[Anniversary Event Starting Log] I Awaken To Another Day...

[thepull_mods]

Who: Open Log! This means everybody!
When: September 1st, 1918. Dawn.
Where: Farmer Whitty's Squash Patch, City of Missionworth (Ye Olde... Baseball Diamond?)
Summary: Midnight on New Years Eve finds the entire Newcomer Community thrust backwards in time...oh, 95 years or so?
Warnings: A lot of potentially drunk people are about to land facefirst in a field. Once word is out that a small horde of strangers have mysteriously arrived on the island, Military Forces will be rounding them up for questioning. You be the judge of how badly this goes.



Whether right in the middle of a rowdy parties as toasts are raised with complementary champagne, or having a quiet evening at home on the couch, watching GloTV's annual Auld Lang Syne Countdown Extravaganza, a sickeningly familiar tug of a feeling suddenly wrenches in the gut of every Newcomer on the island who has been brought here by Pull in the past three years.

As fireworks sound over AGI tower and the clock finishes striking twelve, the world spins. For a dazzling colorful moment, flashing scenes from their stay in Port roll backwards like rewound film before their eyes. It becomes a blur, the Pull drawing tighter and tighter, ears might pop and there's a very good chance the contents of their stomachs might be turned out.

And then there is coolness, a brisk breeze, morning dew and damp earth beneath them all.

The newcomers are scattered across a planted field of winding vines and colorful gourds, which won't be ready for harvesting for another month or so. Several startled crows are circling overhead, screaming. There are no tall towers on the skyline, and there are more surrounding trees, particularly toward the western horizon- golds and oranges of early autumn.

To the east, a picturesque early 20th century settlement stretches to the island shoreline, already bustling with traffic and construction in the early dawn's light. There is no putrid, sick-sweet rotting smell which normally lingers for awhile in the morning fog, after the lifting of darkness.

Two young boys stand agape at the edge of the field for several moment, leaning over a fencepost, then turn and tear off towards a homestead not far away, shouting for their papa.

Welcome to the City of Missionworth. Look's like The Core's decided to give you all a history lesson for the New Year.

Comments

[retraced]

"In your-?"

He glances down at her and has to hold back a laugh at the sight of her pulling grass out of her hair, despite the strange situation that they'd found themselves in. He reaches over and pulls a bit more from the back of her head, dropping it onto the ground. Panicking can wait one more second.

"It's just some grass."

[motioned]

She combs through her hair a few more times with her fingers as she looks around, still looking around the squash field curiously.

"Do you see Oz yet?"

[retraced]

He frowns and turns to look behind himself. It's mostly trees that way, and a hint of a horizon line that also looks oddly familiar. But seeing Ahiru and some other vaguely familiar faces now staggering out of the squash patch puts his mind at ease a bit. If they're okay, then Oz definitely is too.

"Come on, let's see who else we can find," he says as he puts a hand on her shoulder and leads her down the middle of a few colorful pumpkins.

"We weren't sent home...at least, not to our own."

[motioned]

She moves away from his touch slightly, letting his hand drop from her shoulder so she can reach out and take it with her own hand instead, giving it a squeeze.

"Yeah. It looks more like back home, but it's still not the same."

She looks at the ground thoughtfully. Even though this is all new and a bit frightening, it's some small relief that they weren't all sent home.

[retraced]

He lets her take his hand without complaint. He even reaches over with his other hand to hold on top of hers to warm it up. Though, it doesn't feel quite as cold as it had been back in Siren's Port; this feels more like early fall than mid-winter. Still, it's definitely not summer weather by any means.

He shoves through a bush to start cutting through the middle of the field. A boy nearby springs to his feet and runs away before he has a chance to stop and ask if he's all right.

"H-hey!" he snaps, but the boy doesn't even turn to look back at them.

[motioned]

She follows after him, holding tight to his hand, only pausing when the boy moves away from them so quickly.

"Ah-!"

She reaches out a hand, trying to signal to him that he doesn't have to run, but he doesn't even look back as he sprints away. She watches his retreating back for a moment before looking back towards Gilbert.

"Will he be okay? Should we follow him?"

[retraced]

They should be looking for others, but they need answers, too! He grasps her hand a little tighter and nods, starting to rush as quickly as he dares while still pulling her along.

"Hold on a second!"

[motioned]

"Please, mister, I promise we aren't going to hurt you or anything!"

She tries to hurry, but her shoes aren't really the most practical to run in. After a moment, she stops, peeling both of them off, setting them down on the field with a look of regret that only lasts a minute before she starts to run again.

[retraced]

"Hey - "

He's about to insist that she just pick them up and carry them, but they can always come back and get them once they get some answers. He takes off again across the field, where the boy has actually stopped to watch them, thinking that they'd given up. But upon seeing them, he starts running again.

"We just want to know where we are!"

[motioned]

She slows a bit again, sighing and looking after the boy's back as he runs again.

"Dad, I think we're scaring him, maybe we should try and find someone else."

[retraced]

"...Then let's at least follow him and see where he goes. There has to be someone here who can help us."

Though he's still looking across the field for another familiar face as he starts forward again.

[motioned]

She nods and gives his hand a squeeze, looking up towards him with concern.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Dad."

[retraced]

It's better that they're all together rather than apart, that's true, but if they'd been brought to this world, and it ended up being a worse situation than the last, then they might not be able to count themselves lucky for very long.

But he doesn't share this pessimistic thought with her; he only nods, tries to smile, and then says, "Do your feet hurt? I can carry you if you need."

[motioned]

She looks down, a bit self conscious all of a sudden.

"They don't, but - I'm not slowing you down, am I?"

[retraced]

"No, I - just don't want your feet to hurt."

They're not chasing the kid anymore; they can take it at a slower pace now, but the ground might still hurt.

[motioned]

"Oh, don't worry about that. I mean, I'm fine."

She smiles, but she's too nervous for it to be very reassuring.

[retraced]

He'll...allow it. For now. But he still keeps a close eye on her as he clasps her hand a little tighter and continues leading the two of them out of the field.

[motioned]

She grips his hand tighter in return, peering at their surroundings curiously.

"I can't see him anymore. That boy, I mean, so... Which way do you want to go?"

[retraced]

"This way. He must have run past those trees over there."

Strange, that road ahead that twists and points down that hill looks familiar. Gil isn't sure why, but he's suddenly craving coffee...of course, though he doesn't realize it, this is where his favorite coffee shop would usually be.