» 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙡

[Hyunjinnie]

𝕄𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕜𝕒𝕚
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♛Aus Rep. Tags; Dakota, Ivy Mentions; x

“Me? Nervous? Ha! Yeah, nah, I’m good.” He sent her a beaming smile, “Right as rain.” Malakai inwardly cringed at how sarcastic he sounded. He went to lean forward to look out of the window on the other side of the helicopter, but paused when he noticed a guy with blonde hair sitting there. He couldn’t help but wonder how he hadn’t noticed the other Aussie until now. Malakai came to the realization that his fellow representatives probably didn’t want to be speaking to a stranger or just didn’t talk very much. ’Or maybe they’re too worried about being sent to some mysterious island for a stupid survival game, ’ he thought to himself. “Where are you two from–” he started to ask but was interrupted by the pilot telling them that they were landing.

Malakai didn’t realize how much he had missed being on land until he got out of the helicopter. Kai stretched his arms above his head in an attempt to crack his sore back as the three moved away from the helicopter. He glanced around observing the other people that had arrived before them. Malakai wasn’t sure what to think about the others, but he wondered if any of them had been crazy enough to have volunteered for this insane game. “Well, it looks like everyone’s making friends already,” he turned to look at the two. “Maybe us Aussies should stick together. Better to have a team than be alone, eh? Oh right, I’m Malakai by the way.”


𝕃𝕦𝕔𝕒𝕤
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♛Mentor Tags; x Mentions; Tokala (briefly)

Lucas was unusually exhausted today. He had hardly slept last night and got up earlier than usual to head into the forest to try to collect any herbs that he could find. Despite being tired, Lucas had enjoyed his walk through the forest. Over the past few months, the forest became his favorite place on the island. He has spent many hours there collecting herbs and occasionally he would find a nice place to sit and relax. Although it was hard to be relaxed in a place that was so unpredictable, he’s managed fine so far. The island hadn’t been anything like he was expecting when he first arrived, but he became attached to the island quickly.

As Lucas got closer to the cabin area, he heard the sound of sirens and Tokala shouting to the other mentors. Confused, he quickened his pace towards the cabins so he could find out what was happening. Lucas paused when he noticed the helicopters arriving and realized that this was what Tokala had been talking about a few days ago. “Großartig. Mehr Leute. (Great. More people.)” Lucas’ grip on the strap of his bag tightened in frustration. When Tokala had told him that he heard the survival game would be happening this year, he didn’t really believe him. He had brushed it off and chose to ignore it while keeping his focus on the task he was doing.

Lucas debated on going inside his home or if he should meet with the others at the landing area. He knew he could ignore the entire situation altogether, but he was a little curious about the group arriving. Thinking it over for a moment, he finally decided that he would go down with the others but he would keep his distance from the newcomers.

[Mezzo]

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─────── NA Representative | Tags: Juliette | Mentions: x

If his companion seemed a little lost in thought, something just a bit distant in those doe-brown eyes, how could Rhys really blame her? The change in scenery, from seemingly endless blue skies on the flight there to flourishing greenery, was like whiplash, and it was a lot to process all at once considering how they’d gotten here in the first place — no, scratch that, especially because of the circumstances that had dragged the both of them and every other representative here. Besides, she wasn’t the only one; Rhys had the habit of getting absorbed in his own head, too, a single stray thought being able to lead him into a labyrinth, so yeah, he got it, really… except when she was staring at him without a word and he didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to do with that! What, had he said or done something wrong? Like… already? He was used to being a wallflower back home, so the thought that maybe he was being scrutinized - for why else would she, a stranger, be looking at him? - made him vaguely uncomfortable, and he could already feel the back of his neck starting to flush out of nerves. Curse physiology!

When the (awkward) silence stretched on for more than a heartbeat - though it felt longer, at least to him! - Rhys was seriously considering whether or not he should just go for it and ask if something was up, but he was luckily saved by the bell-like sound of the other’s voice as she apologized; he was proud to say that he didn’t betray what he was thinking by breathing an immediate, obvious sigh of relief at that! It seemed that it was just a misunderstanding, thankfully (mostly on his part, because of course). Reassured by the smile she sent his way, he felt the tension draining from his shoulders as he returned it with a genuine smile of his own. “All good, I think I get where you’re coming from,” he assured.

In response to her introduction, Rhys replied readily, “It’s nice to meet you, too, Juliette from The Six.” Her comment briefly left him wondering how, exactly, Toronto earned its moniker, but heck if he knew; he hardly ever left Washington, save for the occasional and always awkward road trip and family reunion in neighboring Oregon, and while some of his friends back at uni (if he could call them that — they were more like people he would occasionally gravitate towards outside of classes, but that didn’t necessarily mean he felt particularly close with any of them) had suggested driving to Vancouver for a weekend of fun, he’d never actually tagged along with them, so he hadn’t ever even been to Canada before either; tourist-y stuff always went over his head. At her next question, he let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “Umm, if I’m being honest with you, I… don’t camp… never have, so… I guess you could say this is gonna be a learning experience for me.” Honestly, being flown to Riaglan to learn how to camp felt like the equivalent of throwing a toddler into the deep end of a pool and hoping they would somehow figure out how to swim… so yeah, in other words, he was screwed and he knew it. “If it were up to me, I’d be back home, but I guess some god must hate me because I was randomly picked to be here.” The unbidden thought sprung to mind just as the words left his mouth: if he had stayed home, then he would never have become acquainted with Juliette. Sure, they were still practically strangers, but she seemed… sincere, genuine — hell if he knew how to describe it, exactly, but something about being in her company, just talking to her, was helping him to relax, which was really kind of nice considering the competition at hand. It felt like a much-needed moment of reprieve, the calm before a storm. Maybe it was that she felt easy to talk to? Really, it was just his luck that he was meeting someone like her on an island like this, of all places, practically designed to kill him. Were they in more commonplace circumstances, he might’ve asked for her number (a lie, he was way too shy to do something so bold and straightforward. The only time he’d done something like that was when coordinating with people for partner projects, but hey, it didn’t hurt to think about now, did it?).

Realizing that his thoughts were drifting, Rhys added hastily, “But hey, maybe it won’t be all that bad. They said there’d be mentors who would, um, guide us, right…?” Lord knew he needed the guidance, though he didn’t know about his conversational partner. He certainly hoped that he would get along with the mentors, whoever they were — it would make his temporary life here much easier in the long run… though he had to wonder what kind of people they were, to willingly choose to live on a disaster-prone island like this of all places. To be fair, at least the real estate prices had to be a steal (ha). Turning his attention away from Juliette for a second, he glanced around their surroundings briefly, wondering if he could spot out any mentors nearby… even though he had no idea what any of them looked like. There were plenty of people around the landing pad now, it seemed, though they were all probably other competitors, and if Rhys was being blunt, some of them looked wayyy more in their element than he was… were these the people he and Juliette had to contend with? Joy. Returning his attention to Juliette, he figured it was only polite to return her previous question back at her; “How about you, though? Um, are you much of a nature person?”