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The smell…

                   …of the ocean…

It feels like I am aimlessly floating inside myself.

The sound…

                    …of the waves…

My movement is sluggish, even within my own subconscious. Reaching the waking world feels so close, yet so far.

The feel…

                …of the sand…

The more I push towards consciousness, the harder it feels to do so, as if something is resisting-- and yet, after a minute, I surface with such suddenness that it almost surprises me. Blinding light greets me when I attempt to open my eyes, and it takes a few moments of playing peek-a-boo with the waking world before I am able to keep my eyes open.

The sky… is a beautiful shade of cloudless blue. I reach up towards it, and flinch. Memories drift back to me in fragments, of red and gray and the endless, striking blue of the sky, blocked only by my own hand reaching for something… something…

I can't remember what.

I can't remember much else, either. Assuming the worst-- always the worst, rather than get my hopes up-- I push myself upward, until I am seated, making room for sand and water to join the sky in my immediate field of vision, and begin to test that my body is functioning properly. Better to distract myself than to overthink, since overthinking means wondering how long it's been, which means wondering if--

Enough. I lift my hands and begin to pat myself down, checking that everything was in the right place.

Head. It's attached, certainly, which is always a good start. Both sets of eyes are out, which usually isn't a problem, but probably means that either my mimicry is stunted for the moment, or… whatever fauna is here isn't really human enough for it to be a concern.

Arms. Two of them, fully attached and functional. The nail polish Styx had done before the attack was still intact, surprisingly. I don't typically like nail polish but… I leave it. Perhaps as a sort of reassurance and hope that she's okay, perhaps because I'm too lazy to remove it.

Torso. No wounds, at least. I seem to be wearing light, comfortable, cream colored clothes-- a slightly-too-long t-shirt and shorts. Different from my usual clothing, which is typically what I reform with, no matter the state of it. My staff is still on my hip, which is good, as well as a strange sort of mask. My bag, however, is nowhere in sight. 

Legs. Humanoid, fully attached and functioning. I don't seem to have any footwear, so it's a good thing the sand covering the area is rather fine and not very hot. 

Tail, wings? Missing, it seems. Not great for my balance, but I assume the main population is human enough not to have them, perhaps? 

Conclusion? I reformed fine, which is always good, even if my somewhat fragmented memories hint at a particularly violent death this time. The local population-- which I have so far seen none of, unsurprisingly, considering that I seem to be on an isolated beach-- must be human enough that extra limbs are unusual, but not little oddities such as my bonus eyes. My clothes are quite different, so perhaps they mostly dress the same, and I simply reformed differently to compensate? The mask also seems to be important, if it came on its own, rather than as something I had before, like the lantern-staff.

A mostly humanoid species that dressed mostly the same and wore masks. I don't think, in all of my planet-hopping experiences, that I've met a species with this strange sort of uniform.

This is bound to be an interesting trip...

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We're live! Feel free to ask questions. This is the first page! Next > // Tag for scrolling through!

[ID start: Two splotches of darkness on a white sheet-- one bearing starts, the other bearing a silhouette of a person. Besides each is text. The text for the stars reads: "For what Loneliness is greater than when surrounded by others?"

The text besides the silhouette reads: "For what Loneliness is greater than when you are truly alone?" /End ID]

"For what Loneliness is greater than that caused by your own hand?"

I DON'T LIKE THIS VACATION.

I hail from Westshiresfeld. Giveth me thine

Trickth or treath!

Looks like it's a Calico Kitty Pop for you!!

Trick or treat! Happy halloween!

Happy Halloween to you! Please enjoy this blue lace agate!

Don't use tape, kids. It will just disappoint you.

@pastelpixels suggests: > Inspect The Mask

@mindl3ss-kitt3n suggests: > Inspect The Mask (and also your staff)

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I cross my legs, and pick up the mask from where it lies on my hip, brushing off the last bit of sand clinging to it. 

Two pairs of faintly glowing yellow eyes stare up at me, with the set on the damaged side occasionally flickering and going dim before weakly lighting back up. The other side bears a small horn, curved on the inner side as if it wrapped around an actual horn. This mask, with its damage and its one, singular horn, reminds me of a similar one I had before… though that one I had crafted myself as a crude combination of the tech and magic of the world I was on at the time.

Which, perhaps it is the same mask? Just modified for this world in the same fashion my clothes are? The main body of it seems to be petrified wood, though, with the eye holes being made of light magic rather than being holes at all-- the old mask was more heavy on the tech than the magic aspect, with most of it being metal with a digital interface.

I flip the mask over, finding the inside scratched with a few runes in what looks like my own handwriting-- one for durability; for activation; for translation; for better sight; for harmony with technology; and for energy for the mask. Same as before, solidifying the theory that this is (was?), in fact, my old mask. Why it would show up again now of all times, changed so drastically in look, I can't be sure. 

I press my fingers over the activation rune and slide it on, allowing the magic to "click" it into place over my face. I blink, squinting as my field of view is filled with Very Important Information. At least it still gives important info related to what I'm currently focused on. ...Unfortunately, this version of the mask isn't any smarter than mine used to be, and its idea of important info is to tell me that there is sand on the ground.

Well.

I guess it isn't wrong, at least?

I sigh and bat away the notifications, turning my attention back to my hip, where my staff sits, waiting. I lift it a bit awkwardly from my belt, flipping it around in my hand until it's in a good position, and examine it. It consists of two portions, really-- the "lamp orb", which is made of milky white glass containing a constantly reforming mass of light, not unlike a lava lamp; and the actual staff bit, which curves around the lamp orb, and is made of dark colored wood with a teal grip. As far as I can tell, it is my exact same staff. 

A notification pops up.

"MEGABIRD" my mask informs me, helpfully, pointing to the orb of light inside my staff and a few various other sources of light, like the sky and the water reflections, before changing its mind and telling me that those are actually light.

Okay.

What the fuck is a megabird?

I stare at the notification, puzzled, waiting to see if it changes back-- even jiggling the staff to see if it would catch "megabird" again. It doesn't work, though, much to my disappointment. So, instead, I extend the staff to actual staff length by pressing one of the extension runes on the grip, and then open the storage compartment to see if any of the items in there get labelled weird.

Unfortunately (fortunately??), they do not. All the enhanced space has is some snacks, a container of water, my necklace (how'd that get in there?), and my hairtie. I dig out the hairtie, carelessly warping the opening for a moment while I grab it, and use it to tie most of my hair up and out of the way, before grabbing the necklace and clipping it on as well.

I eye the snacks and water container, contemplating if I'm really that in need of them right now, and close the compartment when I decide I can wait. 

Shoving the staff into the ground, I use it to help lift myself onto my feet and keep steady. Once I'm sure I won't eat shit if I let go of the staff, I dust the sand off of me and take a look around, yoinking the staff back out of its sandy half-grave.

There really isn't much but sand and water around, though. Behind me, there's water, before me, there's sand. Oh, and rocks, I suppose, and what appears to be a good sized one blocking any view of what might be ahead.

I sigh. 

If I'm on a tiny island again I'm not bothering with swimming this time.

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*note: Trick may now get your asks directly as notifications from their mask. They will reply accordingly, and I will attempt to do mini doodles for any that aren't used for the main story.

Aaaand we’re back!