It was such an odd sensation. Somewhat difficult to put into words, but if he had to find a way to describe it, it would be a sudden loss of self. As if everything that made up what he was was suddenly pulled away from him and sent elsewhere. Like.. a removal of his consciousness? That may have been a bit of a dramatic way of putting it, but he could describe it as no other way. He had fainted before and this did not feel like a simple case of fainting.
Still, he was aware of what was happening around him. Even if what was happening around him could only be described as nothingness. But soon, color began to fill the void. Light pierced his eyes, revealing before him a sight that was familiar to him. No matter how long he’d been trapped in this city, there was no way he could ever forget the familiar faces surrounding him, as well as the plentiful waterfalls and elegant structures that made up the domain. This was..
“I am.. Home? But this rain.. Could it be that I’m merely dreaming? If so, why does it feel so real..”
This was indeed the Zora domain. But it felt more like a memory of it than anything else. Because the rain currently falling down upon them could have been caused by only one thing. Vah Ruta. But Link had conquered Vah Ruta already, had he not? Still believing himself to be asleep, he goes as far as to pinch as many places on his body as he could, only to recoil at the pain each one caused. A pain that was far too real. Was this a dream, or wasn’t it?!
In the realm of dreams, where even fantasy could become a reality, arose a vast kingdom surrounded by mountains and fertile land. The skies, the seas and the forests were adorned with fantastic beasts of your wildest imaginations, the prominence of magic giving humanity the protection and formidability they needed to survive. Though they struggled to remain at the top of the hierarchical chain, they thrived upon their craft, bringing about a golden age of culture and invention. And with those that would also abuse these boons, is where our tale begins...
Here, Riku was born into royalty, a prince living in a castle, no longer the idol center he once was in another time and place. But despite the vast changes to his lifestyle, he was unable to escape his destined bane: sickly and bedridden since childhood... But he was still happy--his family was kind and famously known for their benevolence towards the public, and the likes of his precious twin brother, Tenn, was very much by his side as his protector (what a kind, kind dream!). Speaking of, Tenn being the oldest son and birthright successor, he had become the epitome of natural genius and maturity, Riku very much inspired by his talents.
However, that lead to some meddling on his part, much to everyone’s chagrin..
Since the idea was planted in his head to become of more use to Tenn and those around him, Riku had dug his nose into the likes of magical tomes he found laying about the castle archives and the library. The Nanase family had always had a strong line of those with magical affinity, Tenn and Riku no different, but where Tenn had learned all sorts of spells and tactics, Riku’s lack of stamina and chronic illness prevented him from practicing anything that would put too much strain on his body. Thus, he found a knack for healing and defensive magic, persisting until he was able to even save those fallen and injured from battle.
He was praised for his selflessness and care, and because he had found some use to his power, began to study medicine as well. It would be nice if he could help others like himself, after all.
So today, Riku had snuck away from his quarters again for a short trip, tiptoeing through the halls and out into the garden, where he slipped through the finely trimmed hedges surrounding the courtyard and into the wild forest nearby.
“Those mushrooms I need should be ready by now... I’ll be back before anyone notices I was gone, huhu..”
Even still, visions plague him with images of worlds that won’t and wouldn’t be, of families and reluctant heroes.
Tonight, he finds himself in a memory, a floating castle above lavender clouds below, and above, a giant orb, staring down at him with a set of giant purple stars.
The Nightmare Stone. His prison, his corpse, the only physical memory of his defeats.
@Anglerfishnabe: Rhapsody of the Endless Sorcerer (Event)
@anglerfishnabe
♪Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?♪
Words that echo Battler’s mind, memories from childhood flooding his mind. Didn’t he use to hunt for those vynils with foreign music from the 70′s?
♪Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality♪
Yes, those were good times. At some nights, that’s what his dreams consist of. Simply recordations from the past, a time before Rokkenjima, before witches and gold. Sometimes beyond, how his life would have been had things stood like this...
If he hadn’t committed a sin...
♪Open your eyes
Look up to the sky and seeeeeeee♪
He does as the music says, standing up and cleaning the dust out of his body only to be faced with a pristine sky and a bucholic scenario. This is not home. His family didn’t have the habit of taking him to see nature. Where is he?
“♪ I’m just a poor booooy, I need no sympathy! ♪“
That’s when he notices, the mysterious trail of dead ducks on the floor. Is someone nearby? Is it someone dangerous? But it’d be someone anyway. The poor child shivers. He doesn’t want to be left alone...
“THIS PLACE WOULD HAVE BEEN A TRIUMPH IF IT WASN’T FOR YOU!!!”
the facility is empty. that's nothing new.
it had been empty for years as he'd watched it deteriorate. the only break in the void had been the test subjects he'd woken up, only to have them die hours later. their screams and pleas for his assistance had never haunted him - he did not care and let them bleed out or be crushed by falling debris. it had never been due to cruelty - he just needed to move onto the next test subject and it was more dangerous to help them. but now he swears that he can hear their screams again - faintly, like a ghost drifting in and out of existence - and wheatley shivers.
" lady? lady - are you here? also - are you alive? " he sees a glimpse of movement - orange clothing, a dark ponytail disappearing round a corner. " oi! lady, wait - ! " he calls after her; the management only allows him to go so fast, so far - and it's not enough, she's still running away. " hey, it's alright now! look, i'm not going to - i'm different n- " ( 'I'M DIFFERENT!' a turret joins him, speaking in unison, and he does his best to ignore it. ) " look, i'm all better, i'm not going to kill you anymore - honest - but we DO have to get out of here before SHE kills US. that’s - bottom line, that’s the truth here. ” he attempts to reason, chasing after her. he’s moving along the rail so quickly that he fails to realize that it comes to an end rather abruptly, and he’s falling -
“ catchmecatchmecatchmeladypleasecatchme! ”
she doesn’t. she isn’t there. she’s nowhere to be seen, and he only realizes that he’s stopped falling when there’s a large, glaring YELLOW optic directly in front of him. he’s trapped - she’s holding him in a vice-like claw again and he screams. he’s still a core, but he can still feel the hand around his throat. it’s different than her reawakening - there’s scientists crowding around the two of them, studying, refusing to say or do anything while he screams for his life and she plots his demise yet again. ( ‘ like all of those test subjects you left to die, ‘ an unknown voice counters. ) he looks to the emotionless, studious faces of the engineers as anger begins to override his fear.
‘ attach the moron core to GLa- ‘
“ I AM NOT. A. MORON! ”
he’s screaming it at them, and she loses her grip on him; he’s falling again through a sea of black and faint white stars. though the lady is nowhere to be seen, he’s yelling for her to help him yet again. but she doesn’t ( WHY?! WHY DOES THE LADY HELP HER AND NOT HIM?! ) that familiar rage - like a virus - starts boiling up in his mind, blocking out other thought processes and functions as he continues to fall. the lady is supposed to be HIS FRIEND! HIS PARTNER! instead his mind is flooded with the sickeningly familiar paranoia and despair and THAT ITCH AGAIN - !
when the falling finally stops, he recognizes the core transfer chamber; he can feel himself in the chassis again. the entirety of the facility is an extension of him - and why shouldn’t he be in power? he’s been powerless all his life - to the engineers, to HER, to...
he pauses as he realizes that the chamber is not empty. the lady stands in front of him defiantly ( “ ARROGANT - “ ) - with that damned potato on the end of the portal gun. both the lady and HER are silent ( “SMUGLY QUIET- ” ) it’s only now that he realizes that he’s ceased to be a core, but an android once again. she steps forward, and FEAR rushes through him, but the scowl on his face masks it. his face is wet and he’s crying and bleeding. one of his eyes has stopped functioning, showing everything in a fractured blur. he doesn’t care- he lets himself scream until his voice is hoarse.
“ this was all your plan, wasn’t it? you never cared! you never caught me! you could’ve - again! and you didn’t! just let me fall, just let me be crushed and now you’re not even in the city! you could’ve saved me if you were! now she’s just going to keep killing me over and over again! you’re friends with her, aren’t you?! i wanted you to be MY friend! “ the lady gave no reaction, but he swears he can hear HER laughing at him, which only fuels him further. “ i’m not supposed to care about test subjects!” he barely chokes out. ( “AWFUL JUMPSUITED MONSTER OF A WOMAN!”)
“ but i DID care about you! you were the first human that never let me down or called me a MORON and now you’re gone and i don’t even know if you’re DEAD - ! ” he’s sobbing; shields instinctively surround him all over again. “ just GO! i don’t even CARE anymore - i wish i didn’t - because CLEARLY you never did for me! you wouldn’t have let go if you did...! ”
finally, his mind and the surrounding dream begins to quiet; the facility is no longer shaking. the sound of bombs in the distance is gone. her laugh has faded as have the whispers of ghosts. the shields withdraw and the lady is gone.
oop i realized i posted for my other kids and left hiro out, so while theres still a bit of time, please like for a short event starter!! capped at 2 // previous interactions and japanese folklore characters are exempt!
▊狐 This place again. The fields of Nasu rolled out before her. Mixed in with the growths of the land were bloodied arrows and body parts no longer bound to their original form as corpse after corpse smothered the plant life. Stars shone in the sky above, but thunderclouds encircled the fields as if the fox was in the eye of the storm.
The pungent smells of blood and death mixed with the scent of oncoming rain, and while the fox had yet to endure the storm her face was already wet. How many times had she had this ‘dream’? Crying alone in those fields because humanity had rejected her, she whom just wanted to experience the joy of serving another?
She whom just wanted to belong. But humans were fearful, and fear brought out their cruelty. They’d sent army after army to slay her, a woman that they’d thought to be human until only a day before. The eighty thousand man army that had come for her had been subdued for the time being. She had slaughtered about half of them herself. This was just the lull. Like she had in the past, like she did in every dream, when the second wave came for her she would simply offer herself up in hopes of reasoning with them. They wouldn’t listen. They would kill her.
It was only a matter of time before the rain of arrows would begin again.
“It’s rude to intrude upon another’s dream you know.” Sensing a presence, she turned to face the tree at her back. Yes, something had been a little too realistic about this dream. One could relive their memories through dreams, but never did they seem so lifelike. “You’re standing in my grave and, if you don’t leave, it will become yours as well.”
Hello, true believers! It’s that time again to delve deep into Travis’ twisted psyche, as part of the new Hive City Event! So...
... PLOTTING CALL TIME!
I’ve got a lot of ideas here, ranging from surreal to silly to violent-on-the-level-you-should-be-used-to-by-now. The more serious the subject matter, the longer the replies will likely be. All you have to do is like this post, and I’ll almost certainly invade your IMs, so we can plot things out. Got it? Then let’s list what Travis usually dreams of!
His favorite bits of pop-culture. All of these dreams are silly. All of them are weird.
Living in a world where people adore him. Where Travis’ name is known to all. Where he’s changed himself for the better (or so he thinks).
Being a harem protagonist. Yeah, like this one if you want your muse to walk in on him... Yeah. Laugh at his small wiener, and even smaller ass.
His backstory. Dark stuff in here. Potentially triggering, even.
The big one: Reliving the UAA fights. This is gonna be what I focus on most, because dammit, I love showing off the NMH cast. I already have a few fights in mind, and other assassins may follow Travis if he travels into your muse’s dreams. Yeah, I’m sort of re-doing the Trick or Retreat event, here. Sue me. I didn’t do well last time. This is my redemption.
