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 Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 7:43 pm
The nursery, a velvet labyrinth illumined only by the dim light of a couple of candles, remains quieter than usual. The human clock, that which enjoys marking a monotonous tone when none stops to listen, has desisted; the small rodents, with their low but audible strolls, have hidden; down in the kitchen, nor the pots nor the cooks dare move. Everything remains as silent as silent can be.
Everyone and everything seems to have heard it, the single yawn that came from upstairs-- a yawn that has been awaited for far too long, so long, in fact, that the sudden realization of what that sound was has frightened everyone and, of course, everything.
The tall halls of the children's room have remained hollow since the world awakened from it's long slumber. Yes, empty, lonely, full of dust-- a sad thought for the sprites that survived the recreation of the world; a world of adults is just no fun. children, although annoying, brighten every corner they reach-- even if they only reach the nursery.
That is why that yawn, as simple as yawns are, carried with it a special magic, the magic of melancholy, relief, expectation and happiness.
Somewhere, lost in between the pillows and the dust, a sprite has just been born.ooc. Remember this event has no deadline and that you're welcome to take turns or post as you wish.
Have fun!
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 10:05 am
Fjorgyn opened her eyes, and her first thought was: How small everything is!
The pillow beneath her head was uncomfortable, built for someone at least half her size. There was a chair and a table nearby, but they too seemed too petite to be of much use. The rest of the room was swathed in darkness, punctured only by tiny pinpricks of light that Fjorgyn, squinting, discerned to be candles. Dust swirled into the air as she sat up. The loudness of her resulting sneeze startled her, and she sniffed cautiously, wary of a repeat performance.
Hey! Stop moving! Fjorgyn heard, and something wriggled in her dress pocket. She felt the scrabble of a tiny creature's claws catching on the fabric. A tiny, furry, white head with long ears poked its nose out into the open.
Who are you? Fjorgyn asked, astonished. In the back of her mind, she realized that the words were not coming from her mouth. What were you doing in there?
The rabbit twitched its nose irritably, seeming confused by the first question. It settled for replying, I want things to eat, but they are not here.
No, I don't have anything for you. I'm sorry, Fjorgyn said, and felt once again a wave of incomprehension from the rabbit at the apology. We could look for things to eat together, she continued. Have you seen anyone else near here?
I do not know of anyone like you, said the rabbit. It added, You are very big, bigger than the dogs.
Fjorgyn peered once more into the darkness all around her, to no avail. It was simply too dark, and everything was too small. "Hello?" she called out, and the echoes of Hello! - ello! -lo! -lo! -o! seemed deafening.
You are too loud, the rabbit grumbled in Fjorgyn's lap. Privately, Fjorgyn agreed.
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:38 am
Upon waking, Erasmus was not sure what to make of his surroundings. He was sensible of tall arches stretching away into the darkness above him, and cool sheets pulled up to his chest. He lay quietly for a moment, following the arches of the ceiling away down the hall, then sat up. His sheets seemed to be coated in a thick layer of dust. He drew a circle in his lap, stirring some of the dust into the air, and bit back a sneeze.
There were thick, waxy tapers stuffed into a standing candelabra beside his bed, any one of which looked perfect for carrying around the hall. Erasmus pushed back the sheets, trying not to raise any dust, and slipped one foot over the edge of the bed to the floor. Just as he felt cold tile under his toes, a noise like cannon fire exploded from the other end of the hall. Erasmus's foot shot back up onto the bed, and he ducked beneath his discarded sheets. A little cloud of dust flew up from the bed and dispersed itself into the darkness.
There were no further sounds, and Erasmus risked peeking at the other end of the hall. Maybe it had been an alarm designed to keep him from getting up. He crawled out from under the sheets, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and shook his feet around. Lazily, the wings at his ankles unfolded. He flapped experimentally and stepped off the bed into the air.
He hovered, waiting.
The alarm failed to sound again: it was obviously aimed at earthbound sprites. Delighted, Erasmus drifted over to the candelabra, tugged at a taper--it was stuck fast by long dribbles of wax. He alighted on his nightstand and chipped away at the dribbles with a fingernail. Finally, the taper popped free.
With taper in hand, Erasmus relocated his investigations to the closest wall. It was mainly shelving, full of little bottles and vials. Some were empty, and others--though full--were opaque. Erasmus grumbled to himself and drifted higher, glancing through the containers. The shelving continued up to the ceiling, but Erasmus was starting to feel a little sick. Without meaning to, he dropped in altitude, and the lightheadedness went away. He still felt nauseous, though. Maybe it was time to find something to eat.
Just then, someone yelled at him from the opposite end of the room. "HELLO??"
Erasmus dropped nearly a foot in surprise. What would happen if if he were caught out of bed? ...Who was here to catch him, anyway? He wasn't sure that he wanted to know the answers, but either way, there wasn't enough time to get back under the covers, and whoever-it-was was bound to see his candle. He snuffed the flame, but the light from below still showed his shadow, faint behind the arches on the ceiling. He willed the light to pass through him, tried to will his shadow away--and, surprisingly, it was gone. So was the rest of the room. Erasmus looked around wildly. He could sense a bright light from somewhere below him; it had to be the candelabra, but everything was painted in smooth blots and varying shades of gray and he couldn't tell for sure. Panicking, he flew into something hard and heard the tinkle of glass smashing below.
Light. Yes. His bed was near the candelabra. He struggled a little higher, dropped with a sickening jolt; but he was closer to the light source. He had been near the opposing wall, so a little past the candles must be--yes, there it was--his foot swept cotton and dust. He let himself fall and landed with a soft thump. His candle had been dropped somewhere, but he wasn't concerned with it now. Falling back onto what he assumed to be his pillow, he stared up at the darkness that might have been the ceiling. More darkness to his left. A bright patch to his right.
As he calmed down, he breathed more easily, and almost without his noticing, the firm shapes and dim colours of the room came back into view.
No one was coming for him; maybe whoever-it-was had been distracted by the falling glass. He turned his head. There were coloured shards on the floor, but no liquids. Maybe they had been empty flasks. He sat up, rubbed at his eyes with an arm--those weren't tears, he hadn't been frightened at all--and decided to chance calling back.
"Hello?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 12:19 pm
"Hello?"
For a moment, Fjorgyn thought it was just another echo of her previous shout. But this voice sounded different than hers. A flicker of the rabbit's ears confirmed her suspicions. Fjorgyn thought she could detect a subtle tendril of fear in the greeting, but it was difficult to say for sure -- it was so faint. Perhaps Fjorgyn was only projecting her own anxiety onto the mysterious other voice.
Don't be afraid, Fjorgyn wanted to shout. But she couldn't trust that the timbre of her voice might not scare off the other person even further. Instead, she looked down at the little rabbit in her lap. Do you know where the voice came from? she asked.
I know the way to go, it replied, ears swiveling in a specific direction incalculable to Fjorgyn.
Will you go look for me? Fjorgyn stood up, and the rabbit leapt to the ground at her sudden movement. I will follow, she tried to say, but as the rabbit left her lap she became immediately aware of the loss of something in her field of perception. Frowning, she stooped down and petted the rabbit's silky fur with a finger. The feeling -- a sort of link, or line, she now realized -- returned with full force. I will follow, she said, and the rabbit sent back through the line a sense of affirmation.
The rabbit bounded away, swallowed into the darkness. Wait, she tried to say, but the link was gone once again. Well, that is quite inconvenient, she thought. Fortunately, the dust in the air also coated the tiled floor, and Fjorgyn could make out the thin tracks of the rabbit's path. Silently, the leather of her boots padding her footsteps, she followed.
The rabbit moved across the floor with ease, seeming to need no landmarks. Instead, it followed the direction of the voice, along with the sounds of feathers. It was a sound that put the rabbit in mind of hawks and other such evils, and it slowed its rapid pace as it approached the source of the noises. Cautiously, it hopped into the circle of light cast by the candelabra, twitching its nose up at the Nightmare Hermes.
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 1:33 pm
The first thing Erasmus saw was the rabbit, but just outside the candles' light loomed something at least twice as tall as he. He pulled his knees up to his chest, wings folded tight, and studied the newcomers with narrow eyes.
If the sprite was tall, she was also soft, too pretty to be a Nightmare. Was she some kind of giantess, or merely an adult? He guessed the former; she looked faintly nervous and threw glances at the rabbit from time to time. An adult would be confidant, accusatory. Maybe the rabbit was an adult; it could be a shape-shifter. The notion seemed possible, but without having previously met a shape-shifter, Erasmus couldn't be sure.
Unlike Erasmus, the giantess was wearing boots. He wondered if she could feel how cold the floor was.
"Why didn't you set off the alarm?" he asked, defensively. The rabbit-adult had probably deactivated it for her. Maybe the alarm was specific to Erasmus. They had probably known he would break something if left to his own devices. He avoided looking at the glass shards on the floor, instead trying to school his face into an imperious yet (he hoped) innocent expression.
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 2:03 pm
Fjorgyn wasn't quite sure what she was seeing at first. It -- no, he -- was much larger than the rabbit, but much smaller than her. And he had wings on his ankles! which did not seem at all a natural place for wings, in her mind. A Nightmare, she thought. Something in his eyes, a certain defiance like a challenge. But what did she know of the differences between Dreams and Nightmares?
His words were even more perplexing. Alarm? Fjorgyn had not heard nor seen any alarm. She stooped and offered the rabbit her hand, and the little rodent settled comfortably in her palm. What does he mean by alarm? Either the rabbit did not understand her words or his; she could tell it was confused. Fjorgyn hesitated before explaining, trying to find the right words: A loud sound or light, that goes off when something bad happens.
Such complicated causality was a concept somewhat difficult for the rabbit to grasp, but it knew what a loud sound meant. You made a loud noise, the rabbit said somewhat accusatorily, when you started moving.
Fjorgyn thought back, and with a suppressed giggle remembered her sneeze. She offered the strange winged Nightmare a smile, as she shook her head to indicate, no alarm. Pointing to herself, she mimed sneezing.
Gesturing would only get her so far, however. With some trepidation, the giantess decided to attempt a low whisper. "I am Fjorgyn," she murmured. She pointed at Erasmus, as if to ask his name.
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 3:31 pm
The rabbit mustn't be an adult, if it were allowing the giantess to pick it up like that. Erasmus thought that adults must be too proud to allow themselves to be moved by hands not their own. At least--he was trying to be unmoved: he didn't want the giantess to see any weakness on his part--but it was a curious thing, to see someone like himself and yet so very different.
The giantess and the rabbit were looking at each other. Erasmus wondered if they were somehow communicating. Perhaps the giantess spoke Rabbit? Her nose wasn't twitching like the rabbit's was, so he wasn't sure. At the very least, he supposed they might be thinking the same unflattering thoughts about him. He squared his shoulders haughtily, and the giantess smiled at him before shaking her head and miming a sneeze.
Oh. So she had just woken up, too.
The giantess was staring at him: probably thought he was stupid. Well, her sneeze had been unfortunately timed. It was her fault he'd mistaken it for an alarm.
"I am Fjorgyn," she said suddenly. She was much quieter than her initial yell had indicated, and her voice was scratchy. Erasmus supposed that the arches of the hall had amplified her voice before he'd met her. Wait--she was pointing at him. He panicked. He hadn't been staring off into space, had he? Was she talking about him with her rabbit? What did she want?
"Erm. Erasmus," he offered awkwardly, guessing that it was probably polite to tell her his name. Looking away for a moment, just in case he'd misinterpreted the pointing thing, he hopped onto the floor and swung around to face her again. "So, are we going to get out of here and explore? You can bring your rabbit," he added, considerately. At least he wasn't uncivil enough to make rude comments to his rabbit about little quirks (like--just for instance--being paranoid about sneezes, which wasn't, for the record, weird at all). He was politeness itself.
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 4:05 pm
Ermerasmus seemed like a very long name for someone so little, but Fjorgyn wasn't the type to judge. She could call him Erm, for short, she decided. That would be more appropriate.
He seemed like a take charge kind of guy, which Fjorgyn appreciated. She nodded to indicate her agreement at his suggestion to explore. She wasn't really sure by what he meant by "out of here" -- had Erm found a door somewhere? Perhaps he had eyes like a hawk, since he had wings. She wondered how far up he could fly; her neck was beginning to ache from looking downward for so long. The rabbit nibbled on Fjorgyn's fingers, and she remembered her promise to the creature.
"Kitchen?" she suggested, still in a whisper. "For Ostara." She indicated the rabbit. Do you mind if I call you Ostara? she asked the rabbit silently. Or is there another name you would like to go by?
I do not understand what you mean by name, Ostara replied. But if that's what you want, I can...get used to it.
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:07 pm
Erasmus had no idea where the kitchen was, but it wasn't in this hall. There had to be a door somewhere, since there were no other exits, and there was conceivably a kitchen somewhere beyond the door. Fjorgyn was staring at her rabbit again. They were probably wondering why he was taking so long to get going. Erasmus frowned at the floor near her feet. Well, he had a lot to think about--that was all. Exploring wasn't easy: he'd found that out for himself earlier, and since the giantess seemed content to let him lead the way, it was obvious that he had to carefully consider important leaderly things. Things like "should I look for my candle, or would that make me look stupid?" and "would she be able to keep up with me if I flew?"
He decided not to fly, just in case the world disappeared again, and marched right past Fjorgyn and the rabbit, staring hard at the wall beside him. After a few seconds he glanced to his left. There were more beds, neat in their row, just like his. There was no more shelving. Erasmus scowled. If he hadn't been put next to the shelves, he wouldn't have broken anything; it was that simple. It hadn't been his choice to wake up alone on the far side of the room.
Just when he thought he might not be able to see his own bed if he were to turn around and look for it, he came to a door, large and neat in the middle of the wall. The latch was at eye level, but the door swung open easily enough.
He forced himself not to look back for the giantess, not wanting to admit that he felt trepidation at the thought of leaving the room alone. "Are you coming?" he asked.
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 7:28 am
He must have the eyes of a hawk, or a cat, to see in this darkness, Fjorgyn commented to Ostara as she followed Erasmus.
Or ears like mine, said Ostara. Darkness is not so bad if you know what to listen for.
Conversing with Ostara felt more natural already; no longer did Fjorgyn need to focus all her attention on the rabbit as they exchanged words, and she was able to multitask while simultaneously keeping up the conversation. Looking around, Fjorgyn once again noted the presence of many candelabras, though there seemed to be more down at this end of the hall than back where she had woken up. They cast only a small circle of light around each stand, but if Fjorgyn could take one with her, it would be enough to at least see a few steps in front of her. Unlike Erm, one candle was too small for her to comfortably grasp. Instead, she swiped an entire candelabra, then hastened to follow after Erm.
Her faith in Erm's leadership was renewed as they approached the door -- she had been right to follow him! "Are you coming?" he asked her, and Fjorgyn nodded enthusiastically. He wasn't looking at her, though, so he probably couldn't see it, unless he had eyes on the back of his head as well as cat eyes up front.
From where she was standing, the room through the doorway looked just as dark as the one in which they'd awakened. After some thought, Fjorgyn gently tapped Erm on the shoulder and offered him a candle from the candelabra.
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 10:09 am
When the giantess prodded his shoulder, Erasmus prepared himself for--he didn't know what, exactly, but it certainly wasn't a candle. He accepted the taper with cautious thanks and swept it ahead of him, trying not to look apprehensive. Who knew what was through the doorway?
The answer, as it turned out, was some sort of antechamber to the nursery. There were more candles flanking the doorway, but they were unlit, covered in an assortment of spiderwebs and dust.
"Do you think we're the only people here?" he asked, before he could stop himself. It didn't seem to be an unlikely possibility. So far they hadn't seen any other sprites, and there were no recent footprints on the floor. The only sound in either room was the rustle of their clothes and breaths. Maybe he wouldn't get in trouble for the broken bottles after all.
Erasmus decided to set off along one wall rather than stumbling more or less blindly through the middle of the room. There were tables, a thick carpet, paintings framed and hung--ah, yes, here was the corner. He turned ninety degrees and set off again. More tables. A fireplace. More carpet.
He looked back to the doorway, but couldn't see through to the room beyond. "Fjorgyn?" he hissed.
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 7:53 pm
Fjorgyn hoped that they were not the only ones, but she had no idea if it was true. She shrugged and made a noncommittal noise. Have you seen any others like me -- or Erm? Fjorgyn asked Ostara.
I have not, Ostara said with a touch of impatience. I told you that already. The rabbit paused to lick its paws. I have not seen much of this place, though.
Fjorgyn ignored the rabbit's snarky tone, instead casting her interest on the unlit candles -- or were they sconces? -- adorning the walls. They were quite dusty, and after inspecting one closely, Fjorgyn inhaled deeply and let out a great puff of breath. Cobwebs exploded into the air. Fjorgyn held back another sneeze as she lit the sconce with her own candelabra.
"Fjorgyn?" said Erasmus' voice, from the other side of the room. Fjorgyn hastened to catch up, lighting any candles or sconces she found along the way. There were many, and soon the chamber filled with a cheery flickering light -- still dim, but much better than the impenetrable blackness of before.
Fjorgyn reached the corner and lit the next group of sconces...and stopped. "Erm!" she whispered, and gestured excitedly at the painting newly illuminated by the candlelight. The canvas was even taller than Fjorgyn, portraying larger-than-life figures. One was dressed all in gold, with ears just like Ostara's protruding from his head, and the other wore a set of black ram horns...
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Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 7:08 pm
Within moments Erasmus located the giantess, trailing soft lights along the wall behind her. She lit a sconce at the corner, a little over his head... and stopped, fascinated by something on the wall; Erasmus couldn't quite see what it was.
"Erm!" she said, pointing at it.
"Erm?" Erasmus asked, but moved closer anyway. He was the only one she could be addressing, since her communications with the rabbit were nonverbal. Maybe she couldn't pronounce his full name. She certainly hadn't been talkative so far.
Fjorgyn was looking at one of the paintings he'd glanced at earlier, but in the new light from the sconces it was clearly visible. The canvas stretched up farther than Erasmus cared to tilt his head, but there were two solitary figures standing just low enough for him to see. One was dark-skinned, solemn, with curling horns; the other was fair, with an amused look about him. Erasmus drifted up off the floor to have a closer look. The fair one looked a little silly with those rabbit ears on his head, he thought.
"Well, this doesn't mean that there are more people," he told Fjorgyn. "There's so much dust... who knows the last time anyone was here? Come on, let's look around some more."
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Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 9:17 pm
Fjorgyn wanted to take a closer look at the various paintings on the walls, but Erasmus seemed anxious to move along. With a sigh, she moved away from the portrait of the black-ram-person and the white-rabbit-person, though she continued to light any sconces that she saw.
Fjorgyn made sure to stick close to Erasmus in any direction he decided to take. This adventure was all very well and thrilling, but a little caution in the face of the unknown was never a wrong decision. So far, however, nothing dangerous had happened... a potentially risky idea came to Fjorgyn, and while keeping her stride with Erasmus, she voiced it to Ostara.
You are small and fast, she told Ostara, and the rabbit puffed with pride at the perceived (though somewhat modest) compliments. And you have a good sense of direction. Perhaps you can scout ahead for us, for the way to go? After a pause, the rabbit readily agreed, and Fjorgyn lowered him to the dusty ground. Ostara twitched his ears from side to side, then with a great bound, disappeared into the darkness.
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Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 10:40 pm
The antechamber was large enough for many minutes of exploration, and after finding the third wall, Erasmus decided to retrace their steps. He moved back toward the doorway they had originally entered from, still staying close to the wall. Once they had passed the open door, he flew up to make his height level with Fjorgyn's; not only to help her light the sconces, but also to better see the room.
This side of the room was much the same as the other. Again, there were tables; there was more carpeting on the floor; and there were more paintings. The two figures from the other painting were nowhere to be seen; these paintings all featured an assortment of landscapes and still lifes. Some of the landscapes were in notably large, gilded frames. One of these showed a tall, close-set city with waterfalls and floating gardens; another, a burial site alone in a wide expanse of desert; a third, cool, inscrutable mists; a fourth, waters snaking their way through tall trees. Some of the still lifes were objects Erasmus recognized from the nursery, but some depicted objects whose meaning was foreign to him. Some of the landscapes, likewise, did not seem congruent with the small, comfortable world he was coming to know.
After a little while Erasmus sensed something below him scattering away into the middle of the room. He turned to look for Fjorgyn, but upon seeing her, decided that it might be best not to mention the disturbance. She certainly seemed to be oblivious to it, and he didn't want to frighten her. In any case, it had been too small to be another sprite--and he didn't think anything that small could pose much of a threat.
...Right?
Before long they had passed the first corner and were well along the next wall, opposite the painting where they had stopped earlier. Erasmus had landed in front of a thick, rough-grained door with a scrolled handle. The door was locked.
"This could have been the way out," he grumbled. "We've been all the way along two other walls, and this is the only door. We can't just stay here forever!" Suddenly he turned to Fjorgyn, considering her size. Perhaps, by using more force, she could somehow open the door.
But now he noticed that something about her was different... something he hadn't noticed earlier. It took him a moment to identify the missing object. "What did you do with your rabbit?" he asked curiously.
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