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Post by The Storyteller on Nov 16, 2009 21:03:35 GMT -5
((This thread is reserved for the four "lovers" -- Hitoshi, Alex, Jason and Zephyros -- and possibly one or two of the fae characters, should they decide to show up.))
For a long, unmeasurable moment there was nothing but a cold blackness, like being dunked in ice water.
The nothingness faded slowly, and from it came the forest.
There was nothing real about this place. The trees stretched far above them, blocking out the sky entirely with leaves the size of a fully grown person in deep violets and blues. A path, lined with irises, winded to and fro within the trees with no discernible end in site. The flowers which lined the path, on closer inspection, had eyes, every one of them turned toward the pair laying in the crossroad in the path.
A wooden sign, worn and covered in moss, poked out from the ground, with an arrow pointing in each direction.
To the right, A Happy Dream. To the left, A Bitter Reality.
Behind, Nothingness. Ahead, Forever.
The irises blinked at the pair.
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Jason Hiller
Ireth
University Freshman: Lycanthrope
Just another nancy boy...
Posts: 1,433
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Post by Jason Hiller on Nov 16, 2009 21:33:22 GMT -5
Jason groaned softly as he came to, blinking in confusion. What had happened? The last thing he remembered was seeing the Red Death taking off his mask, showing nothing but blackness underneath... and then the blackness had been everything. And now he was here, though he couldn't be sure where "here" was.
He was lying on his stomach on some kind of dirt path -- specifically, he noticed, crossroads branching into two paths, both of them lined with irises. Hadn't he just been in an aisle of the auditorium? How had he gotten outside? This did NOT look like the school grounds. The paths were lined with irises... he recalled seeing irises in Professor Harrows' gardens once... but he was quite certain that Professor Harrows' irises didn't have eyes of their own.
He pushed himself to a sitting position, brushing the dirt from his dress, and looked up at more of his surroundings. The sky was gone, blocked out by the massive trees around him. Their leaves were huge, and all unnatural shades of blue and purple. At the very crux of the crossroads, there was a sign, one arrow pointing forward, behind, and down each of the two paths. And beside Jason was another person. He looked about fourteen or fifteen, with pale skin and curly white hair. He looked like he was unconscious.
Concerned, Jason knelt beside the boy and checked him over. He didn't seem to be injured; he was still breathing, and his pulse was fine. Jason bent down toward the side of his head and called out to him. "Hello? Can you hear me?"
Fear gripped Jason's heart in its cold fist, making it hard for him to breathe. He had no idea where he was, he was alone except for the unconscious boy beside him, and Zeph was nowhere in sight. But he'd been holding Zeph's hand just seconds before everything had disappeared... he couldn't remember letting go. He wouldn't have let go of his own will. Someone or something had to have torn him from his boyfriend's side.
"Help!" he cried out, his voice cracking in his throat. "Is anyone out there?"
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Nov 16, 2009 22:49:11 GMT -5
Alex lay still as long as he could bear it; there was dirt underneath him and the smell of grass and flowers, and the wind blew with soft whispers that sounded suspiciously like laughing voices. He lay still as someone checked his pulse and asked him questions, if only because he had no idea how to respond. The fearful crying was too much.
He turned his head towards Jason and blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the new light, then got up, brushing the dirt off his shirt front. He thought he recognized the-
-Yes. Recognized, for the most part, Zephyros' boyfriend, Jason something. Not usually in a dress, he recalled, but that was hardly the strangest thing here.
"Are you okay?" he asked softly
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Jason Hiller
Ireth
University Freshman: Lycanthrope
Just another nancy boy...
Posts: 1,433
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Post by Jason Hiller on Nov 16, 2009 22:57:44 GMT -5
Jason jumped as the boy suddenly spoke, turning his head to look over at him. He swallowed, shaking his head in answer. He was relieved that the boy was okay, but his fear at not having Zeph beside him was not lessened.
"I don't know what happened," he said shakily, standing up as well and anxiously smoothing his skirt. "One minute I was with Zeph, and the next minute everything disappeared, and then I was here. Wherever here is." He walked over to the sign, reading it aloud in confusion.
"'A Happy Dream'... 'A Bitter Reality'... 'Nothing'... 'Forever'? What is this, Wonderland?" It certainly seemed like something dreamed up by a man on drugs. He looked back at the boy, nervously holding out a hand. "Sorry, I don't think I know you... my name's Jason."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Nov 16, 2009 23:03:25 GMT -5
Alex shook hands with Jason. "We haven't met, but Zephyros talks about you all the time. I'm Alex, nice to meet you."
He sighed and looked around at the landscape. "Those... people. Must have been their fault. We'll have to find a way out of here."
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Jason Hiller
Ireth
University Freshman: Lycanthrope
Just another nancy boy...
Posts: 1,433
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Post by Jason Hiller on Nov 16, 2009 23:23:40 GMT -5
"Nice meeting you, too," Jason replied politely. He shivered a little, looking around again, and glared down at the staring irises. They were seriously creeping him out.
"What are you looking at?" he growled at one of them.
The iris-with-eyes glared back at him, and he turned away. "Freaky flowers."
Looking back up at the sign, Jason studied the four arrows again. "The path only goes two ways... which do you think would be better? A happy dream or a bitter reality? Frankly, I just want to get back to Dunehelden, find Zeph and convince myself that this is all just a really freaky dream."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Nov 16, 2009 23:45:41 GMT -5
Alex walked up to the sign and ran his hand over it. It felt real enough, solid enough; he considered trying one of the exercises Lamadre had taught him, to see the 'truth' of things, more or less, but he got the feeling that would be a bad idea here. Instead, he closed his eyes and reached out with his magic.
He could feel Hitoshi out there, somewhere, beyond a thousand things that felt like sticky spiderwebs; he brushed against one and shuddered, breaking the spell as his magic rejected the little sticky fragment. He could try tossing something out there, but it would likely get caught, and then what?
Alex looked back to Jason. "I don't like lies, and I think 'reality' is where we ought to head to get back to, well, reality. Would you be all right with that?"
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Jason Hiller
Ireth
University Freshman: Lycanthrope
Just another nancy boy...
Posts: 1,433
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Post by Jason Hiller on Nov 16, 2009 23:56:14 GMT -5
Jason nodded, looking down the chosen path. "That sounds like our best bet. Come on... stay close."
He started to lead the way down the path, nervously avoiding the curious stares of the "eye-rises". He looked around, forward and up instead. The lack of sunlight unnerved him. Which direction were they going? But something told him that what he knew from the real world didn't necessarily apply here. The sooner they got out of this place and back to real life, the better.
So if this is Wonderland, he thought, am I Alice? That would make Alex the White Rabbit, I guess. It kind of suits him. Maybe we'll meet the Mad Hatter and the March Hare for a tea party... He laughed aloud in spite of himself.
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Post by The Storyteller on Nov 18, 2009 15:51:11 GMT -5
As the path winded onward, the scenery grew progressively more sinister. The trees grew taller and wider until no sunlight passed through the leaves at all. The only illumination came from a swarm of what appeared to be floating specs of blue light. Each blade of grass was nearly as tall as Alex and more than half as wide, all the color of blood.
The specs of light danced closer to the faces of the boys. They could see only enough to see each other, and to stay on the path.
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Nov 18, 2009 17:55:35 GMT -5
Alex shivered and stayed close to Jason. It seemed colder, though he knew it wasn't; he realized he had been humming something under his breath and stopped.
"So, I..." he swallowed and started again. "What year are you in?"
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Jason Hiller
Ireth
University Freshman: Lycanthrope
Just another nancy boy...
Posts: 1,433
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Post by Jason Hiller on Nov 18, 2009 17:58:43 GMT -5
"Freshman in the university," Jason answered with a slight smile, glad that Alex was making the effort to distract both of them from the sheer weirdness of what was going on. "I'm a werewolf. What about you?"
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Nov 18, 2009 18:07:55 GMT -5
Alex smiled back. "Ah, I thought you looked older. I'm in the Academy, freshman." He tried to wave a hand through one of the little lights, but it dodged him and flew off. "And a mage, I guess. That's recent. Still don't know what to think about it."
He looked back at Jason. "I also don't know anything about werewolves, including whether it's rude to ask, so if you'll forgive me..."
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Jason Hiller
Ireth
University Freshman: Lycanthrope
Just another nancy boy...
Posts: 1,433
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Post by Jason Hiller on Nov 18, 2009 18:39:29 GMT -5
Jason smiled. "Yeah. I don't know a lot about mages either, which might be surprising, since my boyfriend is one. The only other mage I know very well is Aramis Aldin. He helped put my legs back together after I fell off the roof." He shivered, the memory still strong in his mind.
He reached out toward one of the lights, wondering if it would land on his palm. He was rewarded by a cool, tingling sensation where the light settled against his skin. He moved his hand a little, and the light darted away like a tiny blue firefly.
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Nov 18, 2009 19:12:21 GMT -5
"Oh," Alex replied. "I, ah, heard about that. It's good he was able to help."
"I get the impression most mages are rather close-lipped about anything important. Even Hitoshi tends to act like it's some secret club or- well, okay, maybe Hitoshi just likes to act like that. It's rather hard to tell with him," he smirked. "Would I be wrong to presume Zephyros has mentioned him?"
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Jason Hiller
Ireth
University Freshman: Lycanthrope
Just another nancy boy...
Posts: 1,433
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Post by Jason Hiller on Nov 18, 2009 19:25:36 GMT -5
"Just once," Jason answered, shifting a little uneasily at the memory of what Zeph had told him -- there had been fighting in Hitoshi's cooking class that had gone badly. Zeph had come out of it with bruises and bloody hands, and he hadn't really even done anything to start the fight. Jason might not have even found out about it if he hadn't smelled the blood from Zeph's hands. "A while ago. Why do you ask?"
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Nov 18, 2009 19:30:24 GMT -5
Alex looked away, hugging himself and shivering a little more. It really did seem to be getting colder. Stupid darkness. Were they even going the right way?
"I was just wondering," he said softly, guessing some of the things Jason might be thinking. "I'm sorry Hitoshi can be a jerk. Uhm. Do you- like it here?"
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Jason Hiller
Ireth
University Freshman: Lycanthrope
Just another nancy boy...
Posts: 1,433
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Post by Jason Hiller on Nov 18, 2009 19:38:59 GMT -5
Jason thought for a moment, reflecting on the pros and cons of life at Dunehelden so far. On the plus side: beautiful, loving boyfriend (and all the perks that came with that), good friends, caring teachers, interesting classes. On the minus side: two broken legs and a broken pelvis all in one day. His beautiful, loving boyfriend had tried to kill himself, and almost succeeded. His friendship with Jonathan had threatened to ruin his relationship with Zeph.
Well, he thought, weighing the balance in his head, it was pretty hard to give a definite answer. The pros and cons balanced out pretty well. He settled for a shrug and a smile. "It has its ups and downs, but that's true everywhere."
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Post by The Storyteller on Nov 18, 2009 20:27:03 GMT -5
The leaves of the trees began to flicker with images -- memories, from the look of it -- most of which were rather mundane.
A dark haired girl in an elegant dress sat primly at a dinner table; a blond boy in a cabin ate a bowl of stew; a large bird pecked at a mostly-dead rabbit; a tall pale man pranced around a squat homely man with a plate full of pastries.
The scenes continued as such for a while... until at last, familiar ones could be seen among the leaves.
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Jason Hiller
Ireth
University Freshman: Lycanthrope
Just another nancy boy...
Posts: 1,433
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Post by Jason Hiller on Nov 18, 2009 20:52:59 GMT -5
Jason looked up curiously, seeing his own image on the leaves above them. They were scenes from his memories, jumping back and forth through time.
On one leaf he saw a younger image of himself and his first boyfriend, a burly German boy with black hair and dark brown eyes, having a heated argument. Another leaf showed Jason plummeting from the edge of the school roof, screaming and sobbing in terror. A third leaf showed Jonathan, looking pale and exhausted, like he had the night he had turned up at Jason's dorm after a week's absence, returning only to say goodbye. A fourth showed Zeph, lying in a pool of his own blood, his face as white as death.
Jason shuddered, tearing his eyes away from the images and trying to push back the memories. He quickened his pace unconsciously, wanting to get out of this place and back to real reality, not just these images, taken from the darkest points of his life. The real world was better than all of that. He knew love and friendship and warmth, not just heartbreak and suffering.
Where were all the memories of his time with Zeph, when they were both alive and well, painting together or sleeping peacefully in the same bed? Probably down the other path, in the 'happy dream', Jason reflected bitterly. But he knew they were still real, like the real Zeph. He clung to those happy memories, trying to dispel the pain of the memories shown on the leaves.
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Nov 18, 2009 21:12:41 GMT -5
Alex glanced at Jason, more comfortable trying to read the other boy's reaction to the images than to think too much about them himself. He looked away from the scene with the rabbit, then started and stared a bit at the image of the prancing pastry man. He hardly noticed as the leaves changed once more until he saw the one of Zephyros.
He gripped his arms, then unhooked one hand to touch Jason on the shoulder. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, not looking at him.
Several leaves flickered like malfunctioning televisions in front of them, followed by the distinct scent of baking bread, which made Alex look up. Several visions glowed before them, of women- a single woman, at different times, tall and stocky with long brown hair- baking bread in a modern-looking little house filled with flowers. Alex made a small noise; the images began flickering again, switching to visions of taunting children, a car crash he didn't recognize, and various images of Alex himself, older, and with a vicious look in his eyes.
The bread-smell died off, replaced by whispers. ...never seen... too old... don't think anyone would want him anyway...
Alex shivered. He really wished he'd brought a coat... somehow.
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Jason Hiller
Ireth
University Freshman: Lycanthrope
Just another nancy boy...
Posts: 1,433
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Post by Jason Hiller on Nov 18, 2009 21:43:43 GMT -5
Jason jumped a little, startled at the touch on his shoulder and barely hearing the mumble that followed it.
"...It's okay," he replied slowly, not really putting much heart into his words. He looked down at his arms; what he could see of his skin was covered in goosebumps. He rubbed his arms to warm them as he walked on down the sinister path. Sinister in more ways than one.
He was silent for awhile, watching the dancing blue firefly-lights that hovered all around them, just barely lighting their path. It was unsettlingly quiet when no-one was talking, but he couldn't think of anything to say. What could he say that would be of any help to them? Neither of them knew where this path was really leading; for all they knew, the "bitter reality" could be just another dream, or a dream within a dream. Would they ever wake up from it?
"And what will happen if we don't?" he asked himself, accidentally speaking out loud.
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Nov 21, 2009 23:34:37 GMT -5
Alex sighed miserably. He should have expected this stupid place would try to make him feel terrible, and it was succeeding to an extent. A bit hard to make him feel alone with someone walking beside him, though, even if that was usually the most effective tactic and Jason wasn't... well.
He wanted to stop overthinking things, but he wanted even more to scream and sulk, so he settled for thinking.
Alex raised his head sat Jason's words. "Hm?"
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Jason Hiller
Ireth
University Freshman: Lycanthrope
Just another nancy boy...
Posts: 1,433
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Post by Jason Hiller on Nov 22, 2009 1:35:31 GMT -5
"What?" Jason blinked. "Oh, um, sorry... I was just thinking out loud. This place is creeping me out. I hope this path ends soon. I want to find Zeph, or at least get somewhere brighter. And cheerier."
He wrung his hands nervously, feeling the opal ring on his right ring finger and managing a small smile. Well, wherever he was, and wherever Zeph was, they both knew they had their love for each other to keep them going.
Somehow he couldn't let go of the feeling that wherever Zeph was, he was looking for Jason, and he wouldn't stop until he found him. The thought deeply comforted Jason. He only wished that he knew if there was a way he could look for Zeph, too. It would probably be easier if he were a mage, Jason thought. Being a werewolf wasn't always the greatest thing in the world. What good would it do him in this dream world where nothing was as it seemed?
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Zephyros Aetai
Kitty Kat
Academy Junior: Small God
Even the mightest Hurricane started as the gentlest of breezes...
Posts: 1,380
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Post by Zephyros Aetai on Nov 22, 2009 4:36:59 GMT -5
Zephyros stepped through the door first, not quite sure what he was putting himself into. Hitoshi didn't seem the type to put himself in danger first, and they had no idea what they were going to run into. Besides, Zeph was the physically stronger one, and he knew how to fight without magic. Magic was too unpredictable in dreams... He looked around, ready to fight.
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Nov 22, 2009 5:37:54 GMT -5
Hitoshi stepped through the door after Zephyros.
Stepping through the door was disorienting, like stepping out of a roller coaster. Hitoshi had to grip one of the nearby trees to hold himself steady.
He breathed deep, steadying himself. Jason and Alex were nowhere in sight, but he could feel Alex stronger than ever. They were close, so very close.
Hitoshi leaned his head back against the tree, and noticed something strange. Above them, the leaves of the trees were flickering with images. At first, there were too many to pick out any specific one. Most of them were people he didn't recognize, happy moments in other people's lives with no real consequence to him.
Then one came in to focus, slightly ahead of them. A woman's face... A petite woman with white-blond hair and violet eyes stood over a stove, smiling back over her shoulder. At a table, a pair of black hair children, no older than five or six, sat facing each other. The girl licked her lips and scribbled frantically with a pink crayon, as though if she did not finish the picture in the next few moments the paper might disappear. The boy squinted, making deliberate motions with a black crayon. A man -- a familiar looking man with black hair and dark gray eyes -- ruffled the boy's hair and kissed the girl on the forehead, then wrapped his arms around the waist of the woman.
He had seen that face in ever literature class for two months. He knew that man.
Professor Yogo.
His eyes went wide, and his hand latched onto Zephyros' arm as he dragged the other boy near. "Do you see what I see?" he asked, his voice low and shaky. "That man. Tell me who you see."
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