=>[MINI-META] The Derelict Camp

[Hivestuck]

The Derelict Camp

You find yourself on a cliffside ledge, hidden from view. The catacombs emerge right into what appears to be a camp made by some sort of vagrant, with a number of supplies and garbage strewn about here and there. Lots of plastic bags, as well as a portable recuperacoon and a pilfered liquid containment unit filled with sopor patches, line the scene. A few stakes stick out of the ground, make-shift fishing poles, as well as a few sharpened rocks that have clearly been used to scribble gibberish on the walls of the cliff.

Noticeably, the entire cliff-face is scarred with lightning patterns.  

[Sypon]

You are set upon by a mangy adult troll who smells heavily of garbage and burnt hair.

"WHOTHEHELLAREYOUDESTROYINM'HOME, YEH?"

He sparks up, his entire body glowing with crackling red energy that snaps and forks so loud you can hear it pulse against your spongeclots. The man has appeared from his position hiding behind a pile of cardboard, his orange eyes wide and wild with fear and confusion.  

[zeflamigo]

When she spotted the other troll, Odette had to quickly stop the gust she was riding on. She didn't know how to process this, but she was having a hard time keeping up with the horrible night in general. This man was strange and terrifying, but he was another troll. A real, tangible troll, simply one with very powerful psionics. Odette gasped softly, making a realization.

"The Helmsman," The words fell out of her mouth without thinking. She quickly covered her mouth with a dainty hand. She had so many questions. What was he doing here? Why was he alive? Was he living here all this time? If so, how had no one found him?

That didn't matter for the moment. She needed to take action, not wonder in her own thoughts. She cleared her throat to speak.

"So sorry, so sorry..." Odette took her foot off of a garbage bag, trying to be polite. She fluttered her eyelashes, trying to look dainty and non-threatening. "We've been hurt and we're running away... There was something awful chasing us. It's destroying the mansion..." She explained, gesturing vaguely to where the mansion would be.

Sypon

 

[Gl!tch~]

Guouli came in behind Odette, still carrying the younger blueblood. His foot was starting to bleed through his sock. Upon his entrance, he quickly caught sight of what appeared to be some stinky hobo. At the force and crack, Guo altered his impression. A psionic hobo. Innnnteresting.

Odette started talking to this dude, and Guo side-eyed her.

He had...absolutely had no idea what was going on.  

[purplerosesbeauty]

Acteon peered over Guo's shoulder to look at the loud, smelly adult man. Wild hair, completely dirty, not wearing proper clothes. They frowned, confused. The pulsing, crackling energy hurt their spongeclots, filling them with a sense of pressure, like being up too high, or having a cold. "Ow..." they whined quietly. Their lusus had warned them once their power would make them feel much more sensitive to psionic energy, and watching the red sparks was... strange.

Odette's words made them realize this really was the Helmsman, Tigwyn. The lightning patterns, the ghostly energy... it must be him! The orangeblood had survived and had been here this whole time? Smelling like trash, and losing his goddamn mind, apparently. It was a bit of a shame to see someone like that...

 

[Sypon]

"Th- huh? Th' mansion! M'mansion!" He howled and chewed his fingernails, looking up at the blackened sky and crumbling mansion and flicking his focus back and forth between the intruders.

"It ain't SAFE! Geddout! GEDDOUT!"

He flailed his arms, lightning coming off of them and making all of his hair stand on end. Every troll around him is bound to experience the same effect; he's practically a magnetic field for frizz. The spaces in between his fingers light up with strands of psionic energy buzzing between them.

"RUN!!"

He rushed behind the cardboard and curled up into a compact sitting position.  

[zeflamigo]

Oh no. This wasn't right. A deep, gut feeling of fear settled in Odette's bile sack, and she quickly acted on instinct.

With a strong grip, Odette wrapped her arms around Steppy and Guouli (and by extension, Acteon). A gust of wind pushed them back with a definite force, like a heavy wave washing over them and throwing them back.

Once they were a healthy distance from Tigwyn, Odette fell to the ground and crouched, waiting for the lightning to come.  

[Sypon]

"LEAVE ME ALOOOONE!" An unknown force set off the man, who glowed red, then white hot with light before a huge discharge of psionics erupted from his location. Any trolls in his vicinity would be tossed off the cliff into the ocean below by the force of his assault.

Shortly after the psionic blast, the filthy troll set to work collecting his cardboard bits and pieces again to make a suitable pile to hide in.

-

The blast has cleared a significant amount of shrubbery. It's a bit of a climb on the ivy and sickly vines hanging off the cliff (or a fly), but the scuttleway appears to be a few stories above you. You can go to the scuttleway and return to The Derelict Camp whenever you would like.  

[Gl!tch~]

Everything went so fast, Guo could barely process it. Almost as if like a second-by-second sequence, the lowblood grabbed him, they got hit by some wind, and barely avoided some major psionics.

Without thinking, Guouli crouched when Odette did. He moved an arm the best he could to shield his eyes from the blast.

As it dissipated, Guo couldn't help but whistle in appreciation of the display. Impressive s**t.

Still, that lowblood better not touch him again.

"So," he spoke up, voice low, "we've got a ghost blob below us, and right in front of us a psionic losing his s**t and tossing lightning around. So now what the hell are we supposed to do?"

And a knife wouldn't solve either problem. Bummer.  

[purplerosesbeauty]

It felt so sudden, feeling their hair stand on end as the static and pressure in the air mounted. Acteon covered their ears and screwed their eyes shut. Another moment and Odette whisked them and Guo away, and Steppy too. They crouched beside the teenage blueblood, covering themself as lightning flashed and decimated the area nearby, where they had been standing moments ago.

Holy s**t. They could have died, killed by a crazy hobo who couldn't even remember who he is.

"What are we gonna do?" they sat up and said, as the lightning died down. Glancing at their lusus, he was still in a bad way, too... And Guouli's foot was bleeding, they noticed. Had it been bloody the whole time?

 

[Micillia]

Avvisi Quills
Kwelin Philip Avvisi

Light! Wind! Air! They were free! Avvisi raised her arms in glee, too happy by the concept of being free to notice where they had come up. She looked around at the others in the clearing, the ones that had already been up there. Now that their lives were no longer in danger, it was back to business.

"Do any of you guys know where we are?" She said, looking around at what they had to work with. She quirked her head at the older man who was working on picking up cardboard. "Excuse me sir, but do you know where we are?" She figured he would know, since he kinda had that "hobo" vibe.  

[zeflamigo]

Odette thought for a good moment. The lightning struck hard and terrifying, decimating the area where they stood prior. It took her some time to quell that primal fear that lingered after such a loud and bright force. She was surprised Guouli seemed much more nonchalant.

"We need those cigarettes— the ones he used to smoke. Ones that inhibit psionics." Odette instructed, and looked up the cliffside towards the scuttleway. "Can you see if you can get some from the man in the scuttlebuggy? You can get patched up, while you're there." Odette almost felt like asking for something for her eventual migraine, but Guo and Acteon's lusus both had more pressing injuries.

"I'll give you a boost up," she offered, certain that it was a stupid idea to try and climb a wall with a child on one's back. She gave them little time to protest— she needed to continue talking to Tigwyn, after all. "Ready? On three," she gave a countdown, and on three, wind-pushed the three of them upward toward the scuttleway. As soon as they were safe on their feet, Odette shouted after them one more time, with a kind "Thank you!"

When she turned back around, another child had made their way onto the scene. The little reporter, she remembered her from the seance with the mutantblood. "Careful!" Odette cautioned the tealblood once again, this time with more earnest fear than disappointment. Still, a part of her felt bad for chastising her so much. "He's the source of the lightning, you'll want to keep your distance!"  

[Yamashii]

The lightning scarred terrain around them was eye catching and an obvious warning sign to all trolls who entered the area. Kwelin was about to recommend they leave to Avvisi when the tealblood noticed other trolls in the area and picked the most dangerous looking one to approach. They were out of the frying pan and into the fire, it seemed.

"Avvisi, I don't think-" A taller redblood approached to warn them. He nodded in response. Kwelin was well learned enough about the world to recognize the famous celebrity, Odette. If she thought it dangerous, it probably was.

But there was something about the man in shambles that was too mysterious to ignore. There was a truth hidden away here that he itched to uncover. And he had his partners right here to try.

"Sir, you might be able to find more pieces to work with on the lawn ring, just up the ivy from here." Kwelin adjusted his glasses out of nervous habit while he addressed the taller, heavier and more powerful adult piecing together a cardboard palace. "I believe there is a medic as well." He eyed the bandages over the troll's eye and the scars covering his body. It was unclear if the man was in pain or not but it was their duty to try and help if he was.  

[Sypon]

"Can't go up there--" The troll muttered under his breath, collecting some more scraps and placing them against the wall. He pointed to the blackening sky. "They're up there. They're all up there."

He hunched over and scratched at his matted hair, biting at the tips of his fingers.  

[Doutei]

Philip didn't know what he'd been expecting but it'd certainly not been this.

"Okay, we'll stay down here a bit longer then." The detective spoke in the calmest voice he could muster. The orangeblood didn't know how to handle this situation quite yet but he knew it was important to keep the psionic calm. The lightning streaks around them served as a warning.

"We'll help you." Philip looked around and picked up one of the stray pieces of cardboard that'd been blasted back. Cautiously, he held it towards Tigwyn to let the older troll decide if they were okay to approach or not.

"It's gonna be okay. We're here to protect you now." It was clear the hobotroll was frightened and it clenched Philip's chest to see. He was scared too but at least he had his friends here to support him. Avvisi and Kwelin had been key to him remaining brave enough to face the things they'd seen in this haunted hive. This poor guy must've been out here alone for so long! No wonder he'd gone mad. Philip wasn't sure he'd fare any better in the same circumstances. The man needed to feel safe before they could do anything. He'd start off with an introduction while Odette coordinated the group plan up top.

"I'm Philip. I'll be your friend. What's your name?"