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 Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 2:53 pm
It was quiet.
Awfully quiet.
Not even the breathing from each sleeping figure could be heard, and if one of them had been awake, the thought of it would’ve been frightening. Not only because it was quiet, but the atmosphere itself was not that of a room filled with new life.
It was the complete opposite.
There was some sort of dark mist lurking around the nursery’s floor, under the beds, behind the furniture. Mist that slowly, quietly came together to create a figure made from nothing but shadows. It moved swiftly, rather slowly, and as it hovered over each sleeping figure, it also happened to blow candles as it passed by, the previously dim-lit room slowly surrendering itself to complete darkness.
A few curious eyes happened to open up once the room was pitch black, too frightened to actually move and protest. There was a dripping sound that seemed to last for an eternity, and the dripping sound alone was everything that could be heard across the nursery until the ground shook.
The unreachable ceiling disappeared, and so did the walls, slowly dissolving into dust. The beds were no longer beds, abruptly changing and deciding to grow branches. While most sprites were awake by now and managed to move away from their beds, there were a few that happened to be heavy sleepers and, by the time they opened their eyes, they were on top of the tallest of trees.
Trees that were later dripping crimson sap.
Some sprites moved left. Some others decided to move right. Some cried, some were brave enough to stand up and calm the others down. It hadn’t actually mattered until the forest became so dense between both directions that the groups were split over nothing but a simple decision consisting of whether they’d chosen to move left or whether they’d decided to jump right.
Akira had been one to move left. So it had been the case with Linnaeus and Edelweiss.
Sorrel, Fjorgyn, Tomiko and Altair, on the other hand, had moved right.
The little groups huddled together, questions and despair rising the more seconds passed—until it was all drowned out by realization. The dripping sound that had been haunting them before the nursery was turned into a forest had carried on, crimson droplets falling from tree leaves towards the ground, creating darkened pools.
And from those pools, it was as if a hand had dipped itself and then dragged out, creating words using fingertips and messed letters.
“Let us begin.”
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Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 11:19 am
Scientifically speaking, this was not very clear.
Not scientifically speaking, this was downright confusing. And maybe a little terrifying.
Xilles had no explanation for what had just happened, other than the fact that they had all been in one place and now were in an entirely different place, which made little to no sense whatsoever. For the most part, he'd stayed completely silent during the transition, too stunned by what was happening to utter even a low peep, hands clutching the bedsheets with white knuckled fingers. Maybe if he'd done something, said something, they might not be...wherever they were...but regardless, they were here and there was no exit.
At least, none that Xilles could see. He'd already looked.
The dripping sound was nervewracking, though he did his best not to show that, standing with his arms loose at his sides; the very picture of calm, although his fingers twitched every now and then, reminding both him and anyone looking closely that he was, in fact, not quite as composed as he pretended to be.
Xilles inched closer to the letters on the ground, squinting in the dark to make sense of them.
" 'Let us begin,' " he read flatly aloud, and then straightened, smoothing back a lock of his hair behind one ear as though to give his hand something to do. The other one tugged uselessly at the hem of his shirt. Xilles turned to the motley little crew that was with him, and frowned slightly.
"That's not particularly reassuring."
A pause.
"Or informative."
Another pause.
"Or really anything at all except irritating with its lack of clarity."
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Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 2:10 am
Akira had woken up early, alerted by the transition from the normal soothing dimness of night into empty pitch-blackness. In that silence, he had wondered what he'd do if something happened to go wrong -- what good his little tricks of the light would do, confronted with something that held this much power. The transition had left him utterly speechless, though he did his best to recover quickly.
He was one of the few sprites who didn't seem particularly bothered. Blood was his medium, after all, and if it had bothered him, his very nature would've been rather questionable. Though he'd helped one or two of the youngest, crying sprites to their feet, he was more interested in figuring out where they were and what was happening, and he looked curiously into the trees.
Few of them had actually spoken, though, until Xilles. Akira swiveled on his heel to look at the other sprite, tilting his head back and forth. His smile didn't waver, though he'd gotten good at keeping it on at all times. Truth be told, despite his familiarity with blood, he'd never seen quite so much of it, and part of him wondered, trembling, what the source was. "True, true. But we haven't got much choice. If this is an illusion, it's been made by a master. If not -- well, either way, I think we'd better see what happens, first."
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Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 7:45 pm
She had been sleeping soundly. A quiet, peaceful sort of sleep that she often had and liked. It was always nice to be able to lay in bed and do nothing, think of nothing, especially after a day filled with thinking, pondering, and questioning. Edelweiss had been looking forward to yet another calm night of rest. She fell asleep quickly, long before the nursery filled with dead silence. The dream shifted slightly when the mist crawled at the edges of her bed, but still her eyes remained firmly shut. Not even the figure hovering over each bed gently blowing out the light could wake her from her slumber. She wasn’t a very light sleeper.
But she was light enough to sense the rumbling. Eyes snapped open, wildly looking around while her body remained frozen stiff. Her mind tried to process it all, but she was still trying to glue the pieces together when instinct forced her out of bed and toward the gathering group. Not a peep escaped Edelweiss’s lips as she shrunk away from the furniture, shifting into lurching branches as the walls crumbled to dust. Everything was changing too quickly; there was too much for her curious eyes to take in. For a moment a white-haired sprite like herself stole her attention, but that was before she realized the trees dripped dark red.
Stifling her shrieks, Edelweiss stumbled backward before heading in a random direction—left.
Edel hovered toward two other sprites, but was careful to avoid physical contact. Lips pressed together, she warily eyed the message. “Well,” she began in a soft yet vainly optimistic voice, “at least we have some sort of message. One message is better than none at all, I think.” But Xilles was absolutely right. The message simple, but incredibly vague and not much help.
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Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 4:35 pm
LE MIRAGEThey're quite peculiar, aren't they?
So petite and innocent.
So cute and cuddly.
So curiously delicious.
Perhaps I could invite them to play with me.
The forest had been watching the little group carefully, fixated on every single move they made. It followed them unhurriedly and caressed their tiny feet calmly. They didn't even care, that, or they hadn't yet noticed.
These new beings were unlike anything it had ever seen before. They were pure, clean, virginal, truly contrasting its devastated lands. They didn't fit, and the forest loved that.
It adored their little voices and the way they trembled out of fear. It liked the funny things they whispered.
The forest fell in love with the three of them, it decided they wouldn't leave.
It wouldn't let them go.
But how would it lure them into its darkest depths?
A group of intruders approached its little treasure. From the looks of it, they were the same kind-- but it, the forest, only wanted the three beings it had found first.
But maybe, if they were indeed the same kind, they would prove useful in luring the children.
Sixteen silhouettes appeared on the distant horizon, surrounding the little sprites. Four figures to the north, four to the west, four to the south and four to the east, but which four were real?
There was no way its three precious treasures would find out who were their kind and who were but a trap.
The whole team is in danger, will they be able to escape?
Observe carefully, which is the real group?
You only have one guess-- be careful!
The image below is your guideline!
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Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 10:04 am
The more the trio remained in the forest, the more uneasy Edel became. Her eyes often flitted in different directions as she tried to make sense of their new surroundings. It was likely her paranoia getting to her, but she felt something was lurking in the trees. Perhaps that something was watching them, biding its time before it pounced. Perhaps it was nothing at all, only cold air transformed into a monster via her imagination. Yes, it was just her mind playing tricks on her. She held her hands close to her chest and turned the other two sprites, but squeaked when she heard a twig snap. Then another.
Leaves crunched and branches swayed loudly as movement surrounded them from all sides. “W-What’s that?!” Edel held herself tighter as she attempted to calmly step closer toward Akira and Xilles. “It won’t get us right…?” she murmured just before silhouettes emerged from the shadows. She perked up when the silhouettes felt familiar. It was the other sprites they had been with in the beginning! But…there were four sets of them. Only one set could be real, but the question was which one. “Oh no.” Tiny hands smoothed out the wrinkles in her kimono while nervously staring in each direction. She observed each one carefully, trying to draw any differences between the four.
Her stomach twisted into knots before weakly pointing south. “How about w-we going that way?” She looked at the other two for confirmation. “What do you think…?”
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Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 7:15 am
LE MIRAGE - ANSWERThe forest seemed to stiffen at the soft whisper that came from Edel's mouth, all possible sound dying out, leaves that had decided to fall stopping in the mid of their way down.
What followed were the slow and frustrated grumbles coming from tree bark, frustration because they had lost in their own game, and they were now to lose the little group they'd fallen in love with.
As the group moved South, roots tried to make them trip while some hanging vines barely brushed against them in an attempt to hold them back, caress them and convince them that if they were to stay, it'd be okay.
But the group did not stop there, and one step after the other, they crossed what later became a thick wall of trees behind them.
Turning back to see what they now had in front of them, they were able to distinguish and realize that, effectively, there was another group of them in the same position as they were.
Both teams were now to become one.
Correct! No one died this time.
The team may continue!
[*Remember to post in Team B's thread from now on!*]
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