INSOMNIA: mushroom forest

[ShiroGEM]

Welcome, this is a private RP between murmurlade and I. It's an original story featuring OCs. All art has been drawn by us unless specified otherwise. Feel free to lurk but please do not post. Thank you!


SETTING:


South of Fraz, in the center of a rainforest is an incredibly hostile environment. A mushroom forest, home to insects, predatory birds and other carnivorous creatures that can't wait to get a taste of human flesh. The spawn of mushrooms are caused by stray animals carelessly wandering in and die as mushroom pores latch onto their flesh and eat them inside out. In spite of this, the mushroom forest is far away from any human civilisation, and is perfect habitat for new mushroom species to spawn. Every week, a Centuria is sent here to collect new specimens for mutation and biological studies.

CHARACTERS:

[+] SPOILER

Milae ♀/♂
“Tell me, am I the saint or the devil because I can’t tell.”
Age: 19
Birth nation: Shiadald
Crystallite: Iolite/Tongue
Major: Physics magic, studies weight distribution for boxing.
Minor: Light magic, alters waves of light to see farther or through something.


Sandy ♀
“Come here so I can make your ears bleed.”
Age: 20
Birth nation: Fraz
Crystallite: Hiddenite/Bellybutton
Major: Life Magic, applies behavioral or physical adaptations of other organisms to herself.
Minor: Sound magic, is able to amplify a certain frequency that she hears.

Toffee ♀
“Are you treating me?”
Age: 19
Birth nation: Koswan
Crystallite: Pyrite/Left ear
Major: Domain-type telekinesis, she can control objects within a 10mx10m cube boundary with her as the centre. She’s not proficient enough to increase her range yet.
Minor: Manipulation of the laws of Physics and Forces-- she is able to exert pressure on things and compress them to an extent. Has an easier job if it is within her Domain-- better range but weaker.


Yue ♂
“Don’t touch my cookies please.”
Age: 19
Birth Nation: Cliena
Crystallite: Moonstone/Chest
Major: Gravity magic, specifically to increase or decrease gravitational and magnetic pulls on an object.
Minor: Water telekinesis.

Rune ♂
“I’d love to examine a plant-type mutation and keep it as a pet.. Hehe!”
Age: 16
Birth nation: Fraz
Crystallite: Brandberg Amethyst/Chest
Major: Healing magic - the rapid regeneration and production of new cells to heal, as well as strengthening and removing dead/cancerous cells.
Minor: Undecided.

[murmurlade]

wait reserve

[ShiroGEM]

reserved for kid bios

[murmurlade]

guys please if you're looking at this just.
my english isn't the best alright?

------------------------------------------------------

The gentle lull of students murmuring to each other in the administrative hall had already been accustomed to by the staff members. Although a large sign denoting a finger to the lips had been put up by the front desk, the students tended to take ‘absolute silence’ for ‘hushed whispering’.

One of the head clerks sighed, trying to blot out the sound and fill in a new transfer form when she noticed a shift of movement in front of her. It was unfortunate that the small boy almost couldn’t reach the countertop, since only his soft pink hair could be seen.
“Excuse me.. I’d like to request a copy of this mission please.”

A thick sheet of paper was placed gently onto the unblemished metallic counter, along with what looked like a rectangular computer chip. Rune wasn’t able to look over the counter, but if he could, he would see his holographic ID being screened from his chip.

“Rank C Recurring Mission located in what has aptly been named,” the clerk paused for a moment before rolling her eyes.
“Mushroom Forest. Objectives are listed on the copy. Please state ID for confirmation.”
“R-0239-FRZ-12-00.”

“Request for copy has been approved.” The file was handed over to the little boy, who immediately turned around and timidly walked out of the office. As he was making his way back to the dorms, he couldn't help but notice two familiar figures going the same direction as him.

“Ah.”

[ShiroGEM]

Yue and Milae stood in the corner of the hallway, the two had a disagreement in the morning. Yue woke up to find his hairclip was misplaced, or perhaps stolen by another Centuria member. He confronted Milae, who just happens to have her long hair clipped up by his very own hair pin. Supposedly she had lost hers on the last mission, but that was still no excuse to not ask for his permission first. Their voices gradually grew louder until someone hushed them. Yue shrank in embarrassment but Milae gave them a glare before arrogantly defending herself.

“You know what, just use it.” Yue sighed in defeat. “I’ll just go grab my spare.”

“Thanks, you’re the best.” Milae winked. She already anticipated that he would give up, he hated attention anyways.

“Just, make sure you give it back.” He glared. “Come on, Rune’s heading this way.” Milae saw the pink fluffy fringe sticking up and waved at him while Yue fixed his hair up quickly in an attempt to look less shabby.

“Rune! What mission did you get for us this time? I hope it’s somewhere with land, I can’t punch anything in water.” She stuck her tongue out in disgust.

Yue groaned at her and petted Rune’s head. “Can I take a look? We need to leave as soon as possible or I won’t be able to finish my assignments on time.”

[murmurlade]

Although he was often disdainful of his short stature, Rune felt a hint of joy bubble up within him when his hair was ruffled around by his partner.

“Ah.. Yue.. and Milae, hello..” if his pallid complexion could blush, Rune’s face would have been brighter than his hair colour.
“Rank C. Fungus.” he summed it up as much as he could before passing the papers over to Milae, but unfortunately overdid it.

He felt rather embarrassed when he only said ‘fungus’ aside from the rank, but figured his teammates had been with him long enough to guess the rest.

“T-though, there’s a limit on the number of team members we can send. I think it was five?” Rune fidgeted with his fingers as he stole a quick glance at the raven-haired male.

[ShiroGEM]

Yue pulled Rune in and hugged him. “I know you love plants but how do you feel about mushrooms? They are different families after all.” He pulled up his screen to search up the location, plotting drop off points and the hiking pathway ahead of time.

“While he’s doing that,” Milae smirked as she saw the creature specimen list on his screen. “I definitely want to go! Punching insects sounds like a blast. Let me go grab my gear.” She yelled in joy as she ran down the hall, jumping up and down in excitement.

“I can assume you’re going. I could accompany along since I’m leader but... the three that are staying better get their stuff together.” As Yue contemplated about who to bring, he received a message from Fawna.



“Looks like Fawna will be out of commission this week.” He sighed. That meant either Carcel, Kay, Sandy or Toffee were eligible to go. “ Sandy seems like a smart choice. Who else do you think we should bring?”

[murmurlade]

Rune clung fiercely onto his partner, taking care not to disturb the raven’s research. His eyes trailed after a gleeful figure sprinting back to the dorms and only when they were out of sight did he open his mouth to speak.

“Though the matter of sentience concerning plants is convoluted, I quite like any living organism that lacks in reason and desire.” an entire sentence flowed freely from his mouth, his earlier shyness almost a facade.

However, it was very real- it was simply that he felt more comfortable around Yue.
“Fawna’s text faces are cute.” he added when he saw the chat bubbles pop up, but his voice was caustic.

He slackened his grip and rubbed the back of his head, returned his thoughts to the upcoming mission. As he did so, a slender thorned vine peeked out of his sleeve and tickled him.

‘Quiet. I’ll feed you later.’ he whispered to the living tendril.
“We need a heavy lifter. Kay isn’t good, we can’t start another forest fire. Either Carcel or Toffee then if you’re going to add Sandy-- check whether or not they're free?”

[ShiroGEM]

Yue hummed in agreement. “Seems nice. Do you only like things with no reason or desire?” His eyes twinkled. Normally he would be much more restrained in public but there was no one was in close perimeter. Carcel would probably kick him for being gross so he gave himself a pat on the back.

He giggled at Rune’s tone, though it was certain that at this moment Fawna would be scrambling around the complex attempting to finish her work. She didn’t even have time to add in unnecessary “h”s for exaggeration.

Glancing back to his screen, he squinted. “If we need a strong person to lift the giant mushroom, Toffee and I could combine gravitation abilities for heavy lifting. What do you think?” Toffee would be able to use her telekinesis in adjacent to his magnetism. He would probably have to pack metal sheets for extra efficiency.

Rune whispered something quietly which he could not catch. “Are you hiding something in your sleeve?” Yue giggled and grabbed Rune’s hand gently and attempted to roll his sleeves up by a centimeter.

[murmurlade]

Despite his blush, Rune still managed to puff his cheeks and turn away.
“Not if that only desire is me..” he said, almost inaudibly. The moment those words left his lips, his face burned with returning blood.

It was rather disgusting to see these two boys flirt so uninhibitedly on campus grounds whilst discussing mission particulars, but they were in one of the more secluded areas of the Academy. Passing students gave them a fleeting glance before continuing on their way- they were students after all, they didn't have time to dwell on such matters.

However, a few glares were sent to the oblivious couple by students who had long given up hope of getting a significant other.
“Putting that aside, Toffee would be a good choice. By the way, you can't pack too heavy for this mission! We have to stay until the Academy freight arrives, you know.”

Rune was clearly referring to the elder boy’s required ‘materials’. Though Yue was an extremely intelligent leader, his practicality during battles was.. how to say it? Lackluster.

Out of the blue, the raven caught his hand and rolled up the sleeve.
“Don’t do that!” cried Rune, alarmed, but it was unsure whether he was referring to Yue or his plant vine-- the latter having struck out suddenly near Yue’s face due to being disturbed.

[ShiroGEM]

Yue laughed out loud but stopped when he heard it echoing it down the halls. “Woops.” He covered his mouth in amusement. It was quite unexpected to see Rune flirt back but this, this was pure gold. He could care less of the student body’s opinion of them, however his parents were a different story. With so many assignments, their time together was limited. Although he had a lot of work to do for extra credit, the mission was an open window for him to spend quality time with his boyfriend and it was an opportunity he wouldn’t afford to miss.

Rune was right of course, he was too thin to carry anything. His physical ability was borderline efficient and all his energy was expended on his magic. If only Kay could come along and carry his equipment in exchange for tutoring sessions. Damn that muscly tall boy for being so fit. He sighed again and rubbed his forehead. “Alright, but we’ll have to pack supplementary nutritional snacks to accommodate for Toffee’s portion. I don’t want her eating random mushrooms.” That girl could eat a whole buffallo a day if she wanted to. If he baked cookies in the couple hours before they left, maybe it could be enough to bribe her to eat less.

In a split second, the cut revealed itself across Yue’s face and he jumped back in surprise against the windowsill. The sunlight revealed what was a smidge of scarlet across his fingers. He wiped them against his shirt but more blood dripped down the side of his face down to his chin.
“Sorry, I think your plant hates me.” Yue said apologetically to Rune’s little tendril. He wondered if it even understood words. He smiled. Even though plants were sharp, it was actually quite adorable in its premature form.

[murmurlade]

The miscreant didn't seem to have an ounce of guilt within itself-- instead of displaying an apologetic action, it twisted and and congealed until there was an extremely life-like fist flipping the raven off.

Rune was rather preoccupied thinking about Toffee snacking on new species of spores with grave repercussions and was just about to agree with Yue's suggestion when the gesture caught his attention.

“I should be the one that’s sorry,” mumbled Rune, a steely-eyed look flitting across his face. He touched his little friend briefly with his right hand, and simultaneously reached out to his lover’s face with his left.

In but an instant, the once-living organism withered and crumpled into nothing but a stringy corpse the colour of dead leaves. At the same time, his right hand hesitantly brushed past Yue’s injury and wiped it clean, as though it had never existed in the first place.

A potpourri of negative emotions were swirling around inside of him- grief, regret and anger. Not trusting himself to convey his thoughts accurately, he remained quiet and instead started walking back towards the dorm. Though this was but a small matter, it still represented the fact he couldn't train his creatures properly. If something similar, or on a bigger scale happened during a mission, he’d face the consequences.

His priority was control. Over his plants, over his magic, over himself.
“You can inform Sandy and Toffee without me.” he muttered quietly.

[ShiroGEM]

“No no, it’s fine. I was the one who disturbed it.” Yue kneeled down to check Rune’s sleeve again. A wave of guilt washed over him. If only he didn’t act so impulsively, the situation could have been avoided and the poor organism wouldn’t have died. Usually Rune’s plants were well behaved and overall tranquil, they were a joy to be with in his bedroom. He put his hand over Rune’s and brought it down and paused for a moment of silence while his fingers intertwined.

“I’m going to clean that up.” Yue said, brushing the rotten matter on the carpet into his hands and dumping it in a nearby bin. “Are you heading back to the complex?” He started walking back towards their dormitory. Looking out, the sun outside was just starting to set, signifying he should probably be cooking dinner. Everyone else was terrible at it so he might as well before Fawna starts eating nothing but macaroni and cheese. Granted it was her favourite food, but still healthier than spicy hot ramen. “We still have shrimp in the fridge. How about some tempura before we leave?”

[murmurlade]

"Deep fried shrimp sounds good," he replied.

A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"It's hard to believe you're this perfect of a person," the tiny boy thought to himself. Just a second later he realized that this thought wasn't just thought-- it was said. Out loud.

"That you're able to cook like an actual chef," he added hastily, in order to brush off his previous sentence. Colour once again flooded his rosy complexion and he tugged at the hem of Yue's vest, ducking behind him to shield his face.

***

In stark contrast with the warm, romantic atmosphere on campus created by the couple, the air back at the dorm was literally frigid. A struggling figure was pinned to the ceiling from an enormous ice pike erupting from the surface of the laminated floor. The ice spread out in erratic angles, covering nearly half of the foyer's entire area.

At the foot of the ice sculpture, a dark-skinned young man was sneering up at the helpless figure. To the side of him was Milae, with her equipment all bundled up, and a toffee-haired girl chewing on a meatbun. Neither of them seemed particularly concerned for the man stuck on the ceiling.

"You never learn, do you?" Carcel gave a smirk as he sized up his new masterpiece. "Then again, I'd expect nothing less from a fool with a diminutive brain."

[ShiroGEM]

Yue smiled warmly and sucked in a breath- until Rune continued on with the rest of his sentence. His elbow covered his reddening face as he looked away. Someday, that boy will be the death of him. “I’m pretty sure it’s because no one else really bothers cooking... but thank you.” The sky was turning a darker shade of orange and it was magnificent.

***

He followed Rune into the elevator and up to their floor. Beneath the door was a very faint line with mist seeping through. It took a little more effort than he wanted to get the door to open because of the ice shards blocking its path.

Kay was sprawled across the ceiling, desperately trying to heat up the ice that wrapped around him. Amber strands of hair hindered his actions as they stuck to his face from sweat, panting hard. “Of course not! Let me get my sword so we can fight fair and square!” He yelled and squirmed around with no effect. Did Yue really have to deal with another of these squabbles? The footwear was put aside and he entered the dormitory to wash his hands and change.

“Well someone seems to be... quite ecstatic.” Yue said nonchalantly. “Carcel, please unhinge him. He needs to shower before dinner. Also, if I find any puddles later, you’re sorting the trash for a week.”

Milae bounded over with a pile of boxing gloves in her arms and held up two pairs to Yue’s face. “Which one? I can’t seem to choose. This pair has better hardness and resistance for better defence but these sharp blades can pierce through skin-” Like usually, he simply pointed to both of them and she continued to roll around in her dilemma.

There was a click of the door and a tanned, well toned girl with a spiky high ponytail walked through the entrance. She was carrying bagfuls of snacks from nearby shops and put them down to take off her sandals. “I heard I’m going on a mission with you guys from Doe. By the way Toff, these are for us, but most of them are your rations.” She threw the bags over to the girl with twintails sitting quite far away.