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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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 Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 5:35 pm
No prayer had gone to the gods on the evening that Kouyo finds himself lying in the grass... grass? of some sort of bluff, staring up at a dark sky boiling with black and vivid blue and purple clouds. A vaguely salty smell hangs in the air, which stings his face and eyes, and he can hear a rhythmic sound, roars and sighs, like waves crashing in to a rocky shore and then rolling away.
Not far from where he lies, a woman, small but sturdily built, stands facing away from him, holding some sort of long glaive or halberd-like weapon. It doesn't seem as if she's paying any attention to Kouyo -- indeed, it doesn't seem as if any thoughts are coming from her. She appears, to the Porcelain, mentally silent, dead.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 6:03 pm
Kouyo lays there for a moment just studying the clouds before sitting up slowly. He rubs his eyes and then stands, looking around at his surroundings - was this a familiar place...?
He then notices the woman, and cautiously takes a few steps towards her. The priest feels nothing from her; is she human, then? She holds a weapon, which gives him pause - is that meant for him? She does not appear to know he is there, though.... Kouyo figures he might as well attempt to speak to her, and holds a hand up near his face to half-hide it as he calls out to the woman, "Hello?" He projects his greeting as well, out of habit, and does his best to hide his confusion and vague fear of her blade.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 6:14 pm
The woman does not start, but turns her head towards him, looking Kouyo over. When her face becomes visible, it is obvious that she is human and that she bears a strong resemblance to his wife. Though... something is off. And besides the slightly different features, Ranko never had such formidable biceps, and her expression is... completely blank and cold. While the woman Kouyo knew may have at times hid her true feelings behind a false smile or frown, she never wore such an cool and unreadable face.
She pauses a moment while inspecting him, then mutters to herself in a low monotone unfamiliar to Kouyo, "Porcelain?" She seems to think on this a moment, then turns away from him. "... You won't be any use. Stand back or I may kill you accidentally," she says, dismissively, almost casually, without a note of concern in her voice.
She resumes gazing out into the distance in the direction of the cliff.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 6:37 pm
Kouyo nods and stops, keeping his distance from her. She was right; he would not be of any help at all if something came up that would require her to use that weapon. Much as he would like to just leave her to her business and be off on his own, though, he is not sure where else to go. He glances around again for any signs of anyone else - gods or guides since this dream felt more like a vision than the other dreams he had been having lately, though he had not asked for one.
"Where are we right now?" he finally asks, taking another half-step forward but still keeping himself out of what he judges to be the range of her reach with the halberd.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 6:44 pm
"You're in my dream," she answers, a hint of emotion creeping into her voice -- irritation. "About five minutes left now."
She sniffs -- at first it might seem to be in disdain, but then the same breeze hits Kouyo; the salty smell has intensified, enough so that even the Porcelain can begin to pick up another component of it -- some kind of meat. It is not itself an unpleasant smell, rather like a regular old meat stew, but it seems strange for it to be rolling in from the direction of the ocean.
The woman takes a few more steps forward and peers down over the edge of the cliff before her fist tightens around the shaft of the halberd. "Or maybe less."
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 8:32 pm
Kouyo opens his mouth to reply - she is in his dream, too; surely this must mean something - but then the breeze passes him and he promptly shuts his mouth again. The scent strikes him as strange, as well; the priest steps forward to peer down the cliff as well, but still tries to keep his distance from the armed human woman.
"Five minutes left until... what?" he asks hesitantly, and knits his fingers together anxiously as he realizes he no longer really cares if she sees his face or not.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 8:40 pm
"The invasion."
Below the cliff is a seething sea of bodies. Not human or Porcelain bodies; only vaguely humanoid, shiny black shapes, very thin, almost two-dimensional, as if they are cut-outs. It is almost as if they are made out of seaweed, the sort that is often added to salty stews. The bodies roll back, then rush forward and surge up the cliff, then roll backwards again, one over the other. At their highest, they do not reach even halfway up the cliff, but it seems that with each wave, they climb a little bit higher.
"And then I will fight them until I wake up," the woman continues in a bored tone.
She ponders the vista a bit more before her brow furrows and she turns back to Kouyo. "... Who are you supposed to be, anyway?" she asks, her tone revealing a bit of suspicion as she shifts her weight slightly. "This isn't how it usually goes."
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:08 pm
The Porcelain could do nothing but stare for a long moment. What are those things?
"How many times have had this dream before?" he asks, curious. Recurring dreams tended to mean something important. But... its importance was probably something for this human to know as it was her dream, not his. Was this dream suddenly somehow important to him as well? Or was he suddenly important to her? "This little bird is not sure how he ended up here, or why. I am something of a seer among my people, so I am sometimes visited by visions in dreams...." He trails off, watching the ebbing waves of creatures below.
After a few moments, Kouyo asks, "If this little bird is not too bold to ask, who are you?"
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:17 pm
The woman watches him for a while, but after a time one of her brow angles in annoyance and she looks back out over the sea of bodies, as if she is tired of listening to his words.
Once he finishes she begins grumpily, "Why are you, the figment of my imagination, interrogating me?" as if she had not paid any attention to the specifics of his questions. After a moment, though, her expression slightly changes -- though Kouyo cannot quite tell how -- and she lifts her chin slightly.
"I'm Tenran," she says. "Do I know you? And why are you here?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 10:11 pm
The High Priest frowns a little but nods at the human's retort, and falls silent. He knows well enough how to deal with guides in his dreams, but he also understands that it may be strange to those not used to them. Still, is he supposed to be some sort of guide to her now? Kouyo wishes that he knew what he was supposed to be doing here, so that he could give the woman better answers. He starts to turn away, wondering what to do, but as the human gives her name, he looks back to her.
"Dame Tenran," he says in acknowledgment, bowing to her slightly. "This little bird is High Priest Kouyo. And he is not sure what strange breeze carried him here to your dreams, nor why he landed here, with you."
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 10:16 pm
Tenran stares at him for a moment, then shrugs and speaks as if to herself: "Who do I know who constantly uses annoying metaphors?"
"So stupid," she sighs.
She seems to lose interest in Kouyo and peers over the edge of the cliff again. "Hmmmmm. You can't fight, can you?" she mumbles as she observes the surge of creatures rising higher and higher.
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:52 pm
What is he supposed to do here, in the dream of a stranger who seems to think so little of him? He shuffles his feet awkwardly in the grass, and looks up when Tenran addresses him again.
"I... have never fought before," Kouyo tells her, wondering if he even could. His sensitivity made him powerful, but because of that, he was not sure he could really hurt anyone with his magic. However... this is a dream, and the creatures below - coming closer, slowly - were neither human nor Porcelain. Are they even alive...?
- Wait, was that another voice? It sounded familiar; Kouyo looks around to see if anyone else is around. "Who is there?"
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 2:00 pm
Tenran's eyes suddenly glint with concentration, her hand on the halberd tightening. A moment later, one stray creature is tossed up high by the wave, above its companions, poised to leap up onto the bluff. But Tenran slashes it through, and it explodes in a shower of black inky fluid -- not exactly a realistic death.
The woman returns to rest, seeming casual once again, as if this is all old hat to her.
"Don't distract me, Kouyo," she says as she wipes her forehead with her left hand -- though she doesn't seem to be sweating. In fact, competing with the smell of stew is a new scent, a gentle vanilla-floral perfume, very faint.
"Maybe you should leave before they come."
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 2:58 pm
Kouyo's breath catches as he smells the faintest traces of perfume in the air. "Ranko...?" Whose dream is this? He shies away from the shower of the ink-like substance from the slain whatever-it-was, but then tries to get a bit closer to the woman.
"Who are you?" he asks again, voice wavering. If his wife is somehow here, then the priest is not about to leave. He- he would just have to risk the strange flat black creatures.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:14 pm
The woman sighs with frustration and turns a soft glare to him. "You'd better get going. I'm the only one who'll survive.
"I can't protect you -- so leave." She turns the cold look away from him as a flat little hand reaches over the cliff and she moves to cut it off.
This seems to have broken off her interest in Kouyo, though, as she steps back slowly, both hands on her weapon. "Strange... sooner..." she mumbles to herself, as she looks in all directions and up at the sky, though the clouds do not seem to have changed.
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