INTRO.

[ultrapenumbramods]

You wake up feeling like you’ve had a rough night’s sleep… maybe a bit jet-lagged, if you’re familiar with the feeling, or perhaps like you, uh, had a little too much to drink last night. Either way, you’re probably not expecting to wake up in a forest clearing, so that might be even more disorienting. It’s not an unpleasant place to wake up, mind. It’s sunny, and there’s a pleasantly cool breeze blowing through. The grass isn’t tall enough that you could get lost in it or that someone could be hiding in it… or something.

There are, in fact, a lot of somethings surrounding you--a veritable menagerie of creatures, some of them adorable, and some of them intimidating… but they seem to be as disoriented as you are. And then, well… you realize something’s a little off about yourself. There’s no pond to look at your new appearance, but… maybe the ground’s a little closer. Maybe you don’t actually have arms and legs at the moment. Maybe you don’t have eyes anymore?

Regardless, something’s definitely up. Fortunately, there’s a path leading out of the clearing, so once you get your bearings and speak with some of the other weird critters you’ve woken up with, you can find… somewhere you can get answers. Well, hopefully, anyway.

Comments

[moonfang]

[A forest? Well, he had been begging Ichigo for some more nature in his Inner World. Maybe the stubborn idiot had finally obliged?

Wait, no. Something is definitely wrong here. Gravity isn't right, and the Old Man is nowhere to be seen.

Zangetsu grumbles and goes to run a hand through his hair, only to find that he has no hair. And no real hand, for that matter! What the hell kind of thing is he?! The blade on his right "hand" is significantly bigger than that on his left, giving him a sort of fiddler crab-esque look. It also has a weird sort of hole in it, clearly mimicking his sword form.

He looks at his reflection in the bigger blade, slowly getting more and more panicked]

ICHIGO!! OSSAN!! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS.

[betheman]

Ggghhhhaaaauuhhh.... [Everything hurts. Walking is hard. And also, now someone is...yelling...] To yell will not answer those questions, you should know...

[Please...no more yell...his ears are soft, and sensitive...]

[moonfang]

Aaahhhh?! [he turns and sees... a talking stuffed animal with a pompadour. And good god, the stuffed animal is the same size he is!!

He won't let that get him down, though... He puts his "hands" on his hips and tilts his head, talking loudly again!]

HUHHHHH? WHAT WAS THAT??? YOU DON'T WANT ME TA SHOUT? Well that's too goddamn bad!! [FLAIL!!] THIS AIN'T WHERE I'M SUPPOSED TO BE! WHERE IS MY SHINIGAMI!? Tell me, or I'll cut yer filthy little stuffed throat!

[betheman]

Auuhhh... [Frankly Gongenzaka has just disassociated from this entire mess way too hard to be afraid of a guy made of knives. He's a pink stuffed panda that's probably a panda on the inside. He doesn't have the energy to deal with this!]

I, the man Gongenzaka, have only just now awoken in the same situation...! [He protests.] How could it be that I know where....auh...

[He blinks.] ...Shinigami..? ...You are...seeking a god?

[moonfang]

[well that's just too bad because Zangetsu is just FULL of piss and vinegar]

It's not quite like that, and-- wait. Why the hell're'ya talkin' like that? You some sorta wanderin' samurai stuffed animal?

[betheman]

AUH-

It- It is the way I was taught to speak..!! It is how all of us from the Gongenzaka Steadfast Dojo speak! [Okay....So connected to the dojo by name it looks like...]

And I, the man Gongenzaka, was human!! I only now awoke like this!

[moonfang]

[he facepalms with the flat of his smaller blade]

You gotta be kiddin' me. Yer ridiculous...! Though... I guess we're in the same boat. Changed forms with no memory of how we got here...

[he looks around at the various confused and terrified creatures around him] ... I think that might be the case fer all of us.

[betheman]

Auh- I- I am not..!!

....well, perhaps this form is... [Upsetting...

Looking out over the rest of them...is equally upsetting...] Mnh... ...We will get no where, questioning each other in circles...

[moonfang]

You are ridiculous. But so am I, I s'pose.

[he shrugs, then looks around the clearing]

Yer right. We ain't gonna figure anything out just millin' around here -- we need to find someone who knows what's up.

[betheman]

[Well it sure won't be in this clearing....oh-] ...Mnh. There is a path, this way...

Perhaps there will be someone farther in.

[moonfang]

Then we should all prob'ly mosey.

[Zangetsu won't be waiting any longer! HE NEEDS ANSWERS!]

[betheman]

Hmm!

[Off they go then!]

[itsjustrats]

[why the fuck is everyone screaming]

I have no idea what those words you're saying are.

[moonfang]

They're names, ya goddamn dingus.

[itsjustrats]

[what is a dingus]

Oh.

You're not from around here, huh?

[oh my god Garrett you can't just ask someone if they're foreign.]

[moonfang]

[you. You are a dingus, Garrett]

I think that much should be obvious, yes!

[itsjustrats]

[oh cool so a dingus is a REALLY COOL DUDE huh]

Well, word of advice: if you don't quit screaming you're going to get yourself landed in an asylum before...

[He's looking around as he speaks, and trails off when he realizes that he doesn't recognize this forest, either.]

...Uh.

[moonfang]

[SURE WHATEVER YOU THINK, GARRETT.


Zangetsu watches as he realizes they're not anywhere either of them recognize]

Mmm-hmm. That's what I thought.

[itsjustrats]

[if you're not from around here

and I'm not from around here

then WHO'S DRIVING THE CAR]

My point stands that you look like a lunatic.

[so. there.]

[moonfang]

I mean.

I kind of am a lunatic, in a literal sense. My name is Zangetsu.

[he says, like that means anything]