Your New Life

[mayorityvote]

Another New Life

You wake up to the sound of surf, much, much closer than you've ever heard it unless you moseyed down to Puffin Pier back in the old days. What old days...? Why, the days when you had a body, of course. The memories are probably coming back by now, jumbled along with everything else you lost. What a wake-up call.

But at least the ocean is real, unlike your dubiously fragmented remembrances. This little island out in the middle of nowhere sports a crude sign reading DUCK DAMNED ISLAND that seems like it's really railing against whatever fate you've been left to. There are little seashells and sparkling fragments amongst the sand to the left of your face. If you look further, to the left and right, it seems you're not the only one who's woken up here; it's considerably less cushy than your last wakeup, but maybe that's not a bad thing.

Here, you're free, albeit... kind of incorporeal, as you'll soon find out. The island is covered in pretty little trees that don't quite form a forest, bowed over the really beautiful sandy beach that is way prettier than the one on the mainland. One, slightly rickety treehouse -- bare of anything, because incorporeal ghosts don't need furniture, of course -- peeks out from between the leaves. This is, apparently, your home away from home now.

Finally, there's a small bay-like area on the island that leads you to a strange-looking storm drain, marked with a symbol that's not-quite-an-apple. Stepping in will wash you alllllll the way back up to Puffin Pier, right where the sewers normally let out.

Oh, and once you step onto the mainland? You're now a duck. What kind of quacking afterlife is this.

((OOC: the tldr; about death is here!))

Main NavWeek Two

code

Comments

IMPROMPTU MEETING TO SHARE INVESTIGATION RESULTS

[driftedaway]

[ There is a bit of ruckus as Keito sprints straight back to the treehouse, which is starting to become a weekly occurrence. He's going to try to call everyone he can down to the entrance/sitting room, because this is definitely something that all duckies should know! ]

Okay, first off, the puffins gave Amy and me some fishy papers and a weird translator device! [ And this is where he talks about everything that happened with the puffins and how they ended up with all this loot. He leaves his set of the papers out on the table for everyone to see. ] ...And that's why we should definitely keep gifts on us just in case!

[ With that said, there's also the elephant in the room to discuss. ]

So what does everyone think we should do with the translator?

[collisionheart]

[ Amy is standing off to the side, covered in the wonderful (yuck) smell of fish, feeling horribly slimy (yuck), and missing her usual sweater. She's standing here in a greasy t-shirt craving a second death. This is what she gets for leaving the safety of her treehouse quarantine.

She stays nearish Keito as he speaks, and for anyone who tries to get a look at the translator she's holding, Amy hold it out on her palms to let them look at or take it. ]

It doesn't really seem to be working anymore.

[driftedaway]

Not for the puffins anymore, yes. At least it still translates the papers they gave us. [ And on that subject... ]

I wonder if we can translate our own writing? Vayne couldn't read the letters I wrote as a duck at all, but maybe he and the others can with this?

[ Who knew writing those dummy letters to hide the real letters he stole (from his live self) might come in handy here? ]

[aurevoirx2]

Then, they should receive these entries?

[ Though he's making a face at the airing grievances thing. Hasn't he and Keito-kun done enough of that on their own... And in front of everyone else.... ]

Though, what does that really mean...

[driftedaway]

I read it like that, too.

[ He's not very happy with it either. It's not the sort of will he'd ever write. ]

But yeah, I'd also like to know more about what the rebirth cycle is beyond the metaphysical. It's rather...vague?

[aurevoirx2]

Maybe it means our "souls" can leave this place and town?

[driftedaway]

It could be the way to leave... But then why are the other ducks still here? If they're something similar to us, I mean.

[aurevoirx2]

They haven't been "enlightened", maybe?

[driftedaway]

That's right... I've never seen that happen here. Which means we'd need a funeral for everyone to continue the cycle.

[ He trips up a little on the word "funeral" for reasons. ]

[aurevoirx2]

[ lmao funerals ]

So, are you going to volunteer to give that to someone? Or maybe we should make a copy...

[mareum]

[Assuming Dongrang is able to read those documents for himself, he falls into silence as he mulls it all over.]

Those in town have been finding similar "chronicles" like this, so we may as well fill them in on the missing ones now that we have the means to do so.

[I'd like you all to imagine Dongquack in the background of the meeting like some kind of ominous stalker duck.]

And speaking of those means... [He lets out a sigh and runs a hand through his hair.] If we're truly trapped like this due to the weight of our spirits, we may have to rely on them to air our grievances, per the funerary rite.

[sorathvau]

[Two guys standing at the back of the group three feet apart.]

If we're to be a part of this rebirth cycle. Though, it's not clear what that actually entails...

[mareum]

[Just talk to each other, sillies.

At least they are now.]

Mm, if. But it certainly seems like it could apply to us, given our little island purgatory.

As for what it could entail...rebirth is often associated with a soul departing from one life and moving on to the next. It's not ideal, given how much I still wanted to do with my life, but it would be better than spending an eternity here as a duck...spirit.

[Sure, let's call it that.]

[sorathvau]

I won't presume that the afterlife we'd go to is at all anything I'm used to - already, my expectations have been thrown off.

[We're not in Valhalla anymore.]

...I suppose, that means we may not see each other again. Unless we were to stay, that is.

[He's not too keen on staying forever as a duck, but...the alternative doesn't seem to sit that right with him.]

[mareum]

Ah... I suppose not.

[Dongrang, on the other hand, doesn't seem troubled by it at all.]

But it's not as though the majority of us intended to remain in the town forever, anyway. Fairly obviously not, in my case.

[Attempted killer and all that.]

[sorathvau]

...You have a point.

[Beelzebub would leave to return to his business, but...things are more complicated now. Especially when simply returning to that isn't really an option.

How ironic, when he would've been so content with total nothingness earlier.]

I assume you'll be giving it a try, then?

[mareum]

[He sucks in a breath at that.]

If I'm being honest, I really don't like the idea of sharing my dirty laundry with the entire town. But...I'd been trying to escape the shadow of my past anyway. I suppose this is one way of going about it.

[Scatter it to the wind rather than burn it all down.]

[sorathvau]

And you'd make Erika's day if you did.

[Is this..........a joke? A joke from Beelzebub....?]

[jarcrash]

[ ... oh, she hates that. ]

Is that a given? Maybe we'll all just be 'reborn' to Puffin Town, because that's where the Junimo live and do their magic, right?

[sorathvau]

[same here!!]

We could be. Though that then raises the question of what we're reborn as.

[They're already ducks, so...probably not that...right?]

[jarcrash]

... what if this is why everyone else is talking about the magic of marriages now? What if we'll be their babies?

[ Help, she doesn't even know where to start with this thought, now that she had it. ]

[sorathvau]

[BIBI.........]

I...sincerely hope that's not the case.

[What if he ends up with, like, Nine as his dad???]

[aurevoirx2]

[ just this face because no, thank you ]

[mareum]

Why would you even bring the very possibility into the world...?

[Also no thank you.]

[driftedaway]

No.

[ That's all he has to say. ]