⚒ 009 | video

[rocked]

[Clove is looking... kind of terrible. She's in a forest, and it doesn't look like she's had a shower (or a decent meal, or a good night's sleep) in weeks, if not more.

She's also apparently not alone. Before saying anything, she glances over her shoulder to make sure no one is watching her, and when she does speak it's in a quiet tone.]

I need supplies. Food mostly, and better weapons-- my knives are going dull, and I don't have any sharpening tools.

... We weren't supposed to be out here this long.

Comments

[twobloomsup]

...unreachable!?

[The look says it all.]

[masked_god]

Of course. Sometimes worlds are 'locked' by the community, for whatever reason. My world is locked during the end of the Inquest, stopping me from saving my friends; we cannot reach the girl trapped in a dream world...and apparently Clove's world is locked as well.

[twobloomsup]

But why...?

[He scratches his head.]

[masked_god]

Hmm. A friend once told me it was due to something called 'narrative causality', a side effect of this place's status as a possibility vortex.

She said in places where alternate worlds mingle, the fabric of universes is stretched and twisted...and sometimes snaps back, forcing worlds to deal with their own problems rather than relying upon outside interference.

[twobloomsup]

[There is a short pause as Stanley digests that.]

So this is like pulling too hard on a vine?

[Nothing like using gardening metaphors to describe cosmic metaphysics.]

[masked_god]

[He laughs]

Yes. She used a rather similar explanation.

[twobloomsup]

Then we just need a way to grow more of those vines!

[There is a short pause as Stanley thinks about what he said]

...easier said than done, huh?

[masked_god]

Not necessarily. One wouldn't want to sicken the soil, correct?

[twobloomsup]

In that case, there needs to be other plants than those vines, to keep the soil feeling good.

[Stop derailing the topic, Green Midget.]

[masked_god]

Indeed. But sometimes nothing can be done to save a plant...and in that case is it not better to care for the ground and protect the rest from a blight?

[But is he derailing it? After all, Karakael knows nothing of plants...but quite a lot about planets]

[twobloomsup]

[He rubs his chin.]

...never want it to happen, but yes. You're right.

[This could be the start of a mutually beneficial and practical relationship.]

[masked_god]

Unfortunate as it is, sometimes you cannot save everything.

[twobloomsup]

[A beginning of a sigh escapes Stanley's lips, but he perks up.]

But we can still do what we can, and that's what matters.

[masked_god]

Indeed. Perhaps we cannot save your friend's world now, but perhaps we will have a chance to help her in the future.

[twobloomsup]

Yeah, you're right.