schoolingfish: (Scared seamonster)
Luca Paguro ([personal profile] schoolingfish) wrote in [community profile] deercountry2022-03-14 12:03 am

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.
grice: (pic#15258839)

[personal profile] grice 2022-04-21 01:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[ falco helps him down gently, cupping his talons out and lowering him down. staying like this might save their skin, so falco decides it the better option to not let go of the titan, just yet.

he raises his hand with a grunt. it was his turn, probably. he won’t try to grab the dice (that was a bad idea), but he does hold his hand out so they’re placed there for the roll, if luca could do that for him! ]

[personal profile] grice 2022-04-22 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ this might be the funniest attempt as rolling dice as a giant, but here it goes— the safest thing that comes to falco is to hover his talons close to the gameboard before simple turning his hand down and— dropping it. he rolls a five, 3 & 2, and turns his head sideways to peer down at the message he gets.

a hunter from the darkest wild
makes you feel just like a child


he doesn't like the sound of a hunter, and is glad, for real, that he's still in this form. one of his hands cups behind luca and keeps him close. ]

cw: some eye gore

[personal profile] grice 2022-04-24 12:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ falco brings luca closer and growls with worry. the firearm is shot again, echoing across the trees and forcing any nearby birds to scatter— and puts one of falco’s eyes out. blood and fluid spews with a pop the second the bullet lodges in and the mix slides fills the socket of his mask, it drains out and leaves an empty hole.

falco feels a twinge at first, and a loss of vision on his right side, nothing more— it doesn’t immediately begin to steam, which was a problem. falco begins to rush luca into his hand, to lift him up because they had to get out of here fast— but the gun sounds again, louder, and from it came an man from a near few meters from them now. geared up, dapper and ready to add to his collection. ]
grice: (pic#14450939)

[personal profile] grice 2022-04-26 03:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[ this twists falco's heart and makes it race faster— the sea-boy had already been through enough hunting, he shouldn't have had to in the first place. falco had an innate gift to put himself in other's position, and this one hurts.

they were both considered monsters. falco was used as a weapon, as battle fodder. luca was despised and feared enough to be hunted. he wanted to wish this all away from him. he wanted to take him so far away from this repeating horror.]


Luuuuca, [ the titan groans, keeping his massive hand over him for added protection. one bullet hits the armor and barely deflects, chips his scaling. it was impossible, but— the game needed an upper hand. from the nape of the titan's neck bursts steam, a lot of it, and from pulsing fibers of flesh came falco, the real falco, connected to it from the spine to the face, limbs and more. it was the only way he could speak better, and show him: ] Luca! Luca, I'm fine—! We'll be fine! I'm here!

[ but they had to get out. van pelt had terrifying aim, and he was worried to death of luca getting hit, too. he didn't have a second body to protect him, and— the bullets are shooting up green stains of vileblood on golden feathers. ]

Lay low, I'm going to run!

[ it was too much a risk to fly; he had to create distance. ]
grice: (pic#14266507)

[personal profile] grice 2022-04-28 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ the only mission in this world: protect luca at all costs. van pelt is having a literal blast at this crying child-soon-to-be-trophy— and in a second’s clap, he’s shouting blast! in anger. falco has taken the one second it took for a weapon to reload (he had trained ears, he knew this sound and knew when he had to strike and how long he had)— but rather than strike, falco flees the scene. the jaw titan is an incredible running force on land, with long limbs and claws to dig and pull momentum beneath them. falco runs and runs fast through the jungle’s growth until he can’t hear the guns anymore. at least, not close by. ]
grice: (pic#14728924)

[personal profile] grice 2022-04-29 06:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[ they were far enough to rest by now, falco thinks. he ran a lot, and if van pelt was still on their tails, he'd probably only really disappear when they've won the game. he doesn't want to know what would happen if he tried to harm the man, and doesn't want to think of even trying.

there must be another way out, and once he's found a spot that's easy to climb out of, falco returns from his fleshy cockpit in another mesh of steam— and some coughing. when he's in there, he's suspended in liquid-somethings. ]


It doesn't hurt— not if it doesn't get my real body. [ falco lifts his head and lifts the titan's up slightly in the process; the eye is steaming and only now beginning to close up. ] I'm just . . . Glad you're okay.
grice: (pic#14540397)

go right ahead for endgame! 💛

[personal profile] grice 2022-04-30 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah– it’s more like that.

[ at least on his back, if they had to run again, falco can get them out. in the meantime, he keeps his eyes and ears open for what’s around them. falco swallows tight and gives him the best bit of energy by glance that he could.

six. that’s all they needed. that’s all they needed to end those gunshots, the waters, the frogs— ]


Good luck.
Edited 2022-04-30 04:03 (UTC)
grice: (pic#14810273)

[personal profile] grice 2022-05-02 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ falco looks, even if his heart is rattling fast and even faster when he thought he heard another distant but approaching crack of a rifle gun. no, he watches the dice fall intently and chants with every bit of power he had in his thoughts for a six or higher.

it lands on enough. enough. falco gasps and rips his arm out clean from the titan’s tissue to go for his friend’s shoulder, giving it a shake and being close to tears himself.

he’s lost, technically, but he feels like he’s won just as much as luca (they definitely have). ]


You did it—!

[ they wrap back to their homes as if they haven’t been roaming around a killer jungle— and with prizes in tow. ]