sixthiterationlogs | 001 - Adding a bit more Flourish to it

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001 - Adding a bit more Flourish to it - [OPEN]

WHO: Clary Fray
WHERE: Fountain & Village & River
WHEN: August 1st to August 6th
OPEN TO: EVERYONE
WARNINGS: Drowning? (Note: Scrub color is black.)

Fountain: Arrival [Aug 1]

Clary inhaled, feeling a cool rush of water fill her lungs. Her chest burned while panic tightly constricted around her heart. She flailed wildly in the water, kicking her arms and legs out in a futile effort to swim. The water stung her eyes when she tried to open them. Clary had always hated opening her eyes underwater but she needed to see.

'I need to breathe! She thought, forcing herself to calm down enough to escape a rather pathetic watery death. After everything she's been through, she's not going to have 'death by water' on her tombstone. Clary saw a blurry smudge of light in the distance and swam towards it.

She broke the surface of the water, coughing and gasping for air. Bright orange hair plastered to her cheeks and neck as she made her way to the fountain's ledge.

It was only when she was pulling herself over the edge of the fountain that she felt the weight of the pack on her back. A groan of complaint vibrated through her torso, even as she managed to tumble herself and the backpack onto the pavement. Clary was laying on her back. The backpack was a surprisingly comfortable pillow though that might have just been in comparison to the water. The sun shined pleasantly in the sky, warming her limbs and face.

Clary decided that it wasn't worth getting up. She'd happily lay there until someone told her to move. Maybe she was in central park? That's the only place that she can think of with a fountain. Either way, Clary knew that someone would find her and she'd sort it out then.

Around the 6I Village [Aug 2-4]

Clary really didn't know what to think of this place. She had named the village Salem in her mind, the broken buildings and dreary feeling reminded her of a town where hundreds of girls burned at the stake. It probably wasn't the best name but the village was surprisingly less daunting with a name attached to it.

She wound her way through the houses, inspecting the ones that were broken and then knocking at the homes that looked like someone lived there. If no one replied, she'd peak inside to see what was there. Clary was naturally curious and not at all shy or hindered by the unknown. This wasn't nearly as scary as trying to get Simon out of the Hotel Dumort.

Clary would take the time to stop and stare at the houses or setting around her. She tried to figure out how she'd draw it: what colors she would use or how certain objects might appear out of focus. At the end of each day, she'd find herself at the inn, usually hungry and sitting at the bar like a ghost might come and take her order.

She was new at this whole survival thing and Brooklyn had pizza. She really missed pizza.

At the River [Aug 5]

Clary was both happy and sad to see Izzy in the village with her. She was happy to see her friend and to know that she wasn't alone but it also made her think about home. How was her mother doing? And Simon? What about Jace? She wondered if any of them missed her. She didn't particularly worry about Alec missing her; he was with Magnus and starting towards his happiness.

She missed her sketchbook. It gave her the ability to get all of her worries out of her head and onto a piece of paper. Without it, her thoughts jumbled together in a messy knot that she didn't know how to untangle. A groan pulled from Clary's lips as she took a seat near the water's edge. She watched the waves for a few seconds before pulling off her scrubs and jumping in.

Clary hadn't been in water since almost drowning in the fountain a few days before and as much as she wanted to avoid it, she felt gross. She had never gone this long without a shower. After drenching herself in water, she floated lazily on the surface of the river.

"This place feels too much like the Twilight Zone." She mumbled to no one in particular.

The Breach Between 6I and 7I: Small Earthquake [Aug 6]

Clary first heard about the mysterious second village at the inn, when she had eavesdropped on two people discussing their plans to cross the breach. She hadn't asked about it then but she couldn't stop thinking of the possibilities that lay on the other side of the ridge. Peeked by her curiosity and her ever-rampant thoughts, Clary decided to head to the breach to check it out for herself.

She wasn't completely unfamiliar with bouldering but the path was not as clear as she thought it would be. She took careful steps over small rocks and then slipping between larger boulders that stood like giants in the path.

Clary was halfway through the breach when the earth began to shake. She'd gotten used to the small tremors over the last few days but she hadn't been standing in a small crevasse in the ground back then. A surprised scream tore from her throat as she ran back the way she had come. Peddles and rocks loosened from above her, falling on her head like rain drops falling from the sky.

She ran out of the breach, stumbling to the ground as the earthquake ended. Clary's head was shaking as she tried to regain her balance. She tasted blood in her mouth and felt a soft sting along her cheek. If she had managed to get out of that with a bloody lip and a few thin cuts then she was happy.

"Okay. Maybe I won't go that way." Clary was talking to the rocks and seriously hoping that they could feel her displeasure.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Clary was surprised when someone answered the door. From the outside, this house hadn't looked like anyone was living in it but here he was, standing there looking down at her. Vibrant green eyes met Erik's gaze with very little awkwardness and no fear or uncertainty.

"Probably not." She admitted with a sideways twist of her lips. "I didn't think this house was taken." Though it was also minimally damaged compared to some of the others in the row.

Clary turned to look left and then right before pushing some of her bright orange hair behind her shoulder. The Shadowhunter rune tattoo's were burned into her skin, marking her neck and arms with the twist and swirl of ancient patterns and letters gifted to the Shadowhunters by the angel. "You think there would be resident signs or something." She had to keep reminding herself that this wasn't anything like Brooklyn or the Institute.

"If we had any paint or extra wood lying around, we might have those." Mostly the residents know which houses are occupied, though. It doesn't take long to figure it out. "Maybe we could mark on the map which houses are occupied. If it's not already there."

Clary wasn't sure if he was joking or not. His expression didn't really change making him appear very serious. If she were to draw him the lines on his face and neck would be very pronounced and angular, like the edges of cut glass. She'd try not to use too much shading giving the impression of someone who would be immovable until broken.

It was an interesting though but she realized that he probably wanted her to say something and not just stare at him. Right. Words. Those are usually useful.

"There's a map?" Not what Clary was planning to say but the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Then she waved a hand, animating a bit of backtracking. "Hold up. Why not just carve something in the door frame?" It was just wood and any rock would do the trick.

Clary didn't actually know what sort of resources were here yet. She was learning.

He nods. "In the inn. It's a collaboration. Whenever someone discovers something new, they add it to the map. There are lists there too, of resources or something. I don't pay as much attention to those."

He runs the fingers of his left hand through his hair, the tattoo on the inside of his left forearm momentarily visible, until he shoves his hand back in the pocket of his jeans. He looks over the doorframe before answering. "It's not really necessary. Mostly the residents know which houses are occupied."

Clary's mouth opened before snapping shut. "I should take a look at that." She could probably transcribe the map if she had the resources. Drawing was one of her talents and not having GPS in her phone was going to drive her crazy.

"Right. Did I catch you in the middle of something?" She felt like she was intruding on something.

Her eyes flickered to his tattoo. She didn't like school and the American educational system wasn't that great but she knew what that tattoo meant. History was one of the classes that she enjoyed before getting into the art school that she had applied too.

"It's not in an obvious place. It's possible to miss it." He had, until someone had pointed it out to him. "I don't know if it's to scale or anything, but at least it shows what someone's already located." Which at least saves some time, in addition to being a reference.

"No. I was just about to head to the inn." Nothing important then. "I can show you where that map is."

Clary's lips twisted into a frown. "Shouldn't something that important be in an obvious place?" Erik was slowly defying Clary's expectations. He looked as if he wanted nothing to do with people but then invited to help her. He said that there was information about this village but not in an obvious place. This definitely felt like she sucked into the Twilight Zone.

She'd be careful but she did need more answers. "Sure. Lead the way." Clary wanted to see this map and possibly make plans to construct a better one. She wasn't a cartographer but she was an artist.

"So." She began as they walked. "You do anything fun here or is it dreary all the time?"

"There's a lot to pay attention to around there." It's also possible that she's seen it and just didn't know what it was.

He steps out onto the porch and pulls the door closed behind him to head down the path in the direction of the inn.

"That depends on your definition of fun." There's no radio, or TV, so it's obviously limited, but they manage. "It's not all work all the time though, at least."

"Okay." She admitted with a shrug, following him from the front porch. "But I was asking you which means that I want to know based off your definition of fun." Not that she thought that this guy could have fun but her intent in the question had been to see if he was really uptight as he seemed.

Turned out that the answer to that was Yes.

"Like, going on walks: yes? no?" She walked at his side, her attention more on Erik than what was around them. "Nothing weird out there like mummies or zombies?"

"I'm going for a walk right now." If that's an answer. "It's one of the few methods I've found of filling spare time." Since they don't have a lot of options. He could probably find something else if he really wanted, but so far he hasn't been inclined to do so.

"No one has reported seeing anything like a mummy or a zombie. Although there are sometimes new discoveries, and there's a lot of ground that hasn't been covered yet, so who knows what's really possible."

That really didn't count as an answer but Clary wasn't in the mood to argue with someone who looked about as set in their ways as the Trix rabbit. She sighed softly and continued padding along beside Erik, her bright vibrant green eyes focusing on random objects that she hadn't remembered seeing during her first few passes around the village.

"Okay." She spoke in a decisive stubborn tone, "So they might be out there but you don't know. It doesn't sound like you're very surprised by it." She wondered if anything surprised this guy. "What is here? Like, flesh eating something or another… is that why the town is so empty?"

Clary had a lot more questions but Erik seemed like the one-question-a-time kind of guy.

There is, in fact, a way he's found of filling his spare time here, but that's not really the business of someone he's just met. Besides, it's not really the kind of thing you bring up in polite conversation.

"They might be, but we haven't seen any indication of there being anything other than humans and wildlife in this place." Along with a cantankerous moose who seems to be better at surviving than some of the people here. "The town was never really full in the first place, and while new residents do keep showing up, other residents disappear, presumably back to where they came from. We've never come across anyone around here who wasn't a resident of the village. Except of course for new arrivals, who all arrive the same way."

"So, let me get this straight." She's going to recap real quickly. "You have no idea where you are, what's happening to people, what is even around here and you all just live in this village. This isn't some weird creepy ass Pleasantsville thing is it? I am not really great at sitting around on my hands while being trapped in a whole in the ground."

Clary stopped walking, "Oh shit. This is is Red versus Blue isn't it?" She ran to catch up to Erik with a freaked out expression on her face. Yeah, all of Clary's theories are not okay.

"Okay. Instead of focusing on what we don't know." The rational side of her mind began to work. "What do you know? Like, specifically."

"Some what thing?" There are bound to be references he doesn't understand, but they don't come up often. This is one of the times when he doesn't know what she's talking about. "Red versus what?" They're colors, obviously, but that's not what she's referring to right now.

"What we do know is that someone is watching us." He holds up a hand to stall any more questions. "We don't know who, or how, or where they are, but we do know there's someone watching. They've also been known to leave us things from time to time. Sometimes it's personal items. Sometimes it's an entire feast for everyone."

Clary really shouldn't be surprised when he doesn't know what she's talking about. She huffed a breath of air and decided to explain.

"Pleasantville is a movie from the late 90's about a black and white town that's super boring but slowly everyone sees in color. There is a lot to it actually," Social implications and all that, "But that's the gist. Red Versus Blue is about two groups who are camped in a canyon like this one and fight each other. It's based off a video game and how it doesn't really make a lot of sense." The old days when people actually played Halo. Except for Simon, Clary was fairly sure that he still played.

Clary's jaw snapped shut when she saw Erik's hand hold off her questions. He was clearly starting to understand her personality a little better. "That's really weird."

Those do sound like they could apply to this situation, but that's not his concern at the moment. There's nothing that can be done about it, anyway. As much as he dislikes the idea, it is what it is.

"It is. We keep finding more information, but haven't yet found the answers we all want."

"And all the information is put on this bulletin board. Kinda like college then." She hummed softly to herself, falling into the twist and turns of her thoughts. "That's really nice of everyone. To work together." She thought of Jace and her father and winced.

"So what about the people brought here who don't play nice?"

"We don't have much choice. There's no one person here who knows how to survive on their own." Some are better at it than others, but for the most part everyone contributes what they can, and benefits from what others have contributed.

"Then they'd better be able to survive on their own."

"I guess that's a plus." Clary didn't know very much about survival. Unless it was the survival on the streets of New York. That was her domain. Not... what are these, trees? A shivered snaked its way down her spine. Why didn't she pay attention when Luke was teaching her about the forest and how to start fires while camping?

"What if they can? I'll go out and assume that that hasn't happened since you don't sound very worried about it."

"That we'd all be dead if we only had ourselves to rely on?" Of course he'd see the negative in it.

"As far as I'm aware, there hasn't been an instance of someone who can't play nice and can also manage to survive entirely on their own." He himself has been known to have a problem with playing nice, but he's gotten better at doing it since arriving here. "I assume that whoever's watching us has some method of dealing with a situation like that."

"Wow." Clary looked over at him. "Yes but you don't have to say it like that." Seriously! What was with this guy? All dark and sharp edges. Clary shook her head but followed along. He was helpful, so there was that, but it was a stark contrast to his other personality traits.

"Why would they? I mean, if they dropped us in here to watch us. Why not watch us fight?"

She might still be thinking about Red versus Blue.

"It's the truth, isn't it?" He doesn't see the point in sugarcoating things. It does nothing but waste time.

"If that's what they want from us, they've been doing a bad job of getting it."

He was starting to remind Clary of someone. "Yeah, but does that mean you wouldn't be helping me if you didn't get something out of it?" That sounded really lonely. Clary didn't want to live like that.

"I wish we knew what they wanted at least..."

"I'm not getting anything out of it right now." Wait. That doesn't sound right. "Aside from conversation." Maybe a little better. Maybe. "It's not always a direct correlation. If I was only in it for myself, I wouldn't share with anyone else." Which he does.

"If you could answer that, you'd be everyone's hero."

Clary looked up at him with a skeptical stare. "Right." It wasn't better but Clary was trying to ignore it. She wanted him to show her where the bulletin board was before going on her own way. That and given his earlier short, blunt statements, she came to the assumption that he was very bad at talking to people and probably not awkward on purpose.

It was a little like being around a high schooler.

She exhaled a slow breath. "We're almost at the inn. It's that building there, right?"

001 - Adding a bit more Flourish to it - [OPEN]

Around the 6I village

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