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PROMPT 5: THE TWINS

Around and around and around she went with not even her name to call upon. The grove, in its maze-like construction, sent her on a futile journey though whenever she thought she made it back to the same thought she chose to go in the opposite direction she had gone last. The strange peace that had washed over her when she had become nameless in that grove gave way to the ire she felt at being led around like she was. Finally she found another one of those dreamers and she, trusting them more than that acha, teamed up with the dreamer.

Something became clear when they put their minds together. She held herself back because though she could not remember why it should be feared, when it seemed as if their minds might become one in a great epiphany, the fear was there and it clutched, mocking, at her bones. She wanted to shake the feeling out, to shiver and stamp her hooves until the fear was gone and all was left was a feeling of invincibility. Instead, all she got was an exit from the maze and-

She knew her name again. She frowned, the quest she was on was unsettling and, though she did not want to acknowledge the fiber of it, it threatened her way of life. Before she could dwell on it, a loud thock draws her attention, thankfully taking her mind off of what she did not want to know and had long hidden away. The roaring and the fighting was comforting; violence and strength were familiar. It was easier to watch them than to look at herself so when they turned to her, she asked, laughing, "What started this?"

And she expected the answer to be good because she wanted it to be. He stole my seedpot!

Then it devolved into childish stupidity. To fight simply to fight and test their strength, while to her superfluous, would have been acceptable though tedious. However, to fight over something so utterly pointless was pathetic. She enjoyed strength but not at the cost of the mind. Stupidity was as abhorrent as any other weakness and usually not worth her attention, but this dream held her prisoner here.

When they began fighting again, she snarled and stamped a hoof. Teeth bared, she charged at the both of them to break them up. "How pathetic do you wish to be?"

Prompt 5: The Twins
Going alone got him nowhere for what must have been forever. Long enough that when one of them, he hadn't given a damn which one, had suggested they team up, he'd accepted. And it worked. Was the dream preaching something at him? For now he'd ignore it, there were sounds to investigate. Totoma actually. Quarreling. He could really not be bothered.

"What are you squabbling about? What do you know about a poem and a white doe?" He didn't get an answer, but nearly got smashed between a pair of horns. This would get him no where - he recognized stubbornness when he saw it.

He would sit back and watch.

The doe slipped out of the clearing well before he did, and Murkcrow cursed himself for declining her aid. What had come over him? He couldn't remember. Eventually, as the gnat promised, he found his way out, and soon came to a pair of young totoma, clashing on the green. He flinched with every strike, but he had things to do, and didn't care much for more interruptions.

"Children, please!" he finally said, stepping in to break up the totoma. "Can you give me some directions?"

Prompt 5: The Twins

"Hey, hey, hey, hey," Sleepless tried to intercede, dogged with a sense of responsibility now that she remembered her name and self, "you're fighting your brother over a seedpot?"

She hopped back now and then to avoid the blows.

"Come on, boys, seedpots are replaceable, brothers aren't," or something like that, "we'll just make more, okay? It's easy."

Part of her thought she should just give up and let them get on with it - and maybe if a horn broke off or something she'd have a nice little bit of Totoma physiological to study - but...

"Trust me, this isn't worth it!"

...she seemed incapable of applying that advice to herself, and continued trying to find some non-lethal way of breaking them up. Maybe if she could angle that log over there just right to stop a hoof...

prompt Five____________________________ ___ __ _

Watch and the mysterious doe had a good thing going, he thought. Together they maneuvered through the mangrove, avoided a few dangerous traps the dream had laid out for them, and finally, made it back to the main story line of the dream. But when he arrived at the scene, slightly panicked by the unnecessary violence of the two large Totoma over a stupid seed pod, he turned to see that she had disappeared all together. A large group was forming now, and many voices chimed in with his own as they circled the two, some egging them on while he and others tried to break them up.

"Come on now, you two. Stop this fighting!"

Prompt 6: The Sheepweed

You run like blazes from the fluttering and screeching of the crow and his two charges, behind you, leaving behind the distant sound of someone whining. One brother losing to the other, perhaps; it's hard to tell.

When finally you slow from your canter to a slower walk, struggling to catch your breath, a smell suddenly invades all your senses: something you can't quite place, but that triggers a memory from your past, something sweet and maybe a bit melancholy. You think that it comes from some rushes, across a dark expanse of water.

It's possible that the memory these rushes kindle, slowly, will give you more insight into which way you go -- but you have no idea how deep the pool that separates you from them is. Do you risk the depths and go get the rushes, or do you let them be and, sadly, go one your way?

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OOC INFO:

This an elimination prompt! You must reply to the prompt above in whatever way you'd like., but you must, somewhere in your post, specify if you're going to break up the totoma or sit and watch. PLEASE BOLD YOUR CHOICE.

When you post, please also roll a 20-sided die. In past events, this die has been used to put some members back into the running, even if they choose the wrong fork, so it is to your benefit to do so!

You have until January 10th at 11:59 PM EST to complete this prompt and join in the event [but, realistically, I'll probably accept entries until around noon on the next day. XP].

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THE FOLLOWING PARTICIPANTS ARE STILL IN THE GAME
Everyone who took the wrong path but rolled over 10 [you all rolled high this time!] was kept in the game.

NO ONE ELIMINATED, HAHA.



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OK....GO!

Lust blinked at the great black crow and took a step back, then turned and fled, North as the crow suggested. It didn't seem like a good idea to argue with such a large bird, especially after those young Totoma made it clear THEY didn't feel they could do it.

When he stopped, he took a slow, deep breath to calm his racing heart, and then froze, and took another, slower breath. That scent... What was that scent? He turns slowly and identifies where they are, and stands, longingly, at the edge of the pool, trying to decide if he should go for them.

Finally, finally he gives in. The smell, it overwhelmed him, and he couldn't resist it. He slowly stepped forwards, into the pool, to try to get the rushes.

The Killing Moon left the crow and the Totoma behind without a backwards glance, tossing his head and launching himself into a run with a powerful thrust of his legs.

His chest was rising and falling with his rapid breathes when he finally slowed but the effort of the run was welcome and he felt refreshed from the exertion.

A scent.

He sniffed deep, dragging it into his lungs and then stopped breathing entirely as it sparked a buried memory. New life, his own offspring soft and new, sleeping in their sacs. The buck stepped forward and into the water before he is even aware of the decision. Walking away.

Not caring how deep the water or what lurked within it, he will go get the rushes.