[audio] @riku [open] (backdated to 7th Aug)

[equinoctials]

This is Riku. I've met some of you already, building the boats or around town.

[ He's not the most outgoing guy, preferring to show his community spirit by working around Beacon. One might have seen him patching rooftops with handmade shingles or filling potholes with sand and stones. Those from the first ferry in might recall he helped move excess furniture from rooms in the Invincible so people could live in them. ]

I know we've all got a lot going on. I wouldn't ask for your help if it wasn't important.

[ Riku says it like he's not used to this. Thunder growls heavily in the background. ]

Some people went missing. I need to go find them before this rain gets any worse.

[ So why take his concerns to the network? ]

I can't be in two places at once. The lake... It's rising, and so is the river. We need to protect our supplies, whatever's left after the rats.

You can use the boat building materials down by the boathouse if you need them. Just get to it before they wash away. And-

[ He exhales, hesitating to give such an obvious warning when so many are assured of the dangers. For his own edification, he does anyway. ]

Be careful. It's down to us.

(OOC: backdated to 7 Aug)

Comments

[equinoctials]

I get that.

[ Between the storm and the dark and who knows what out there? It might even be impossible to find a road, let alone his lost friends. ]

I can't stay here, not if they're out there. Alone.

[ That's a big "if", and he wouldn't blame anyone if they called him a fool. It's just... there are some feelings that are too large to quantify, they crowd out everything else, even doubt. ]

What's more important is the town's supplies. Storms like this could wash away houses back on the island. I don't know how much the rats destroyed, but whatever's left needs to be protected.

[takeanyadvantage]

It'll be fine, plenty of people here who are typically good at surviving despite the obvious proof otherwise. We'll work it out.

[She just sounds as endlessly tired as she is.]

You on the other hand are going out on your own without any rhyme or reason.

[equinoctials]

[ Typically good at surviving despite the obvious proof otherwise. The fact that this would've been darkly funny at another time aside, Riku takes it for a reminder that people as a whole are survivors. It isn't that he lacks faith in people's ability to look out for their own interests - he's banking on it - it's more that he feels a little guilty leaving at a time like this. ]

It'll sound crazy... I know how this looks, but the people I'm taking have a way of tracking Sora.

[takeanyadvantage]

So you are taking people. Good. Keep your head up and the lantern close, yeah? It'd be a hell of a time to get it put out.

[equinoctials]

[ He almost didn't, out of some misguided desire to keep others from getting hurt. Except they're friends with a bunch of people, and some of them just didn't give Riku the opportunity to refuse. ]

You got it. We don't need any more casualties. Besides... if I let a little rain take me out, they'd never let me hear the end of it.

[takeanyadvantage]

Look out for each other's sixes. Good luck hunting, mate.