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 Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 12:45 am
"Either could be a possibility." Xiu answered quietly, though the latter fact--learning just what a Pricolici was--had fascinated her. Did that mean that Shehk had...a past life, of sorts? With a different name, and perhaps even a different personality? ...Or maybe she was thinking about this too hard. Either way, it made sense to her that maybe, had she come here when she was alive, the area would give her a sense of deja vu.
Dreams were mysterious things, after all. They liked to pick up on the deep, subconscious thoughts that even the dreamer themselves might not have been aware of.
Xiu's ears immediately drooped at Shehk's words. She hadn't introduced herself, had she? How rude of her! "A-ah, I'm so sorry! I'm Xiu-Ying, but just Xiu is fine." The creature gave a polite bob of her head before looking up again, tail swishing behind her. She wasn't sure if she should say any more. While Shehk was indeed a lucid dreamer...was the other ghoul aware that Xiu was an invader in her dream, or did she simply assume that, for whatever reason, she was a simply a new character that the dream had come up with?
...She assumed the former, but it was usually hard to tell. Xiu had learned that, when she didn't know what to say, it was better to say nothing at all.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:44 am
Shehk nodded as she took in the name of the other figure of her dream - Shehk herself wasn't sure if Xiu was real or not. Part of her suspected it, simply because she'd never run into a Baku as far as she could know, but then again.... there was that subconscious thing of having possibly glanced past it. There were options.
There were a lot of options.
The pricolici yawned, but didn't move from where she had settled, seeming content to stay where she was, though she kept glancing out into the trees - a look would say why. There was something walking out in those trees. A dark shape that stood out against the fog. Shehk seemed entirely suspicious of it.
"If that thing comes out of the fog, hide in the grass. If it's what I think it is....it doesn't have a nose, so it shouldn't find you there." Shehk warned. She herself hadn't ducked into hiding yet, but none the less, she looked about ready to.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 6:15 pm
The approaching figure had gone unnoticed to Xiu until Shehk brought it up. At first, she didn't understand, turning to look at the Pricolici with an air of confusion until her gaze slid past her. While she had absolutely no idea what the thing approaching could have been, the fact that she had been advised to hide wasn't at all reassuring.
Xiu had already begun to duck down, trying to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible. She wasn't completely out of view yet, though. "What is that thing?" She whispered, her ears pricked up as she eyed the thing warily, "Why...why are these things in your dreams?"
She was referring to the dog-creature that had seen earlier as well. It really was rare to meet a lucid dreamer, but meeting one who didn't have much control over their dreams was somewhat unusual for a lucid dream. From what Xiu had seen, at least--she was still pretty inexperienced.
"Are...are you going to hide too?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 1:02 pm
"Because I was nearly killed by one in waking."
Shehk didn't beat around the bush as to why the creatures were in her dreams. It was hard to avoid that thought that would come to her at the strangest times - that image of it lunging at her face, clamping down. Running away as fast as she could, but knowing it would still chase her. There was something about that persistence that was more terrifying than the fact it could have bitten half her face off.
"You may be safer not knowing what it is, however. Or else that word will haunt you - I may have been happier thinking I could forget what they were at all until I asked, well I demanded, the name. They aren't in books, and all they do is eat. They eat brainlessly and are always hungry.
That is all I know. That is all I need to know."
The shape in the fog shifted and Shehk ducked down into the grass, peering out through it, her tail twitching anxiously and her fur raising up in an aggressive way. Despite her calm, Shehk was scared out of her mind. She couldn't help it. She tried to not think about them during the day. She didn't want to think about them ever.
But still, they found a way to haunt her.
"Don't come in.....don't come in....." Somehow, it seemed it had heard her, or rather answered her, and the shape against the fog vanished.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 10:21 pm
Xiu visibly stiffened at the answer. She was...nearly killed by one of those creatures? To be more specific, from the brief description she had given, the Baku assumed that she had almost been devoured by one. Considering that she herself had lived a rather sheltered life...well, such a thought send a violent shiver through her body. However, she couldn't help but ask...
"Are they...common?" The thought of any of these things wandering around Amityville was enough to give Xiu insomnia.
With every step that the figure took, Xiu took one back, sinking into the grass in hopes that it would obscure her from view. The shape--whatever it was--never made it though. She was vaguely aware that Shehk was muttering something, and then...it was gone.
...Hmm.
"So you...you can control what happens in your dreams?" Had the pricolici willed the figure away, or had it simply "decided" to leave by itself?
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 7:16 am
Shehk seemed horrified by the idea of them being common. The idea of the first one she'd seen not even being the second one that had tried to devour her. It caused a slight shake in her body. Shehk knew fear. It had taken her a long time to recognize it, but she knew fear. It was closer to her than most anything else at times.
"I hope not. It was hard just getting away from one of them." she whispered, her ears drooping into an almost submissive looking position. "From what I know, there is no rhyme or reason as to where they show up, but where they are they are known about. They don't hide."
They just loom and make you want to hide in a corner crying. Crying like a b***h. If one ever showed up on campus, Shehk would never leave her dorm room again. Ever. For any reason. Not even to run to the countryside.
The pricolici pulled herself out of the grass, shaking out her fur before sitting again. "Can I? I'm not sure. I know I am...aware of the dream....but I'm not sure if it really does anything I want it to. Then again, I have never tried."
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 2:58 pm
Laying her ears back, Xiu emitted a little whimper at the description. At the very least, she could take some kind of assurance that those creatures weren't already lurking around the Amityville grounds. If what Shehk said was true, then the staff and students probably would have been made aware of them if any were to show up.
Thank Jack.
She followed after the other ghoul, shuffling out from the grassy area and plopping herself down beside the pricolici. As she was always trying to learn new things about dreams--from her dream-diving ability to how dreams worked in general--she found this to be a fascinating topic. "Well, um...do you know if you can manipulate anything in here? Like...this grass! Could you make it change colors?"
That seemed like a silly request, but it was the simplest thing that Xiu could think of at the moment. She was still a little shaken up.
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 2:14 pm
"Colors?" Shehk's canid ears perked up, then drooped again as she thought over it. "Well, my color vision is kinda lacking as is, so I have no idea." She wasn't completely color blind, but given she was a canine...she wasn't exactly too good about anything besides using her rotted-away nose. At least that was still going for her! But she looked at the grass anyways.
What... but it was all..grass..colored. Why did she want...? Her creative mind was a bit lacking, but none the less, Shehk leaned forward blowing on the grass, causing a puff of fog to sweep over it, turning everything it touched into a dull shade of pink.
"That's not a very appetizing color." Shehk commented. "I liked it better before." she added, her tail thumping in the grass a bit, but looking to Xiu anyways. "Is that what you needed? I can change it to another color if that helps..."
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 8:41 pm
Oh! So she was able to manipulate her surroundings, if only a little bit! The Baku's tail wagged as she filed this information somewhere in her mind, leaning forward to paw at the blades of grass. "Yes! I was just curious if you could control your dreams." At the very least, it seemed that she was able to manipulate some things. That was a good thing! But then...
"You...you still have nightmares though, I see," Xiu frowned, cocking her head to the side and looking confused, "I mean...if you could control every part of your dream, then that...that scene with the dog wouldn't have happened, right?" Not unless Shehk had willed that scene on her own, but she had no idea why the pricolici would do such a thing to herself. It looked like it terrified her just as much--or even more--than it had scared Xiu (and that was saying quite a bit).
Her gaze swept their surroundings then, ears pricked and alert. Hopefully nothing else would pop out at them. Was there any other direction that they could head now?
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 9:00 pm
"It's all I can think of lately, that thing. I feel like I'm being tormented by it." Shehk explained, shaking her head a bit before rising to her feet and shaking out her fur. "But if what you're saying is true, I guess we can go home..."
About the time she said it, the grass flattened out beneath her into carpet and a house built itself around them. It was old, somewhat victorian and...had a pineapple themed kitchen. But Shehk seemed to recognize all of it and shook out her fur. "Safer than being outside, I guess..." She didn't seem too sure about that 'safe' part, but the house alone seemed very...innocent by itself.
Shehk nudged the Baku's side then motioned to the stairs with her snout, waling towards and up them to the second floor of the house. It was still the same to her. The steps creaked in the same places, the floor seemed to whine underneath her feet from age.
But it was nostalgic in that way.
"Welcome to my home."
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 3:00 pm
Tormented? Had something happened to bring back bad memories? Xiu didn't want to ask these questions aloud, in fear that they would bring dark memories to the forefront of Shehk's mind. So, instead, she simply nodded to show that she understood. "W-whatever the reason...I hope that it stop plaguing you."
Her eyes widened as the scene promptly began to change, turning her head this way and that to watch as the house formed around them. This was a bit jump from simply changing the color of grass, that was for certain! It looked like the pricolici could change things around in her dream, with the possible exception of...things that were really, really bothering her?
Hmmm, interesting! Made sense, though.
Breaking out of her thoughts when she was nudged, she offered an apologetic smile before slowly climbing her way up the stairs. It was no easy task with her stubby legs, but...she managed it somehow. All the while, she surveyed their new settings, eyes lit up with interest and vague wariness. Never knew when something might pop up again. "You...you have a lovely home."
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:16 pm
"We will have to see. There are a lot of things I'm not at peace about."
It may have just been a manifestation of the turmoil within her own mind. There was a lot of it and not all about one thing. Some of it involved the house they stood in, some of it involved the people she knew, some of it involved that horrible dog thing that alone would cause some nightmares.
Nightmares for everybody.
"It's...lovely enough. It's a lonely place. I wondered about Decebal sometimes. Cooped up in the middle of nowhere by himself. No children, no...wife..." the way she said 'wife' was..curious, like she herself was confused about the validity of that statement.
Had he had a wife? Had she ever seen any pictures of any sort of significant other?
Curious.
"But thank you. It's.... it's not a bad place. I like it. Lonely, but cozy, I guess."
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:20 pm
"Lonely?" She echoed, frowning a little at the statement. She supposed...well, it seemed like a rather big, empty house (at least, from what she could currently see of it). "If...if it is not too personal of a question, do you not have any siblings or anything of the sort?" Honestly, Xiu's own memories of her home were somewhat lonely as well...but she had at least had one person to help her through that.
"And...who is Decebal?" The name didn't sound familiar in the slightest, but her first assumption was that Decebal was a family member of Shehk's. Perhaps...an uncle? A cousin? For all she knew, she was way off base.
Xiu hoped that house would indeed provide them some kind of protection from whatever the dark thoughts lurking in Shehk's mind were. So far, at least, the pricolici seemed to be doing a good job at resisting the troubles that were plaguing her at the moment.
...S-so long as there wasn't something hiding in the attic, basement, or whatever other cliche places there were.
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 3:07 pm
Shehk paused mid step at the question about siblings, looking to Xiu with a long sad look;
"Pricolici are not born. They are made. Any....siblings...I might have had..... have been long ........forgotten." The way she spoke made it seem as though the idea she'd had a family before dying had never actually been considered. Certainly she'd known there was something there. Decebal's nurturing had fostered a connection in death that would never rival what they'd had in life and Shehk was aware that it had been much stronger before...
But still, it was a bitter moment. She was a walking reminder. Somehow, she hoped she'd been an...old child. Maybe an orphan even. Nobody to realize she was gone, to mourn her. It was a sobering moment.
"Decebal is my...sire ...and my father. Father is a very loose word. We are not related by blood, I know that much, but... on paper and in name, we are related. Decebal Larentiu Iordanescu. I am Shehk Iordanescu. Over the summer we made the official transition. It's..... I don't feel very different, but perhaps it is just that I cannot notice it."
Shehk nudged a door open with her shoulder and stepped in. It was an old room that smelled slightly moldy. The wallpaper was old and an off teal color with some old vintage pattern to it, the bed was old and built of iron, the desk in it seemed to be..re-purposed from somewhere else. But it was cozy enough.
The Pricolici walked across the room and jumped up onto the bed, laying out on the covers.
"This house is only safer than it is outside.... this bed is only safe as long as I am not sleeping in it. Aware of everything. Never resting. Never knowing when someone will come in and attack... or even if they will in the long run."
She rolled over onto her back. "But perhaps here the dream can end. I do have a lot to get done in waking. If it will allow me that much."
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 1:33 am
The minute Xiu saw that expression, she wished that she hadn't asked that question. Perhaps it wasn't so personal that she couldn't talk about it, but it didn't seem like something that she should have brought up. Drooping, the Baku laid her ears back, upset at herself for being so insensitive. She should have known better! "I-I'm sorry, I...I shouldn't have..." Trailing off, she shook her head, looking apologetic.
Way to bring up unhappy thoughts, Xiu.
Her father? Adoptive father, perhaps, from the sound of it? Or something to that extent, at least. She simply nodded to show that she understood, to wary to prod any further and ask any other questions about the pricolici's life. Xiu reminded herself that it wasn't even her business to know.
When Shehk jumped onto the bed, Xiu simply sat down where she was, peering up at the other ghoul thoughtfully. Was this why she didn't sleep much, if at all? Xiu had originally connected it to the simple fact that Shehk was an undead, and therefore didn't need to sleep, but it would make just as much sense if she chose to do so for another reason.
"Time for you to wake up, then?" Her voice was soft, and if she was capable of doing so in this form, she would have smiled. "It...it was a pleasure talking to you, Shehk."
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