The Thing of Whatever Saga ~ Chapter 0: Beginning

(Discussion thread)

Since this is just getting started, I'll open with a description I posted on the ETF Discord-

A group of assorted characters go on a quest to find the "Thing of Whatever" (which is basically a nonspecific important item of unclear appearance and purpose) in some random world. Once they get it, though, the entire multiverse "resets". That is, the ToW is removed from their possession, and it/they are all taken to a completely different world, where they try to find it all over again. This cycle just keeps repeating every time they get it.

So that's the basic, rough idea.

~Gameplay Details~

• This RP will be divided into "chapters". Every time the Thing of Whatever is found, everything will "reset" (as previously mentioned), and a new chapter will begin.
  
• Generally, new characters will enter the RP at the beginning of a chapter, being there from the start. However, if someone has a special entrance in mind for their character, they are welcome to RP it out at any time during the chapter.
  
• This RP is designed to be very organized and convenient. If a player is going through severe, persistent writer's block, or lacks the time to participate, they can simply sit out the next chapter, and jump back into a later one once they're able to play again.
  
• Not all of a player's characters have to be active during every chapter. Players can choose which of their characters to bring into each new chapter. This means that a player can have a large pool of characters to draw from, not having to worry about playing them all at once.
  
• "Chapter 0" will take place in a Generic Crossover World, and its events will set the rest of the RP in motion. Later chapters, however, may take place in any world at all.
  
• Chapters have no set length, but for variety's sake, I would like them to not last overly long.
  
• If the RP happens to hit a dead end, and seems impossible to recover, simply have the Thing of Whatever be unexpectedly found early.
  

~OOC Details~

• You're welcome to make your own forms from scratch: just remember to include all of the important info (Name, Gender, Fandom/Origin, Appearance, Personality, etc.)
  
• Forms are to be posted on this RP's character archive for organization. (One form per post)
  
• Suggestions for settings and sideplots are WELCOME, as long as they don't completely derail the RP or change its atmosphere in unwelcome ways.
  

-Current Setting-
World: ???
Environment: Mild temperature, foggy, sky is constantly pitch-black with no sign of sun, moon, or even any stars
Threat level: ???/10

-Previous Settings-
(N/A)

It all began in darkness. Not even a single star could be seen shining in the barren sky, but somehow, the grim woodscape was subtly illuminated by a very dim light, rendering its features vaguely visible. A murky haze enveloped the trunks of the gnarled trees, whose branches stretched high into the featureless blackness above, as if desperate to reach beyond the prison of this eternal night.

Beneath the thin forest canopy, Robin awoke, lying against one of the ancient-looking trees' trunks. Murmuring to himself in confusion, he blinked hard, wondering if he was perhaps still asleep. For one thing, it felt very strange to open his eyes and be greeted by such darkness. As his mind gradually cleared, however, he quickly realized that he was, in fact, very much awake.

Considering the peculiarity of suddenly finding himself in such a strange place, Robin couldn't say for sure whether any of it was truly "real" or not. He couldn't even really remember what had happened immediately before arriving here; for all he knew, he could have been knocked unconscious mid-battle. The entire "world" he was witnessing now could very well be the result of a strange and powerful curse cast by an enemy sorcerer. On the other hand, in the event that this bizarre world was somehow actually real, he could not afford to let his guard down. If possible, he had to find answers, and make his way back to his friends. Ah, his friends: even if he wasn't exactly sure how he got here, he definitely still remembered them.

Gaining a more determined expression, Robin pushed himself to his feet, taking a quick look around. It was difficult to see through the darkness, but he soon spotted something lying near a bush: one of his magical tomes. As he otherwise only had a worn iron sword with him right now, he was very glad to have found it.

After retrieving the book, Robin took another look around and found a thick, rather short stick lying nearby. Glancing between it and his tome--which contained lightning magic--an idea came to his mind. Carefully, he picked up the stick, then held up the tome in his left hand. Next, he levitated the stick before him, pointing his outstretched right palm towards its uppermost tip. Finally, with a hushed utterance of "Thunder," a small spark flew from his right hand, striking the tip of the stick. In a moment, the wood began to burn, and a small flame had formed, the sight of which make him sigh gently in relief. It wasn't much, but any light was welcome in this darkness.

Taking the makeshift torch in hand, Robin used it to light his way as he explored the area even more. After a moment, he came across a dirt path cutting through the woods. This was potentially a good sign, as a path often led to some form of civilization. Remaining ever-cautious, he proceeded along the path, hoping to find someone helpful at its end.

"Uuuuunnnngh..." A soft, strained groan rose from Lucas' throat as he felt himself gradually starting to regain consciousness. "... Wh--... Where's..." he began to murmur while he was still coming to. He sounded to be in quite a daze, and this certainly wasn't just from being in a half-asleep state-- the boy had truly been through a lot just mere moments before. He briefly felt as thought his eyes were glued shut by the remaining moisture that covered them, but even when he did manage to open them wide enough, he was still greeted by the sight of... Absolute nothingness.

"... Where is everyone...?" Lucas, now more awake, repeated; his tone was still very soft, but this time it had much more clarity, at least. He waited for several moments, but no response came back to him. His expression growing more troubled at this point, he quickly pushed himself up to his feet to get a look around... And much to his surprise, he was met with the realization that he had actually awoken in some sort of hazy, ominous forest clearing. It was unlike any forest he had seen before, and staring up at the astoundingly tall, gnarled trees filled him both with a feeling of awe and a nagging sense of dread. A chill ran through his entire body and he swiftly returned his gaze to his immediate surroundings, where he suddenly noticed something else; the stick he had been most recently using for battle was here as well, resting against the trunk of one nearby tree. Though he was deeply unsettled by the fact that there was no one else in sight, seeing this familiar stick sparked a glimmer of hope within; perhaps others HAD appeared somewhere around here, as well, and he just had to venture out a bit to find them.

Taking a deep breath, Lucas picked up the stick with his right hand and took a few careful steps into the thicker part of the forest. Despite his best efforts to remain alert, however, the darkness caused him to misstep rather frequently, getting his feet snagged on twisting branches and roots several times as he attempted to move along. After a while of such struggling left him sufficiently flustered, he eventually stopped walking altogether so he could try gathering his thoughts. I'll never be able to find any of them if I can't even keep myself up... With a distressed sigh, he put the index finger of his left hand to his forehead, thinking as hard as he could.

All of a sudden, this action alone gave Lucas an idea. Oh... Oh yeah... Lowering the same index finger and pointing it ahead, he caused it to emit a faint glow of psychic energy. There... That's a little better, at least, he noted silently. Though he felt like he should have thought of that far sooner, he forced himself to shake away this feeling of sheepishness and continue onward, now staring intently at the slightly more visible ground just ahead of his feet. He soon noticed a dirt path coming into view and began to once again grow hopeful, instinctively following it.

As he continued walking along, Robin noticed a faint light up ahead, shining weakly through the thick fog. Up until then, he had been surrounded by seemingly endless darkness. The sight of even such a dull light was enough to raise his spirits at least a little. He wasn't necessarily put at ease, but it did bring a potentially-reassuring thought to his mind. As far as I can tell, I'm in the middle of nowhere, so a light like that probably means one thing...

... I'm not alone here.

Still as cautious as ever, Robin extinguished the light of his own makeshift torch for now. If someone really was up ahead, he wanted to avoid catching their attention until he was sure they posed no threat. He quickened his pace, taking care to make as little noise as possible.

As Robin got closer and closer to the source of the glowing light, a figure was gradually revealed to him. It appeared to be a child, and the glow was coming from somewhere directly in front of him--Robin couldn't see the light's exact source, as the child was facing away from his direction. He simply assumed it was some sort of torch, much like the one he himself had been carrying.

Now reasonably convinced that he was in no danger, Robin decided to make his presence known. "Ho, there!" he called, but not too loudly--he didn't want to draw the attention of anyone else who may have been lurking in the shadows nearby.

It felt as though the forest was drenched in absolute silence as Lucas slowly moved forward, just barely lighting the path ahead of himself. As far as he could tell, he was still completely alone; he didn't realize that another individual was quietly drawing nearer and nearer...

For this reason, hearing a sudden call coming from behind caught Lucas extremely off-guard. "Ah...?!" With a sharp gasp, the boy whirled around, the hint of light on his fingertip brightening a little in response to his surprise. With help from the slightly more intense light, he was able to get a fairly good look at the figure standing nearby: a young man in a long, dark coat, it appeared. He quickly noted that he didn't recognize this individual at all-- and being significantly on-edge already, this fact just caused him to grow warier, having no idea how the stranger would react to him.

Slowly, Lucas lowered his hand to his side and temporarily dimmed the light from his fingertip, hopeful that this would show the man that he wasn't hostile. Then, with much caution, he gradually stepped forward, silently taking a deep breath. "... H-hello," he uttered rather softly in greeting. However, somewhat unsure of how to continue beyond this, all he could do next was glance up at the taller individual in anticipation.

Realizing that the light was actually coming from the boy's fingertip, Robin was rather surprised. Does he know how to use magic? he wondered to himself. He doesn't appear to have a tome or anything of the sort, though... How odd... Where he came from, users of magic generally needed to use items such as tomes and staves to channel it. Seeing someone who appeared to be using magic without utilizing such tools was very unusual to him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Robin gently apologized to the boy. "Are you lost? I don't imagine anyone would be wandering alone in a place like this by their own choice."

Lucas stayed silent for a moment longer upon hearing the young man's question, briefly glancing down at his shoes with a notably distressed look. He then hastily turned his gaze back up to the stranger, however, trying his best to push his thoughts aside for now. "I--... Y-yeah, I am," he finally responded, unable to completely hide the uneasiness in his tone. "I've never seen this place before... I just woke up here suddenly, in a little clearing." His head subtly tilting to one side, he proceeded to ask the man a similar question: "... How about you? Do... you know where we are?"

Robin's eyes widened slightly upon hearing about how the boy also woke up in this strange world. Perhaps this isn't just a vision after all... "I'm afraid I know no more than you do," he told him somewhat sadly. "You see, I also happened to just wake up here. I'm not entirely sure what happened," he explained. "I'm currently trying to find out whatever I can about this whole thing. Perhaps we should go together?" he suggested. "It would definitely be safer, for one thing... Who knows what's lurking in this darkness?"

Lucas appeared similarly surprised to hear that the man was, in fact, in the same situation he found himself him. What had brought them to this unsettling place, he wondered? Was it even connected at all to the world he called home...? So much uncertainty was swirling in his mind, but the man's suggestion that the two of them stick together was much easier for him to answer, at least. "Mhm, I think we should," he quickly agreed, giving a small nod. "This doesn't feel like something we should be facing alone..."

"It's decided, then: from this point forward, we're a team." Robin smiled warmly, hoping in part that by doing so, he could lighten the atmosphere at least a little. "My name's Robin, by the way," he told the boy in introduction, turning away and taking a moment to magically re-light his "torch", just as he had done before. "It's a pleasure to meet you," he continued, turning his head to look in the boy's direction again after grasping the now-burning stick hovering in front of him.

Despite the stress of the situation, Robin's warmth still managed to bring a soft smile to Lucas' face. Watching as the young man paused, turning a small stick into a makeshift torch, he gained a rather curious look as well. He can use PSI, too? ... Something seems a little... different about it, though... He was soon pulled away from his musings, however, when Robin turned back to him. "Robin..." he echoed back, as though confirming that he had heard the name correctly. "Hi, Robin; it's nice to meet you, too," he continued, his expression rather shy but also noticeably warm as he glanced up. "My name's Lucas."

Robin gave a single bobble of his head in acknowledgement of Lucas' name. "So, Lucas, shall we continue moving forward?"

Before Robin could even get an answer, all of a sudden, something lunged out from the bushes on the other side of the path. With a startled gasp, he whirled around and came face-to-face with a frightening creature; it resembled a wild boar, but appeared to be made entirely of shadows, save for two pale yellow points of light where its eyes would be.

Reacting quickly, Robin hopped backwards. He released his grip on the burning stick, levitating it by his side to free his right hand. Still holding the Thunder tome in his left hand, he thrust his now-empty right palm forward. He called out the spell's name. A small burst of lightning flew forth from his palm. The monster was struck, burst into a still-sparking cloud of dark mist, and quickly vanished.

Lucas gasped as well at the sight of this shadowy, wild boar-like creature, its sudden emergence causing him to jump back a short distance in surprise. From here, all he had time to do was look on as Robin finished it off just as quickly as it had appeared. "Ah! G-good one, Robin..." he complimented his new ally's swift reaction time, still sounding a bit dazed after being caught off-guard.

Just a moment later, however, a similar shadow monster--this one resembling a somewhat small bear--stomped out following the first one. His eyes growing wider, Lucas reacted much more quickly this time. Taking a breath to try and center himself, he then unleashed a low-level PK Love. Though a rather basic attack, the pastel waves of energy were enough to envelop and soon defeat this second beast.

Robin watched in amazement as Lucas dispatched the second monster with a technique unlike anything he'd seen before. For just a fleeting moment, even the dark surroundings had been gently illuminated by the pale pink, yellow, and cyan light. Somehow, he found this sight almost soothing, even if it was brief.

"Same to you," Robin responded to Lucas after it was all over, clearly impressed. His expression then darkened a bit, however. "I knew things were too quiet around here... We'd best proceed quickly, but with caution."

When Robin's expression darkened once more, so did Lucas', and he gave a brief nod of his head in agreement. "Yeah... We'll have to watch each other's backs closely, too," he added, casting a wary glance towards the surrounding bushes. If they had already been ambushed this early on, it felt very likely that it wouldn't be the only time.

"Of course," Robin agreed wholeheartedly. "Well, the sooner we find a way out of here, the better... Stay close," he told Lucas, beginning to move forward and motioning for him to follow.

"Right," Lucas responded in agreement, quick to follow when Robin started moving once more. He took great care to avoid misstepping and falling behind, while also keeping ever-alert for signs of danger along the way.

Further down the road, Robin's ears picked up a faint, high-pitched shout. "Lucas... Did you hear that?" he asked, momentarily pausing in his tracks. "I thought I heard a shout coming from up ahead..."

Lucas came to an abrupt stop as well, glancing momentarily at Robin before his gaze drifted to the path ahead. "I think--... I think I heard it too, yeah," he replied, looking alarmed.

"I have a feeling someone's in trouble over there... If that's the case, we need to reach them as soon as possible; come on!" Robin continued moving, this time at a much quicker pace than before. Whoever he had heard shouting, he truly hoped that he and Lucas could reach them before it was too late.

His heart beginning to beat faster, Lucas immediately quickened his pace alongside Robin, keeping his eyes locked forward. Just like his newfound ally, he deeply hoped that they would make it to the source of the shout in time.

As the two traveled along the path, the sound of the stranger's shout got gradually louder. Eventually, its source could finally be seen.

A short young girl stood in the middle of the path, flailing her arms as she desperately tried to shoo away three owl-like shadow monsters. Surprisingly enough, she didn't appear overly frightened, but she was clearly getting overwhelmed. She was so distracted by her attackers that she didn't even notice the two who had arrived on the scene to help her.

Robin gasped slightly. "She's outnumbered! ... Well, not anymore," he remarked, preparing his tome. "Ready?"

Lucas' eyes widened at the sight, and he briefly turned to face Robin, giving him a determined little nod. "Ready." Quickly turning back to the scene unfolding ahead of them, he closed his eyes as the tips of his fingers began to glow. A moment later, he used a small Shield to surround the girl in faint, protective blue light, aiming to make the monsters' attacks less effective.

The girl appeared surprised when she was suddenly protected by a veil of blue light. She quickly looked around, soon spotting the two strangers who had arrived to help her. "Huh? Who are you?" she asked, staring directly at them with her large eyes.

"Hang on: introductions will have to wait for now!" Robin called to the girl in response as he prepared to cast a spell. Just as he had done to the boar-like monster before, he fired a burst of electricity towards one of the owl-like shadows, causing it to quickly vanish as well.