June 2021 - A New Arrival?

[staymods]

A New Arrival?

For the last two months, arrivals in the settlement have all been the same. First an Otherworlder is picked up by the Finnish government, then they are quarantined and questioned, and finally they are brought to the island. There has been no variance to the pattern, and the familiarity of it gives life in the settlement a kind of rhythm to live by.

Or at least, it did. Up until today.

Because at some point in the early afternoon, the air around the settlement shifts. For a few seconds, anyone outside will feel the hairs stand up on their skin, not unlike a static charge. Then there is a, audible snap, the feeling abruptly disappears, and all returns back to normal.

Except for one important detail: there is now another person in the settlement, standing on the sandy, treeless banks of Snake Island.

Comments

[battling]

[Well. That was sure weird? He looks around at the feeling, but the only thing that seems to have changed is the new arrival.]

Just got here?

[ghoulserrand]

[He startles slightly. He's really not used to be addressed in any way.]

...Would seem so... Where...?

[battling]

"Otherworlder Settlement #5" accordin' to the people who brought us over.

[ghoulserrand]

[Five settlements worth of people from other worlds. The impossibility of all of that is stunning. But one thing goes beyond impossible. He shakes his head.]

No one... brought me over... was just here... Are you an otherworlder...?

[battling]

Just a sudden arrival...? Huh. That's some weird shit goin' down.

Yeah. I ain't from 'round here.

[ghoulserrand]

[He shrugs his shoulders.]

Showing up in... another world... is weird shit. Do you know... how this happened?

[battling]

Sure fuckin' is weird shit.

No, nobody 'round here knows how or why it's happenin'.

[ghoulserrand]

[Passing through worlds, the undead, maybe he was just going to stumble over every mystery of the universe without being any wiser by the end of it. Champion of useless discoveries, that's him.]

Do you know... how to get off this island...?

[He gestures at the empty expanse of Snake island.]

[battling]

's probably a kayak. They got a lot of those 'round here.

Ever used one before?

[ghoulserrand]

Uh...

[Has he used a kayak before? He's not sure. He can't remember kayaking but that doesn't mean much. He can barely remember anything.]

Can't... recall... You?

[battling]

Not since I got here, but 'm learnin' just fine.

[ghoulserrand]

Oh... good. No one to upstage me... on my grand... stupid entrance.

[Is that a dry tone? It's hard to tell, given the rasp, but...]

[battling]

Haven't seen anybody new before ya.

... Is it "congrats" or somethin' else?

[ghoulserrand]

No one?

[Well, that's interesting. Did that mean this guy was new? Or...

Well, there's a more important question to consider.]

Mmm... I am... looking forward to seeing people... living people... it's been a long time. [It won't be the same-- not that he fully knows what he's comparing to, but even a little is a lot to him.] I was supposed to find... someplace... someone. But I... don't think a detour... will hurt.

What about you...?

[battling]

It's just been the same buncha people fer a while.

[blinks. oh. maybe he has been isolated for a while? that happens sometimes.]

Been alone for a while, huh? Plenty of livin' around here.

What d'ya wanna know?

[ghoulserrand]

[The same few. He could live with that. It made him the outsider but that was inevitable regardless.]

Apocalypse. Not much... living left. Lots of dead. Lots of dead...

[What does he want to know? Good question. Everything. Though he should narrow it down.]

...Rules here...? Things needed...?

[battling]

Fuck, man.

[ He doesn't have anything encouraging to say for any of that. ]

Lesse, don't go murdering people around here. Obviously. There's nothing that valuable to take.

We're in the middle of rebuildin'. So help out where ya can.

[ghoulserrand]

[He laughs. It's a faint and hoarse thing, but still.]

I will... try my best... [He always does. He grips the strap of his quiver a moment.]

Rebuilding... I can do that... Probably. No... promises...