[META ORP] JOURNEY ~ To the Desert Obelisk! [p. 16]

[Anhelisk]

Oh! Oh! "Purple, Red, Yellow, Purple, Red! I think that's it!" The buck said. He danced excitedly, wiggling back and forth. "Oh, I want to try it..." but the center stone wasn't responding to him– he'd gone too recently! A travesty.  

[Ruriska]

The desert was a marvel.

It was all hot and the sand kept shifting beneath his hooves and he might have fallen on his face a few times but it was all worth it. He frolicked, he composed poetry, he chased some of Rouge’s pups around, he flirted shamelessly with the curious Acha that kept turning up to see what was going on (and made sure to inform them of his grand position as head of an immense and extremely talented troupe). He was, all in all, having a really good time.

Somewhere behind him there was the obelisk and the members of his travelling party were busy jumping around on stones, which as all well and good, whatever kept them busy but he far more important things to do. Like enjoy the sunshine and roll around in the sand.

It was just a shame he couldn’t go exploring.

After a barely curious glance at what everyone was doing, he cornered Ochre again. "I have unfortunate news," he said by way of greeting, "but as my dear precious Perfect Star is related to Bear and unfortunately, while lovely, your Blue is not the quite the pedigree I require for my darling, we won’t be breeding any future pups. You understand." It was important to clear that up before Ochre got her hopes up.

sheepcakes

 

[Pigxels]

Jester hears Sea of Butterflies' code, and then concludes its time to move since the stones weren't responding to anyone else. He takes a real deep breath, and dashes to the stones in a near-panic."Okay, okay! Uh... Let's see!" He taps the center stone, then taps in the order of Purple, Red, Yellow, Purple, and Red, before tapping the center stone again and backing away with a flourish.
 

[thyPOPE]

Pigxels

Jester hears Sea of Butterflies' code, and then concludes its time to move since the stones weren't responding to anyone else. He takes a real deep breath, and dashes to the stones in a near-panic."Okay, okay! Uh... Let's see!" He taps the center stone, then taps in the order of Purple, Red, Yellow, Purple, and Red, before tapping the center stone again and backing away with a flourish.

When he looks over, he sees five glowing stones: white and white...but the other three are red.

[Purple, Red, Yellow, Purple, and Red] --> [white, white, red, red, red]  

[Ruriska]

“Not to worry,” Watch Me smiled pleasantly at Ochre. “I’m sure the puppies remember who they are related to, even if you don’t.”

He was going to try flirting with Ochre more but a Kimeti doe arrived and at first he only blinked at her in silence, slightly peeved that she didn’t know his name.

“If you need me to solve your little game, I understand,” he replied airily.

Then he marched over to the centre stone, copying what he’d witnessed early and following her instructions, while really having no idea what he was doing but hoping all the Acha were witnessing his moment. Once all this nonsense stopped distracting everyone they could get back to having a good time.

Purple, Red, Red, Yellow, Purple was the sequence he made and it was actually quite pretty.  

[thyPOPE]

Ruriska x

Purple, Red, Red, Yellow, Purple was the sequence he made and it was actually quite pretty.

Watch Me pulls away, and for the first time, there are five glowing white stones on the right side. One by one they stop glowing, and as they do the Obelisk glows brighter and brighter, and then it just won't stop getting brighter. It becomes mesmerizing, a bright beam of light arcing into the sky, and all kin in the area feeling a pull towards the obelisk's light.

If you were a part of Red-Stained Blossom's expedition from the start, you feel very certain that touching the Obelisk now will grant you safe passage back to the Swamp.

If you are an Acha who was born in the Desert and have never left the Desert, you feel a pull toward the Obelisk. Somehow, you know that touching it while it's glowing might mean that you won't see your home for a long while, though...

With this knowledge, you have a choice, do you touch the obelisk?

If you touch the Obelisk

You are immediately overtaken by visions of a colorless, formless place, which may be familiar to you. Strangely, though, the air has been touched with a distant smell of something unpleasant, like decay. But like before, as far as the eye can see there is nothing but empty air. You hear nothing. You see nothing more than grey, at first. Underneath your hooves is a ground made of small colorless pebbles that seem to reject being seen. Trying to examine anything too closely leads to the exact opposite, your eyes slipping away and losing sight of whatever it was you were looking for. Almost instinctively, you begin to walk.

There is no sense of movement, and that is distressing, so you begin to run. Despite the fact that it seems as if you are making no progress, eventually you see a tall tower rising in the distance, glowing from within. You're almost there, but darkness creeps into the edges of your vision, threatening...

Then you wake.

You are in the Swamp, and you are unimaginably tired. Overcome by the need to sleep, you lay down and tonight you dream...

If you participated in the Mastermind game by causing the rocks to glow in any way or commenting on someone else's guess at any point during the thread, you dream of a familiar, comforting song, which you haven't heard in a long while. Who - or what - is singing? What does it remind you of?

If you did not participate in the Mastermind game at all, you dream about an ominous sound - a predator or the world creaking beneath you, or even some distant voice, taunting you. Who - or what - is it? How do you react?

If you attempt to travel out of the swamp again, you are beset by the Ache, as usual. And if anyone asks how you got home...you're really not sure. You only know that it has been seven days since the trip set out - which, according to your memory, is the day that you arrived at the Desert Obelisk in the first place. You're not sure how you could leave the swamp again, but something has changed...

If you are a kiokote who has never left the Plains before or an acha who has never left the Desert before, having entered the swamp, you are now affected by the Ache. Attempts to go home are met with failure. For now, you are stuck...

If you do not touch the Obelisk

Yu are able to mingle in the desert for a while, although you notice that some of your companions are here. Eventually, though, you have to get tired, and when you get tired, you'll fall asleep. You are not plagued by strange dreams.

If you came with Red-Stained Blossom...When you wake up, Red-Stained Blossom's presence will no longer help you, and most of the group is no longer there. You must travel back to the swamp on your own strength, Aching all the way. You arrive a full week after the rest of the group. What exactly happened?

If you met up with Red-Stained Blossom in the Desert of Plains...When you wake up, most of the expedition has dispersed, even though you did not see them begin to walk back. You return to the Desert or to the Plains, left wondering what exactly has transpired here tonight.

Anyone who has previously posted in this thread may continue posting here for a few more days - you do not need to make a decision immediately but your kin will need to fall asleep after some amount of time. Reaching 500 words at any point in this thread, even after this post, will allow you to claim one legendary credit. You may claim one additional legendary credit for completing the post-meta prompt above, whether solo or in a PRP.  

[Ruriska]

“Well done,” Watch Me congratulated himself and then to everyone else, “You’re welcome. I, Watch Me, has finished your game.” That Kimeti doe would surely remember him now.

The stones lit up, the obelisk glowed and it promised him, with a little tug at his heart, that he could go home now. Back to the swamp and his troupe. But the Kiokote couldn’t help but look back at the desert, to dig in his hooves and refuse the call.

When would he ever return to the birthplace of the Acha? He wanted to linger, just for a little while longer. Watch Me turned away from the bright light of the obelisk and chose the hot sand instead.  

[Anhelisk]

The compulsion to touch the Obelisk was a powerful one. But the risk of being lost by his sister... he couldn't do that to her. He turned, moving to make eye contact with the starry doe with her dark horns and her bright, glowing eyes.

"Hey," he said to Breach. "You're clever, and you're lovely, and I like you a lot. Would you like to come with me to find my twin? I'd like to come back with you all, but... I couldn't bear it if I was parted from her."

show spoilerhide spoiler

anemosagkelos

 

[Pigxels]

Jester stands still, mesmerized by the right light, and feels the awe well inside him. He'd remembered this tower before while living in the desert, but he never thought it could possibly do something quite like this. He feels his legs begin to move, though he doesn't consciously want to, and walks up to the gleaming structure, touching a nose to the surface in a hypnotized daze. The days events were gone. The thoughts of the puzzle were gone. Before he realized what had happened, the world began to fade... and he could hear a tune in his head that wasn't any his family had ever sung.

Distantly he could hear a howling.

(Doing Solo RP!)  

[Ruriska]

Now with it decided that he was going to stay in the desert, for however long the ache took to kick in (which he was not looking forward to, thank you very much, he still remembered his horrid trip from the plains), Watch Me needed to make use of the time he had. There were all the Acha that he wanted to coax into joining him in returning to the Swamp plus a lot of sand dunes to roll down and he’d heard plenty of good things about soaking in an oasis.

But first things first, he located Ochre once more and gave her his very best smile that had somehow failed throughout the long trip despite his best efforts. "Well then, that was fun. Would you like to find a private spot to get to know each other better?" He really didn’t think Rouge would mind him spending some special time with her old friend. "You know," his voice dropped lower, "intimately."

sheepcakes

pls turn him down harshly so i can have him run away

 

[Ruriska]

Watch Me made a surprised noise. “I didn’t say he couldn’t join in,” he nodded to Mirage, who was really also delightful and if Rouge wanted to join in too he couldn’t see why the four of them couldn’t have some fun. But Ochre had made her point and he wasn’t one to press, once he’d been given a solid ‘no’.

“Absolutely fine.” Then he grin stretched wide and he winked. “Have a good time.”

And with a whirl, Watch Me was away, off to find more pretty things to talk to.

sheepcakes

he's actually not mad at all lmao

 

[Mika_Yumi]

Mirage was sorry that he couldn’t help the group very much. He was fascinated as he listened to them talking through the puzzle, exploring the glowing, colorful stones and exchanging thoughts about the solution. It turned out that he wouldn’t be much use for this puzzle after all – the entire game seemed to have quite a bit to do with being able to see where colors were arranged. He could have helped, of course, but all of the other kin were picking up on things much quicker than he was – they simply had more ready access to the available information.

He didn’t mind. He was content to sit with Ochre, who chose to stay sitting with him rather than approaching to join in actively solving the puzzle again. Selfish as it may be, he appreciated that she was staying close after all. He couldn’t get enough of feeling her there. Even hearing her voice was a blessing as she tried to participate from her position with Mirage, calling out a suggestion once.
In truth, Figment of Imagination hadn’t found another friend so close. He had made friends, of course, and accommodating ones as well, who tolerated his questions and didn’t mind (or possibly even enjoyed) being his guide; but none of them had even come close to his friendship with Ochre.

He realized, somewhere along the way, that watching/listening to the puzzle meant that they got less time to talk to each other, even if Ochre’s involvement was now minimal. Part of him wanted to fill the time completely, so afraid that it wouldn’t last that he wanted to use every bit of it to catch up. But the more rational part tried to calm him and reassure him that this was fine. She was here, and she wasn’t going to leave again. They would have time to catch up – it didn’t all need to be right now. Though he was still fighting the urge to smother her with cuddles and conversation, he let the rational side win, and remained content to sit and listen.

He was interested to hear talk of breeding dogs, a hobby that Ochre had seemed to pick up. He’d heard the rest of her dogs sniffing around earlier, though he wasn’t sure exactly how many there were in total. It wasn’t until the puzzle was solved and chatter began that he got the real shock, however. He could tell that something was happening, he could feel a pull in his chest – but he was distracted from it all when the buck asking about breedings came back to proposition a different situation. It wasn’t so much the offer that shocked him; Ochre was lovely, sweet, and though he had never seen her, he was sure that she was one of the most beautiful kin he knew. No, it wasn’t the offer so much as the way that the buck offered – the suggestive drop in tone, approaching when Ochre was still fairly snug to Mirage’s side. It seemed a little much, really… And he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

He was relieved to hear Ochre turn the buck down. Not that he… would have minded, he supposed, if she’d taken him up on the offer. Well, he wouldn’t have minded that she chose to be involved with him, but he would have minded the timing. He wasn’t ready to have her pulled away. And he had to admit that he might feel a bit dejected if she were ready to leave so soon. But no, she wanted to stay as well, and that cleared so much anxiety in his chest that he almost felt he could float for a moment. Though, he had to admit that they way she turned the buck down seemed to imply an awful lot as well – suggesting that they wanted privacy themselves, though he knew what she meant, seemed loaded after the other buck’s suggestion. This was furthered as Ochre referenced Red-Stained Blossom and Figment of Imagination in her reply – he inferred from tone that this buck knew Rouge somehow, and secondarily wondered why his permission would be needed for Ochre to become involved with any buck. They had never been intimate… Was she implying more of a relationship between them in an attempt to deter him quicker? He wasn’t sure…

But the buck seemed to take it all in stride. Mirage nearly choked on air when it was suggested he join in their potential intimacy, simply because the situation was incredibly sudden and unexpected and, quite frankly, he was entirely unprepared to be involved in anything like that at the moment. Luckily, the buck seemed to realize that they weren’t interested in any way at the moment, and he excused himself.

He was still in a slightly startled state when Ochre turned back to him and asked if he, too, felt the pull. He gave a nod, bringing himself back to the situation and feeling, again, the draw towards the obelisk. He couldn’t explain how, but… he felt they would need to touch it, eventually. Still, he liked Ochre’s suggestion that they stay for a while in the sands, and he nodded again. “I would like to linger just a few moments longer… It is so nice to be home again, with you.” He turned his head slightly and nuzzled Ochre, closing his eyes. Everything seemed to be the way it had been, years ago – they were even at a familiar place – though, of course, everything was different. So much had happened. He wanted to begin telling her everything, but he hardly even knew where to start… Perhaps they should just enjoy the sand for now. Reconnect with each other in their home, and cover the details later.

959

sheepcakes

MIRAGE HAD A LOT TO CATCH UP ON, and apparently a lot to say about it all, omg I'm sorry this is so long ;;