002 VIDEO @serene

[sereneflame]

[Serene's not looking too good lately, having been worn down by Lilac's screaming and the growing realisation that she's failing badly at her current task. Lilac at the moment is clinging to a tree behind her, snapping at bugs with her sharp teeth.

When Serene speaks she's terse and unsmiling, getting to her point as quickly as she can.]

I have a request for those skilled in magic or craft: Are there any here who know how to construct a raft? This raft would be something we carried on our shoulders between us on the drier parts of land and poled across the wettest stretches.

If not, I intend to head back to the drier forest to find fallen branches to lash together. I do not know if what I make will float, but there is little harm in trying. I would appreciate the loan of a woodchopper better than my sword.

[She shrugs shortly]

It may be that this preparation ends up being for nothing but I would rather avoid my boots getting too wet. This water looks stagnant.

Comments

[sereneflame]

[It's a skeleton and it's talking to her. She gawps, because knowing that there are magic aliens on the tram and seeing a skeleton talking when it obviously has no lips is are two very different levels of mind-bending.

However there's a far more pressing question, which she chokes out]

Whose bones?!

[boneafide]

Mine, naturally!

[He seems... proud, even.]

[sereneflame]

[That isn't helping her gawping at all]

... Will you actually float?

[boneafide]

Oh, I might not. But my bones will!

Probably.

[sereneflame]

[Her eyes narrow]

... Are you making a serious offer, Skeleton?

[boneafide]

Very serious!! I can show you, if you want!

[sereneflame]

[Her eyes are still wide at this strange turn, but she warily nods]

...I would like to see, if you can promise me no one else will be harmed.

[boneafide]

Why would anyone else be harmed?! I am aghast you would even think I would do such a thing!!

[sereneflame]

[If there's one philosophy Serene holds dear, it's that blunt honesty is the best policy]

Forgive me, but I cannot shake the fear that you might wish to liberate other skeleton from inside people.

[How would she even deal with that? Could she stab between his joints and hope to knock his limbs off? How are they even held in place???]

[boneafide]

Oh no, I wouldn't do that! I have been informed, fairly recently, about the skeletons you humans are growing inside of you! They would be woefully underdeveloped if I tried to liberate them now!! Please, keep your still-growing skeletons within your body until the correct time! Sheesh!

[sereneflame]

...Ahh, I see.

[She's not going to ask if he means until the end of puberty or until death just in case he doesn't realise skeletons stop growing long before humen are done needing them.

She chews her lip, staring at him in consternation]

Will you come to meet me then and show me how you'll become a raft?

> action?

[boneafide]

Oh, no, I won't become a raft. I said I would use my bones! You know, bone magic!

[ Because that explains everything. ]

I'll come see you right away! See you soon!

[Action!] (sorry for the delay!)

[sereneflame]

Ahh, see you soon...

[She's seen so many crazy impossible feats performed by her fellow recruits that magic is now an acceptable shorthand for "you don't have the experience to imagine what's to come". She steps away from her tree and looks about for him, frowning as she realises she has no clue where he might come from. She doesn't want to be snuck up on by the likes of him.

Thankfully a living skeleton is easy enough to pick out, so when she sees that animated wrongness walking towards her she waves and calls]

Mr Skeleton? Papyrus? I am here!

[It's a good thing she spent her younger years learning not to show fear otherwise she'd be sweating horribly at him. As it is she actually manages to smile]

unacceptable!!

[boneafide]

Hello!!

[ Yells the skeleton from a distance, running up to her with the exciteness one might be reminded of when they see a puppy. If it weren't for the fact he's all bones and no skin, he's the very picture of one all too pleased to be able to help. ]

I am Papyrus!! And I completely forget your name!!

[ She never said it, but he also doesn't assume maybe her username of SERENE was perhaps her name. A silly thing to do, don't you know you're not supposed to use your real name on the internet?? ]

weepweep

[sereneflame]

[Ohhhhh he is definitely a magic skeleton up close. Her eyes flicker over him as she looks for what's holding him together. Maybe he has invisible skin??? Maybe his magic glues his parts in place???]

I am Serene Charlord.

[She sucks in a deep breath and sticks out her hand to shake his, for if she doesn't confront her fear she'll only get more and more enmeshed in terror. She's almost sure he won't tear off her fingers]

Thank you for coming to my aid.

[boneafide]

You're welcome!! I love to help!

[ Oh, a handshake! Luckily for Serene, he wears gloves, so she won't have to feel his boney fingers. He shakes her hand, vigorously, and then turns to look over the BODY of water she's been finding troubling. Posing, of course, with his hands on his hips. The very picture of a superman-like pose, cape flowing behind him and everything. ]

Now, when I said bones, and I didn't mean MY bones, I did mean my bones! You see? Oh, maybe you don't see now, but you will see by example!! I mean like this!

[ And as he says "this," a dozen or so glowing blue bones jut up from the ground as if by magic. Because it is. It's magic. ]

Ta-dah!!!! Applaud at any time you feel done being amazed!

[sereneflame]

[That display is actually far more comforting than seeing him take his own bones apart as she'd been imagining he might do when he first made his grand suggestion]

Are those safe for humen to touch?

[Saying that, she's already reaching out to prod one to see if it's solid or an illusion]

Will they hold together in the same way you're held together? I have some rope in my bag otherwise.

[boneafide]

[ It feels solid, for sure. ]

They'll hold together for as long as I want them to! And totally safe, as long as you don't- I don't know- run head first into them! Maybe use the rope, just to be sure. But these will work, yes?? I'll have to go with you, so it all stays together, but other than that, I think this should help!

[sereneflame]

[She pats the bone, frowning as she feels its solidness; as a vegan from a society who cremate their dead, she's not had much experience touching actual bones. They seem to be reassuringly solid and not at all slimy as she imagined an unburnt bone possibly might be.]

Then we shall journey together. Will you pluck those from the floor for me? I will lay them out.

[she kneels to pull rope from her pack]

[boneafide]

[Maybe they'd be slimy if you just pulled one out of a person. But nope, these bones are bone-dry. HAhaahahh...]

Oh, yes!

[And he plucks them out of the ground with easy- mostly because they're made of his magic, the "jutting out of the ground" thing is mostly for show, and they didn't actually grow from the dirt itself. Thus, they're very easy for him to just carry and move around. They'd be much heavier for someone they didn't belong to- i.e. Serene.]

[sereneflame]

[She looks up as he pulls them out, finally smiling briefly, for the ease with which he can move them speaks well for how they'll float.]

Hmmm... lay them flat and parallel upon the floor, except for two that you should lay crossways over them, one at each end. Those will provide the stabilisation.

[She has the rope ready]

[boneafide]

Flat and parallel...

[He repeats, placing them down as asked. He's actually really glad he volunteered, because he had no idea how to build a raft before, and now he's learning. THIS IS GREAT!!

All the bones are laid properly upon the ground, with the support ones placed down as well.]

Now what?

[sereneflame]

And now we bind them together so they won't roll apart again.

[She's still on edge, since the skeleton is staring at her as if it has eyes, but she's become more convinced that if she keeps him in a good mood he won't bite her with those teeth of his. She starts weaving her rope around the bones, pulling tight often]

Do you see? I secure each parallel to the crossbar as tight as I can so they won't drift apart.

[boneafide]

Oh, yes, I do! You're really good at this! And at tying knots.

[And since she's under that impression, it's equally good that he seems to be consistently in a good mood, nodding and "ah"ing along with her explanation.]

[sereneflame]

[She shoots him an encouraging smile for that and severs the rope once she gets to the end of that side so she can use the rest to bind the other end.]

See, I'm binding this end too so the bones can't splay apart. The true test will be when we push it into the water. I can only hope it will float!

[She works quickly, wanting to set off, and when she's down she crouches down by one edge and looks up at him]

Will you take hold of the other side so we can lift it in?