Here lies a beach. As plain as day to those native to the land surrounding it, not one single thing special about this beach. The Sand almost a bleached white blends perfectly with the gleam off the waters surface that reflects the intense light of the sun. A breeze slowly drifts across the unassuming beach, reaching the abrupt treeline. A mixture of foliage make up this treeline like some kind of plant mosaic, slightly obscuring the forest beyond the beach but not enough for it to be a mystery, just enough to make you have to take a closer look. The breeze drags grains of sand and fallen twigs deeper into the treeline, the ocean's aroma entwined in the air. Just on the edge of the treeline, where the white sand meets trees and green leaves, people lying down as if they were sleeping. The cluster of people that lay motionless on the edge of the beach vary in appearance but all seem to be in a deep rem. From the waters, along with the warm breeze, blows in a strange and out of place chill. This strange chill was more than that though, this chill seemed to have been carrying mysterious energies that were unnoticeable to the eye, but not the body. As we would see as this energy washes over the sleeping people, bringing them to a wake. These energies being foreign enough to be noticed immediately in one's body, the energy would linger for some time, seemingly clinging to the people on the beach. This energy wasn't a harmful one, no, but it enveloped the people like a blanket. It moved with them and complimented their spirits, one could say it became them, but this was not the case. Focusing on the energy that was now apart of them, would prove that this energy could be controlled...

this area seemed to be void of people, although not void of their presence in this land. Small animals pranced through the light brush, some familiar and some not. Rabbits and squirrels were easy to spot, along with some unknown creatures, one resembled that of a small scaled dog. Looking deeper into the treeline a cobblestone road can be spotted, patches of grass pushing through the cracks. The end of the road is marked with a wooden sign that clearly reads,
"Kingdom of Honorfire. 4 miles ^."

---

~Zyrick~

Zyrick leaned over in his bed and grabbed his alarm clock turning it towards him, the bright red light shined a large 12:43 pm in his face. He let out a satisfying sigh as his body slumped back into his bed; the groove in the mattress matched his body perfectly.
"And again tomorrow..." He thought as his eyes closed, drifting slowly out of consciousness. It was one of those sleeps where you don't really have a dream, or at least you don't remember having one, so it only feels like you've been sleeping for a few minutes before you wake up. That's what Zyrick was experiencing. However, His eyes shifted slightly at the sensation of gentle grass poking at his eye lids; He must have rolled over in his sleep. To a light sleeper like Zyrick, even the slightest sounds and movements will wake him and in this case it was birds cawing. A seagull maybe?

Zyrick's eyes fluttered open and once he saw the grass and dirt beneath him his body shot up into a sitting position. His breathing became rapid and shallow at the sight of being outdoors, even more so when he looked at his surroundings. Others were sleeping outside too, no more than 10 feet apart from one and other. Did I sleep walk? Was my dinner drugged or something? Who the hell is that guy? his mind raced while he sat that near hyperventilating. His hand shot to his chest to feel how much his heart was racing, the beating under his palm felt about the same pace as the bass at a rave. His immediate reaction...In through the nose, out through the mouth.

As his methodical breathing helped calm his nerves he could feel something strange, his body wasn't right. There's something going on with him it's like there was another sense that was added to his body, but he couldn't identify it with words, it was just a feeling. He looked at the closest person to him, they must have been waking as well. "'Scuse me ?! Hey do you know where we are??" His voice teetering between a whisper while his breath was shaky. He patted rapidly on the ground towards them, trying to get their attention. Zyrick was in desperate need for some kind of explanation.

Something was strange.

Alice, smacking her lips in her sleep, slowly stirred awake due to a light voice and an odd texture in her mouth. Her eyes slowly opened, the world still mostly dark regardless. Scanning the small area within her view, her mind processed what was in front of her by having her hand grope the ground beneath her; Her fingers sank through, similarly to... Sand. This thought lead her to the realization that she was face first in the sand, and that what was in her mouth was surely sand also. Her teeth pressed together due to being curious, hearing a sound that almost resembled static as the grains shifted between her teeth.

Yup. It tasted bad.

Pushing herself up, the girl began coughing and attempting to spit out the sand in her mouth. Awh, god. How did she manage to get sand in her mouth? She didn't remember falling asleep on some beach; She was in her hotel room, reading travel guides! They were so boring that she ended up passing out; She hadn't decided where to go yet. She managed to stop coughing her lungs out long enough to look up at her surroundings: There were trees. And the ocean! And... Some guy.

A small scowl crossed her face. Damn it! She didn't want to go to the tropics; Too much sun was bad for her cute complexion! And if this was the quality of the hot manservants around here, then she could only offer three and a half stars at best. Maybe four if he was nice, but she wasn't making any promises.

"I have no--" She was interrupted in the middle of her response by coughing more sand out; God, her throat was itchy. She might have been hallucinating but she almost swore a small crab popped out of her mouth with how hard she just coughed. "I have no idea where we are." She answered, sitting in the sand in front of the obviously panicked man. Honestly, she was freaked out, too! Was she kidnapped? Is this like that T.V show where that plane crashed on the island? Was there going to be a big smoke monster?

She thought she might start crying in a minute, but kept her composure for the sake of communicating with the makeshift manservant.

"Last thing I remember was reading some crappy travel guides. I wake up and my lungs feel like they're half filled with sand!" She rambles at the man for a moment, blinking in realization as she stared at him. This was all oddly suspicious, wasn't it? Was she dreaming? If so, it was disappointing this was the best she could do; She could almost mistake it for a nightmare!

"Wait a second." She added, staring at the manservant. "Are you real?" She asks, tone swaying between confused and serious. To further her seriousness however, she reached out, offering her arm to him. If he pinched her and she woke up, then crisis averted. But if it was the other way around, this could actually be really, really bad. She had to know.

"Pinch me." She requested, bracing herself a little bit for it. She'd dock her score from 3.5 to 2 stars if he didn't go through with the request.

- Sebastian Masters; Out of the frying pan... into a new world -

Sebastian was no stranger to perilous situations, his investigative reporting had taken him from the slums of some third world country to the middle of a warzone in the middle east and still he had always held his nerve around danger, but what was happening to him now had him more then a little shaken up.

The last thing he could remember was crashing out of exhaustion on some dingy hotel mattress, the only sounds being the broken air-conditioning unit and his own exasperated breathing, but now for some reason he could hear the soft sound of waves rolling onto a beach, he could feel the warmth of a mid-day sun and summoning the strength to open his eyes slightly he could see the bright blue sky above him. Not knowing what was going on he decided to believed this to be a calming method his mind was using to deal with his recent stress, all be it a strange one as he never really liked beaches, however his peaceful delusion was then shattered by the sound of people talking close by.

Quickly sitting bolt upright in the sand his eyes shot open, darting around quickly scanning for danger but only finding two other people sitting in the sand talking, with others still laying around on the beach, at this point his journalistic side kicked in and he started to analyse the situation, with no idea where he was, how he got their, or what was going on, he was going to need to do something so getting to his feet he began to walk over to the two others sitting up on the beach all the while trying to prepare himself, ready to do the one thing he hated to do, rely on others for an explanation.

Something wasn’t right.

That was the story of Jacob Wheeler’s life in recent days, but now it was in regards for a less metaphysical issue. He wasn’t in his bed in his tiny one-bedroom apartment like he was supposed to be. He was out in the field again, sleeping in the sand! Licking his dry lips Jacob pushed himself onto his knees, his gloved hands sinking into the dust. A strange hat, an old-fashioned looking thing which’d been perched awkwardly on his head fell off from the sudden movement. He stared at the odd bit of headware, amused by its peculiarity and recent position on his head. He knew where it must have come from. He’d been attending Mardi Gras on the North Shore in Louisiana last night, out on the lakeshore. He must’ve bought it at some point during one of the themed parades from a street vender. The hat was oddly well made for something one might buy on the corner, and looked worn and tattered, and stained even. Jacob hoped he hadn’t wasted too much money on it. The amount of alcohol he’d consumed would explain his lapse in memory of the purchase, and his current sleeping arraignments out on the beach.

The thought of money in mind he patted his back pocket, groaning aloud when he found no reassuring bulge. Wallet’s gone. He checked his other pocket. Phone too, and his keys. Everything was gone, and he was alone on a beach, who knows where with no money, no car, and no way to call for help.

Jacob felt the sharp sting of despair when a murmur of voices behind him alerted him to presence of other people. He could have shouted aloud for joy as he turned quickly, standing up unsteadily to ask if any of them still possessed their cellular devices. As Jacob's unsteady eyes roamed over the local area his beer tinged breath caught in his throat at the sight of the strangest little creature he'd ever seen. It was like a large rat, but with seven tails, eight legs and fur that flashed dull red, then blue, then yellow. Jacob blinked, rubbing at his eyes and looking again. It’d vanished.

Deciding he was still a little drunk Jacob squinted at the other people, real tangible people assembled near by. Half dozen or more of them scattered about in similar states of confusion and groggy consciousness. Ignoring the arrangement of robes, armor, and weaponry more out of a refusal to acknowledge the oddities then not, he addressed the nearest and most awake person he could see.

“Um hi, I’m sure we’re good friends after last night, though I can’t seem to recall your name...?” Jacob scratched his head, brushing sand from his blonde hair. “Anyway, do you still have your phone by any chance? I seem to've lost mine...”

Olivia's 24-hour shift had been pretty shitty, to say the least. The last four hours had been occupied by a drive-by, and her team was the first on the scene. While it wasn't rare to see these kinds of incidents in some parts of LA, it was something that Olivia would never get used to no matter how many years she had lived there. Luckily the victim of the drive-by had only been hit by one bullet in the arm. While she was not train fully trained as an EMT, her partner was, so she helped him as best she could while the police and ambulance arrived. Police statements and all the formalities came after the victim was dealt with. Oliva usually didn't get this kind of calls while her 24-hour shifts. Most of them were of people who fainted, broke something while falling, or just false emergencies so at the end of her shift she was pretty beat. She had been planning to grab something to eat before going home, but the last call had really done one on her, so she headed home and straight to bed with plans for a big breakfast in the morning.

However, her big breakfast had been canceled as she stared up at the blue sky and listened as waves hit the shore. Wait. Sky? Shore? Beach?! Oliva shot up and looked around frantically, sand flying around her and falling from her hair to her shoulders. "Wha -- " She looked down to see her usual boxers and tank top were replaced by some kind of leather garments... Was it armor?! What the hell going on? The last thing she remembered was falling asleep to the image of big fluffy pancakes, and now she could feel sand inside her strange clothing. Fucking hate the sand.

"Anyway, do you still have your phone by any chance? I seem to have lost mine..."

Olivia's head turned back to look at some strange people in strange clothes talking to one another. "Hey! What the fuck is going on? Is this some kind of joke?" Oliva shuffled to her feet quickly, groaning loudly when sand slipped into her leather boots and began to stomp her way to them. Had she been kidnapped on her sleep and brought to the beach? This particular beach didn't look like the ones in LA. It was far too pretty! Maybe Laguna Beach? No no! This wasn't real! How could someone drug her, kidnapped her, changed her clothes, and send her to a pretty beach in one night?

"You got a phone dude? What is going on? The last thing I remember is sleeping in my bed, and now I'm here in some kind of LARP clothes." Olivia could tell they were just as confused as they were, and she knew there would be no answers from them. Didn't hurt to try, right?

~Zyrick~

Zyrick looked at the cloaked girl beside him. His hand twitched for a second, all too ready to reach out to this girl and just give her hand or wrist a little pinch just to humor her. But the thought of pinching somebody else seemed a little weird to him, "I'm not going to pinch you...sorry. But I-I don't think your dreaming, so a pinch isn't necessar-" His sentence trailed off into nothing. This is where it became real to him. She thinks shes dreaming, everyone around seems to be waking up just as confused as Zyrick was...is. The shock at first when seeing the beach and water was just that, a shock, but now while everything starts to sink in it's becoming clear that finding home may not be easy when no one knows where they are. Looking past the pink haired girl to see more people awake and as lively as ever, Now we be a good time to get a real conversation going. If any of these people knows whats going on, Zyrick is going to have some words to say.

Zyrick planted his feet down and pushed himself up to a standing, albeit wobbly, position. He hadn't realized until now, but he was no longer wearing what he had on. The last thing he was paying attention to was his clothing, but when he stood he could feel the abnormal weight of something hanging off his body. Tough leathers with plates of metal in certain areas, looking down at his clothing its made apparent that he is wearing armor or maybe some really well crafted cosplay attire; Most likely the former. A sight he tried to ignore was the sheathed sword that hung at his side by a few leather straps, the last thing he wants is these people thinking, 'Oh look! A guy with a dangerous weapon!'

He took a step or two towards the sitting girl and offered her an outstretched hand, "I'm shook! I can't really think straight right now, but maybe these guys have some answers." He offered her a hand as he continued to look across the beaches treeline.
He started to walk over to the others.

@Todd Howard

Alice squinted her eyes at the man, suspicious of the lack of pinching going on. As he refused, she tilted her head slightly to the left with disappointment. Oh, well. If she wasn't having any fun then this probably wasn't a dream anyways. She hadn't really noticed her attire as it didn't feel much different to her usual circus outfits, though the cloak sure did seem... Odd. Looking at it almost gave her a sense of security, and she had no idea why. Why was she worrying about that when she could be getting pissed off about this guy's shitty manservant behavior, though? Two stars! Two!

Well, two stars was what she was thinking. When he offered her a hand, she took it with a smile and stood up, patting most of the sand off of her. Okay, maybe he wasn't so bad. Two stars wasn't a good choice. Maybe three and a half? Four? Eh, to hell with it. She'd figure it all out later. While pondering these thoughts, she took note of the hat that was laying a short distance away that almost looked like the so-called 'Magic Hat' she wore during her routines. The color was dull and matched her cloak instead of being a rigid black, but hell, it looked nice. She picked it up and swatted the sand off of it before placing it on her head.

"Much appreciated, 'hon." She offered as a thank-you, taking note of his words with a nod. Poor man was shaken; Though she wasn't much better. What the hell happened? She decided that she'd question the most suspicious person she could see, and maybe find answers that way. Or at least someone who knew how to get sand out of terrible places.

The manservant walked towards the group of waking folk, but Alice picked out one man in particular; He was walking this way, and she decided his name as of now was Jack Buckleton, because goddamn did he have a lot of belts. Little, pointless ones around his legs, and two across the waist. Was this guy making a horrible fashion statement? She wasn't sure, but with what she was wearing she couldn't judge.

Just kidding, of course she could. He looked hysterical.

"I'm guessing we're about to ask each-other what the hell is going on." She said, a small smirk crossing her face. "Is that about right, Buckle-Boy?" She teased, finding amusement in the moment. The humor was really good for repressing the **god forsaken panic** that she could feel swelling up inside. Eventually that was going to pop, and she was probably going to cry. A lot.

- Sebastian Masters -

"I'm guessing as your asking you don't know, and from that I can guess nobody here knows anything about what's going on," Sebastian said bluntly ignoring the girls teasing comment.

He had realised as he was walking that his clothes had changed from his typical dress trousers and shirt to a long black coat with a hood, several belts holding a number of knives and a sword at the back and strangest of all no shirt. Turing away from the girl he looked out at the other people that where standing on the beach, muttering out loud; "so the real question is why are we here."

Deciding to get ideas as to who everyone is he set off walking again towards the small group that was now forming, not wanting to get involved with the conversation they were having but still wanting to size them up he stopped just short of them and listen in to what they where saying, most of it being about asking what was going on or if anyone had a phone, nothing too concerning so, resting his hand on the knives at belt he stood back allowing them to continue talking, his mind drifting trying to make sense of what was going on, he didn't like not knowing and it was putting him on edge.

---

Upon hearing their confusion, Jacob was quick to provide an explanation that followed for him. “Isn’t it obvious?” he asked, peering around at them all with his single grey eye. He was acutely aware of how some people stared, or deliberately strived to avoid eye contact with him. Their discomfort oft translated into Jacob’s own insecurity about the scar, and even over the months he’d worn an eyepatch he still found no comfort in their questioning looks or averted gaze. Making a conscious effort to resist itching the stitched socket, he instead kept his hands firmly clasped around his sword hilt and belt, something that nearly gave him a doubletake.

Sword? He had two, and a small crossbow with a quiver of bolts to accompany it. Somehow, the sword hilt felt familiar in his hand, the sweat stained wrappings feeling as if they were made specifically for him, both comfortable and comforting. Jacob pressed on, ignoring the worm of doubt curling in his stomach.

“We were all out drinking last night, we must’ve met at some point and got black out wasted. Probably wandered out here early this morning and passed out. We couldn’t have gotten far from civilization, surely.” The explanation made sense to Jacob, it fit well into own activities, though he didn’t feel hung over like he should’ve been. Actually, he felt pretty good all things considered.

“My guess is we’re somewhere along the shore of lake Borgne, or maybe even the Gulf if we got that far. If someone has a phone we could check the maps?” He cast about looking for any one of their strangely dressed troupe to volunteer their service.

~Zyrick~

Zyrick's footsteps were heavy, leaving behind footprints in the ground behind him. He thought because of the attire he had on that he would feel out of place, but looking at the others it wasn't the case. This slowly growing group of people that stood before him all seemed to be wearing the same theme of clothing as him, it was oddly natural looking when everyone was together. As he neared the group, a sense of calm washed over him when he heard them trying to find an explanation; Not feeling alone in this situation is comforting. For a second Zyrick could feel...something, it was the same feeling he felt when waking up. A strange presence in his body that was foreign yet somehow he could tell it belonged, this energy was building up in him before slowly fading to nothing. 'If this sensation persists, I might bring it up...I don't know.' Zyrick conversation with himself in his head ceased when he joined the circle.

One man there was talking about being at Lake Borgne or the Gulf. 'I don't know of any Gulfs around where I live, wonder which one that is...' Zyrick looked around this beach/lake/gulf and although the beach was beautiful he didn't recognize any of it. His eyes strayed past the treeline and into the brush only seeing a few animals, albeit strange ones.

He nodded as he rationalized being at Borgne Lake, it wasn't a place he's ever been so it's not like he could deny he was there. The man's explanation being the only one, Zyrick went with it, until he spotted a sign just beyond the brush. His hand reacted instinctively at his discovery patting the closest person to him on the shoulder, sort of his way of saying, Look! Look! He let out a nervous chuckle before blurting out.

"Is this lake Borgne located in ...t-the land of- what's that say? Honorfire?" Zyrick looked at the few other people. "Am I pronouncing that right?"

Zyrick's hand scratch the side of his head as he stopped for a moment and tried to think of just where the hell is honorfire. Honor fire must be like a store or something, 'cuz that would make a lot more sense. If it wasn't then that would mean we're on the outskirts of HonorFire, an unknown 'kingdom'.

"Nail on the head." Alice responded to her newest acquaintance Jack Buckleton, noting how the man dismissed her teasing comment. He looked like a more difficult egg to crack, or maybe he was just a hardass? Regardless, this situation probably had him and everyone else on edge. Things were certainly not looking the brightest given that nobody had their phones: Though she did think to check for her own, but only found a butterfly knife instead. She began spinning it in her hand like it was a natural motion, using it to distract herself from the situation a little.

Now that the group was becoming more aware, things were getting a bit better when it came to brainstorming. The voice that caught her ear belonged to a man that looked like he was some sort of pirate, or maybe the eyepatch just made her default to pirate? She wasn't going to push that right now: She had bigger things to point out.

"Hon, hate to discard your theory, but I've never even touched alcohol." She pointed out, somewhat proud but she had considered trying alcohol during her vacation... She never went to any sort of bar, though. She was certain of it! Since she was travelling on her own, she really wasn't sure if there were beaches and lakes near her hotel, but getting here wasn't the result of her being wasted! She at least assumed she'd have more restraint than to get drunk enough to wander off.

"Don't got my phone, either. Or anything, for that matter." She added in, dully. Why did they get armor and swords? She wanted armor and swords! Yet all she got was a knife and a hat that made her feel kind of fuzzy in the head. Was that the sun causing that? She really wasn't sure what it was about, but she was getting a little agitated because of it. She kicked at the sand, falling into momentary silence as she had no solutions.

Suddenly, a tap on the shoulder made her turn and look at what the manservant guy was doing. He found... A sign. While it was better than nothing, she was really hoping for something better: But beggars couldn't be choosers. "Honor-Fire? That sounds like something out of Mulan." She commented, eyeing the sign for a moment.

"Maybe it's the name of the lake. But usually signs have stuff like routes to picnic areas and campsites. Why doesn't this one have anything?" Out of curiosity, she approached the sign and peered at the opposite side, wondering if she could find any information.

Gulf? Lake Borgne? Olivia didn't know where any of those places were. She stayed quiet as she approached the small group that was forming in the white beach. They all looked like she had come out of some kind of medieval LARP with real looking weapons. The guy with the eyepatch looked like he belonged more than everyone in the group, but she tried not to stare too much. "There is no gulf near where I live and no beach is this clean. I was sleeping in my bed last thing I remember." She approached the group as she fiddle with one of the straps that held one of the swords. She unsheathed the curved sword and examined it closely. It looked real. It was real!

She put the weapon away when someone mentioned a sign. "Honor Fire?" It did sound like something out of Mulan or a fantasy book. "We got drugged and put in an island with all this gear for some sick dude's entertainment?" Olivia's mind was going wild with all kind of possibilities. "Medieval hunger games? Are we stuck in a simulation? Did we wake up from the matrix?" Okay, that last one was too ridiculous but anything was possible at this point. She tried to shove some of the other crazy options down her mind and focused on the only thing they had found so far; the sign.

"Does it have an arrow? Any kind of directions?" Standing in a beach wondering where the hell they were was not going to solve their problems or get them any where near an explanation. "Maybe we should find a road or something that could lead to civilization. Anything!" Olivia was not good with sudden changes like this and everyone around her seemed a bit too calm about the whole situation. No phones. No means of communication. No food or fresh water either. All they had were armor and weapons.

"This is some kind of sick joke and I am not laughing."

---

---

“It does actually.” Jacob answered for them all. There was some good fortune at least amidst all the confusion. These people weren’t making any sense, claiming there was no gulf or lake near where they lived. Why did he care if there was no gulf where they lived, what mattered was where they were now, and that was in southern Louisiana which most definitely had a gulf.

Deciding against engaging into the nuances of the point Jacob instead walked next to the signpost, kicking at the sand ground with his soulless boots, talking as he went. “There’s an arrow pointing that’a’ways, and a distance. The kingdom of Honorfire must be a theme park or something, there’s all sorts of alligator farms and tourist traps and such down here. We’ll find a phone to use, and call a cab, or at least I will I don’t really care what ya’ll do. Ah ha!” Jacob’s boot scuffed hard dirt buried under a light layer of sand. He’d seen this before in the desert, where wind had blown sand over a road less traveled. A road sign, even one as old and rickety as the one they were examining now wouldn’t just be placed out in the middle of nowhere. It’d be connected to a road, and a road could be followed.

Tugging on his pack straps he hoisted the satchel he never knew he had higher on his back, Jacob strode boldly down the path in the direction of Honorfire. Something truly strange was going on here, and setting aside the wild theories of kidnapping and the matrix he intended to find out what.

He had gone several feet before he realized the others were slow in following. Halting Jacob turned, frowning and waiting for them to catch up. “Let’s go people. Four miles ain’t that far, and we’ll make it in less than an hour if we step it out. Last thing I need is to get lost out in the Louisiana wilderness in the dark. Also, some of you might even have family or friends worried about your wellbeing, and we don’t want to keep them waiting.”