to get blood around here.
[He's more worried about his own lack of control than the fact that Reaper had blood.]
I...I couldn't. No. I wonder if it's because I was already starting to have some corruption from the whole Jumanji game and being hunted? But smelling it just made me so hungry...
no subject
[Or the very least, it should be something different]!
That is true. It just feel like we would have learned about this from Reaper already, that he needed blood and had a way to get it. But he's so secretive. Now I haven't heard anything about someone grabbing blood from Sleepers recently, so maybe you're right!
[Look, with all that was already happening with Darth Maul, Luz really REALLY wanted Luca to be right, that she was jumping to bad conclusions and that Reaper could obtain that blood from willing participants.
Maybe she ought to just ask him directly].
We might want to find the answer to that. Would you say that you're not close to corruption now?
no subject
[Luca's not really sure he wants the answer, though. His memory's kind of fuzzy after drinking all the blood since the corruption had increased, but he's afraid of the answer being something they won't like. He remembers something about hunting vermin, but he knows that has nothing to do with the blood in the room since that wasn't animal blood.]
Not now. I was when I lost control and drank the blood, but I'm doing much better now.
no subject
[And a monster? Luz strangely still didn't see vampires like that, despite having been feed on by one back in Deerington, and certainly didn't see Reaper as one].
So you think it only happens when you're close to corruption?
no subject
[And yet, he doesn't feel that sure. Almost like he has some faint memory of his corrupted self hunting with Reaper. He pushes the thought out of his mind. He's pretty sure they just hunted animals. For food.]
I mean, I want blood when I smell it even without corruption, but the loss of control only seems to happen when I'm close to corruption. And...I don't know where Reaper got the blood, but...I think if it turns out that he's taking it from unwilling people, then it's probably corruption and I think if it is that, we should help him.
[After all, he knows Reaper got kicked out of the house once, but he doesn't want that to happen again when Reaper needs them the most. Besides, they've all fallen into corruption at some point or another. It's not something any of them can completely keep at bay.]
no subject
[In this case, taking blood, while likely something Reaper has no choice about, might be made into something sinister].
I knew that was the case with you. With Reaper things get tricky. When Darth Maul went on a rampage people were pretty frantic. I don't want that to happen to Reaper.
[She would just have to hope the blood thing wasn't as bad as it appeared to be].
Of course we'll help him. He's one of our housemates! We all take care of each other, right?
no subject
[And that's honestly why he's worried about Reaper. At least with Luca, people here tended to give him the benefit of the doubt. Even when Rose saw him eating in the Sleeper Farm, she realized he was just a kid and gave him a chance. He doubts people would be so willing to give someone like Reaper the benefit of the doubt.]
Right! He's one of our housemates! I just worry since he's...you know. An adult with a mysterious but probably very shady background? I worry people will just think he's bad if he ends up corrupted without realizing he just needs help.
no subject
[If Reaper was a mass murderer, he was SUPER good at hiding it, but obviously Luz wasn't at that conclusion yet. There was more going on, and Luz didn't want to jump to conclusions about her house mate.
Luz WAS willing to give him the benefit of the doubt despite everything. She was understanding that people could be VERY complicated].
I think we might take for granted how smart Reaper is. If he's corrupted, we expect people to be in a kind of mindless mode. But if they're actually, you know, intelligent, that's actually a pretty scary thought.
It doesn't help he has a reputation with certain people too.
no subject
[So he knows that his own mind didn't really go completely.]
And you're right, the reputation doesn't help, either.
no subject
[Either way, it was honestly a little scary].
Oh yeah. The farm.
[Not good memories there].
Sometimes I feel like people should lock up Reaper and Darth Maul whenever they get a hair up their butt to start doing crazy stuff. It never helps them on the network.
no subject
[Because he knows neither of them is bad full time, but he also knows some people might be fooled into thinking that if they looked at some of these network posts.]
no subject
[Luz didn't want to be nosy, and yet? She really, really did].
And Darth Maul tends to lean into the bad part most of the time. You think he'd be sick of that profiling by now.
no subject
[No offense to Maul, Luca doesn't hate him or anything, but...he saw his threatening post after his curse had been lifted.]
Yeah, I'd think so, too. But apparently not. I'm so used to wanting to show people that I'm not a monster that I really didn't expect to meet someone who was okay with proving them right.
no subject
[And of course, the two of them would have no idea what the deal was with Reaper and Maul. Probably for the better].
He was raised to BE like that, and he had someone gaslighting him for years. For Darth Maul, being imposing and scary is what was always his role.
no subject
[Sure, humans might have regarded him as a monster, but that wasn't his role. His role was to be a good son, he was taught to help out around the farm by herding fish and keeping them safe. Humans wanting to kill him because he was seen as a monster was a constant threat that shadowed over his life, but it never defined him.]
no subject
[With Maul, and Luz knew better than to talk about it, it was something that Maul's so-called mentor made happen: he saw Maul as a weapon and made sure he used him sufficiently. Luz couldn't even imagine all the pain and hurt Darth Maul had gone through to make him as fragmented and as divisive as he was now. Seeing hints of it was enough for Luz to truly despise Pulpitine].
no subject
[So many people here have seen bits of his past, and he's definitely seen bits of other people's pasts as well.]
You know, as much as this place is frustrating in how it keeps dredging up stuff we'd like to forget, I guess it can be helpful, too, because I'm not sure too many people would try to understand where Maul was coming from without stuff like that.
no subject
[Luz knew that saying something like that was a curse, but she was honestly getting a little sick of it at this point].
Well, that depends. For one thing, I think the reason I wasn't brutalized by Darth Maul when he found out was because he already knows me. He was not happy about me seeing it at all. He's very protective about what people know about him.
no subject
[Because of course it didn't. Luca's not the type to brutalize anyone, period. Certainly not over something they didn't do intentionally.]
no subject
[Better Luz DIDN'T tell him about the time Darth Maul almost forced choked her to death under Deerington influence].
((OOC: He might be able to gleam it anyway though, because of their Bond, but in little glimpses)).
no subject
He didn't...he didn't do something to you, did he?
no subject
But he wasn't in his right mind. That time he almost burned Fern alive and did kill Varian.
And my sister at the time.
no subject
[And scary. At least with Reaper, Luca knows that while he does questionable things, he has no intention of hurting them. With Maul...well, Luz says he wasn't in his right mind at the time. Luca understands that, since he's gone beast himself. Maybe it's not as bad as it sounds. But...Varian...]
Killed...but he wasn't in his right mind at the time. I guess...I mean...Varian's let him come around, and I'm assuming that that was before I came here since I think I'd remember Varian dying like that, so...I guess that means that Varian is really certain he wouldn't do that without the Trench's influence, right?
[He hesitates.]
That's still terrifying to hear about, though.
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[End here]?
That works for me!