| Logs |
2008 October 07
| When The Bough Breaks |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
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| Realms: Bough Logs |
First Movement, First Verse
The sun has risen to mid-morning over Stanton. It has not quite crested the mountains to the east, instead casting a golden shine to the upper peaks, haloing them as if they were heralds for its ascent. Meanwhile, in Stanton, the villagers are perusing their daily work; a ravon had cried earlier, which made many of the villagers nervous and alert, and there was much looking up into the sky. But the sky was a bright, glorious blue, with barely any clouds, and a stooping ravon would be seen, hopefully in time.
The three -- Mikal, Norris, and Jareth -- have been tasked with their first duty as beast-warders. The day before, Mikal's father had spotted the signs of an asdrin swarm along the southern side of the chasm, shallowly within the forest and several yards from the edge of the chasm. He had a khidra he was tracking more southerly, but recommended to the village elders that his daughter and two others be sent out to find the swarm and wipe it out before it decided to go after a cow or, pray the One prevent, a villager.
Mikal had quietly whispered to her father, asking if the two others could be folks she was more comfortable with. She's relieved to see the two going with her are Norris and Jareth.
And so, it comes to pass that they stand at the edge of the forest that stretches out westward from the village, with the chasm to their right. This close to the village, there isn't any immediate sign of monsters, let alone asdrin swarms.
Mikal frowns thoughtfully, glancing around for spoor.
"Brown hair zigzag around her face and a look of half-surprise,
Like a fox caught in the headlights, there was animal in her eyes.
Oh, she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing,
So fine a breath of wind might blow her away;
She was a lost child; oh, she was running wild-"
Mikal is a small, slight woman, easy to mistake for a boy. She's dressed in loose, unremarkable clothing under a light leather vest, boots, and gloves; on her back is a light pack and bow. Her thick, curling brown hair is pulled back into an absently braided plait, disheveled wisps coming loose and framing her face in a windswept ruffle. She has storm-gray eyes and her usually pale skin is browned where it's exposed to the sun. She drifts through life in shy silence, like a forgotten wisp of fog.
Mikal glances at the raptor-wolf sniffing around lazily in the underbrush nearby. Does he catch any asdrin scent? Raphael does not scent any of the vicious little creatures. Then again, he was probably a bit further into the forest.
Jareth does a fairly good job of seeming confident as he stands with the other two at the edge of the forest. He's got his knife and he's got his staff, which he mostly uses for poking goats in the nose when they're being fractious. He's had the training, of course, but he's hoping they don't actually have any exceedingly dangerous encounters. Even with Raph along.
Jareth is pretty, possibly too pretty for his own good if he didn't seem to be genuinely a nice guy. His perpetual grin and the way his eyes glint with good humour seem to hint that he might not be aware of his own attractiveness. The fact that he's rather indifferent about his patched and grubby clothes and the way his hair doesn't even seem to want to stay in his ponytail tend to hint that way as well. The hair is a darkly sandy blond and the eyes are, depending on who you ask, blue or green or grey. Several young women of the village have made a study of said eyes. A few have even made a study of the perpetually grinning lips, too, which might partially account for the village fathers suggesting Jareth's job as goatherd. He's tall and slender and quick, which adds up to graceful and nice to watch. The fact that he speaks in playful banter helps hide the fact that he sees a lot, possibly more than most are comfortable with him seeing. Still, he moves through the world as if he hasn't a care.
Norris stands like a tree, the large boy in the heavy leather armor that was given him for his work as a beast-warder. He's brought his maul with him, but it's mostly in case they happen across anything larger than the asdrin: the heavy weapon won't work well on swarms. He looks at his companions from time to time, but is mostly just keeping alert for danger: Mikal reads the forest, and Jareth has a number of special atrtibutes, but he's mostly valued for strength...and in his case, his natural senses.
To call Norris a 'gentle giant' wouldn't be entirely wrong, unless you're a piece of metal, a log, a monster, or anything else the large boy uses his considerable strength on. At 16, he's already close to six and a half feet tall, and still growing. The young man keeps his black hair cut short, as it interferes with his work, his muscled body crowned with dark skin. While his brown eyes always seem to be lost in thought, most understand that it's simply his way: he's slow, and needs to focus on what he's doing to keep from making a mistake, whether he's at the anvil, or crafting his maker's mark - a leafy, branching oak - into some new item for sale. He wears a plain brown tunic and breeches, soft shortboots, and often an apron stained with sparkburns from the forge. When he finally does acknowledge an onlooker, he gives a slightly goofy smile and nod...he's not the brightest wick, but his smile, perhaps, is all the more genuine for that: the boy doesn't have a mean bone in his body.
Mikal glances around thoughtfully -- then smiles in faint rue. Well... that was easy to spot! She can see a few bent twigs and ground leaves where a larger animal fleeing the swarm had blundered through, and over there a bit further along are some bits and pieces of a few unfortunate little critters that were swarmed. Lots of asdrin spoor, of course... there's the trail coming out of the woods about 20 yards away, and there, parallel to the chasm, is where it leads off to. She shares that information with her companions, then suggests everyone pull a torch so they're all ready if they stumble over the actual swarm -- this trail isn't very old, after all.
Mikal adds quietly to the others, "I'd say only a few hours old. We should stay alert."
Jareth doesn't hesitate even a heartbeat to pull a torch out. He takes a deep breath and grins at Mikal, "Yes, ma'am. Lead the way."
Mikal grins shyly at Jareth -- then blushes and looks hastily back at the trail. "Um, N-n-norris, listen careful, all right? We'll hear them before we see them."
Norris grins. "Ye'sm....ma'am." he drawls with amusement, rather tickled by the idea that she qualifies as a ma'am now. Hunkering down, he stays between Mikal and Norris, ears pricked.
As they go along the asdrins' trail, far up ahead they think they can hear some sort of commotion, and -- yes, that's it -- someone calling for help.
Jareth mutters a couple of uncouth things under his breath.
Norris frowns. "That aint no good. Thought we wuz the only ones out heres?"
Mikal's blush, if anything, deepens at being called ma'am by Norris too -- but at the sounds ahead her head comes up sharply and she whispers, "Oh, no!" She darts forward, not directly following the asdrin trail as she heads for the sound, waving an arm and calling, "Raph, circle around and make sure there aren't more -- we can't afford to be surrounded!"
Mikal holds up the unlit torch she's carrying, glancing at the end as she trots along and concentrating -- and with a sudden woosh! it bursts into flame. She holds it out towards Norris on her flank, "Here, light up!"
Jareth winces a little, muttering in irritation about something. He trots along with the other two, waiting for Norris to light his torch off Mikal's before he lights his own off the larger young man's.
Norris has pulled his torch from his pack in expectation, and lights it from Mikal's. "Damn handy skill. You'd make m' master very happy if you could do up his forge in the mornings." he comments absently, and passing the flame back to Jareth.
Jareth lighs his own torch and grins, "She'd make me very happy if she could light my fire at night." He does keep his voice down.
Mikal looks worried -- she's not sure how the villagers would react to her suddenly lighting fires -- but saves her breath for running. She pelts along, looking around worriedly for whomever was calling for help.
As the group gets closer, they can hear it clearly now: the sound of someone calling for help, intermingled with the hunting-howl of one... two... four khidra. There is the sound of a falling tree, one of the trees ahead of them, sighted narrowly through the forest, topples over... then the howling and the shouting increases in volume and earnestness.
Jareth calls cheerfully to Mikal, "It's not what we thought we'd be fighting, but who wants things to be predictable?" He's not stupid enough to actually get in front of Mikal. He's got no illusions as to his value in a fight.
Mikal slows in shock as she hears the calls of the khidra, and she glances around, her face tight with worry. "Oh, dear -- I think we're outnumbered! Wait, let me think..." She comes to a halt, handing her other torch to Jareth and unslinging her bow, "All right. Jareth, remember the asdrin will stay away from fire, but the khidra will try to lunge under or over it at you. Worst case scenario, light a fire around you! I won't let it burn you." She takes a deep breath, her face pale, then says determinedly, "All right... let's get them!"
Mikal starts slipping far, far more cautiously and silently through the trees, an arrow nocked and another two between her fingers -- it's as prepared as she can get. If she can get a few shots off first, then they might survive. Might.
Mikal thinks worriedly at Raphael, [Stay out of sight, Raph, and we'll try ganging up on the khidra one at a time, all right?]
The group gets closer to the confrontation. In a small clearing ahead of them, a man is scrambling backwards towards them, keeping watch on the dark shadows of the forest in front of him, but not on the two persons behind and coming up on him. In the shadows of the trees ahead of him, Mikal and Jareth can see four large shapes as they move slowly through the trees, the unmistakable form of khidra.
Jareth takes the second torch and waves them both around a little, seeing how moving them feels. If he feels like he can do it safely, he'll keep the torches moving in unpredictable patterns, following Mikal.
Mikal hasn't any time to wonder why the ordinarily solitary khidra are hunting in a pack, or what happened to the asdrin. She puts her back to a tree, raises and draws the bow -- then lets fly at the closest khidra.
Mikal murmurs quietly, "Jareth, pull the man in close if you can, and cover my back, please."
The nimble herder transfers both torches to one hand and reaches down to grab the scrambling man by the collar, wanting to pull him back out of the way.
Mikal adds equally quietly, as she smoothly nocks the next arrow, "Don't forget to look up too, please, while covering us?"
Without even thinking about it much, shifting the hand with the torches so he's holding them over his head. He grins down at the guy he's dragging, "Invigorating morning, eh?"
Mikal's arrow strikes one of the khidra full, and is gives an almost canine yelp, and snarls, pulling back a little as it favors the shoulder her arrow struck. The man pants a bit as he scrambles to his feet. "You've no idea!" he says in a strange accent. "Not quite my idea of a morning pick-me-up!"
Mikal blinks at Jareth's comment, startled -- he's joking?! Then she shakes her head firmly -- focus! She turns her aim slightly to the next closest khidra and lets fly, as she thinks, [Raph! Are you all right?! Where are you?]
Jareth grins at him and offers one of the torches, "Still, it does get the blood flowing!" He uses his free hand to take out his knife, keeping an eye on Mikal and the area around her. There's not much way he's likely to take on a khidra successfully.
Raphael informs Mikal that he has flanked the khidra. He is smelling a lot more of them. Something has gotten the khidra riled. He'd like to come back closer to Mikal, even with the odd-smelling man there.
Mikal frowns -- she needs to concentrate, darnit! She and Raphael are doing their jobs! She nods, nocking the next arrow, [Yes, please, can you? We're safer all together, I think, if the khidra are packing like this!] A little bemusedly she adds, [Have you ever seen them do this before?!]
The khidra Mikal shoots gives a barking squawks and disappears into the underbrush, hidden from view. From what Mikal and Jareth both know of khidra, it's probably wounded but not down for the count. Raphael replies that he has never noticed khidra ganging up like this. A moment later the raptor wolf has burst out of the brush, quickly circling the group. Then he freezes, and tells Mikal that there are more to the south and southeast, closing in. They're almost surrounded, except to the north.
Mikal sighs in relief -- maybe that will cause the uninjured khidra to turn on the wounded ones now! Her little pack could use a moment to slip quietly away and catch their breath. Without looking away from the monsters she calls softly back to Jareth, "Raphael can lead you, Jareth -- stay close to him, all right? No running! That'll attract their attention. I'll be following right behind, to make sure the khidra don't rush us."
The old man accepts the torch, looking a little out of breath. "Aye," he says, "but hopefully not eventually flowing onto the ground...."
Mikal adds to the raptor-wolf, "Raph, lead the way! Keep the other two close, please, so they don't stumble over any more khidra."
For the moment, the khidra that are visible seem to be giving the group a wide berth, but are still moving as they do.
Jareth grabs the old man's elbow and gives him a slightly manic grin, "Oh, it's not the day for us to die. At least, I hope not."
The raptor-wolf leads the group northward. After a few dozen yards, however, he stops, and he tells Mikal something to the effect of "Uh-oh."
Mikal starts backing up, taking the momentary respite to hastily grab another two arrows. She nocks her third arrow as she goes.
Jareth blinks as he gets a glimpse into the khidra, cutting his eyes in surprise to the stranger. Even the scent of food isn't distracting them.
Mikal brings up the bow and fires again -- if she can keep the khidra back and focused on their own wounded, maybe the four of them will be able to escape? She's deeply worried internally. Khidra packing -- it's unheard of! How will the village defend itself?
This shot strikes a khidra, but it shrugs it off.
Mikal mutters a bad word under her breath, then blushes guiltily, hoping the two men didn't hear her.
Jareth is too busy wondering at the strange feelings of the khidra and considering the man he's dragging along.
By this point, the group have reached the raptor-wolf, and they can see why Raphael said 'uh-oh.' The edge of the chasm has given way somewhat farther into the forest than in other places, and they suddenly and unexpectedly stand at the edge of the chasm.
Mikal glances around swiftly for an escape route. Can they throw a rope across the chasm somehow, or clamber down the side, or sidle along the cliff's edge to a way down, or is the water far below deep enough to leap- er... maybe not that. She frowns, studying the area carefully.
The man looks over his shoulder at the chasm, and mutters, "Oh, bloody 'ell." Then, "No! Wait, a chasm, an edge, it'll do. PLease, keep them away as best as you can, I'll try to get us out of this!"
Mikal gives the man a confused look, already nocking another arrow, "What?"
The man thrusts his staff into the ground, standing rather dangerously close to the edge, his arms outstretched. "Edges, they work much as doorways, portals, it's -- I'll explain soon enough! This should not take long!" Then he is murmuring, deep and clearly, repeating, Anail nathrach, ortha bhais is beatha, do cheal deanaimh... Anail nathrach, ortha bhais is beatha, do cheal deanaimh....
Jareth is too distracted by being apparently trapped to get a good reading on the man. The whimsical young man blinks at the stranger, but moves into a defensive position, anyway. Granted, he would have been in a defensive position even without the stranger's declaration
The khidra are holding still, as if curious, at a range of about thirty feet. More khidra have emerged from the forest, surrounding the group. They seem somewhat hesitant about stepping closer, though every now and then one takes a step or two closer. So, bit by bit, the khidra are closing in. They appear to be as wary of each other as they are of the Food in front of them.
He knows it's not a great defense, but Jareth keeps the torch moving. He knows the khidra would try to get around it and he's trying to make it hard for them to figure out a safe way to lunge.
Mikal raises an eyebrow, but brings up the bow smoothly, aiming at the approaching khidra. With a small feeling of horrified shock, she prays poor Norris got away too -- she has too few friends to lose any to monsters! She feels a sudden flare of anger at the damn khidra; how dare they behave like this, and endanger her tiny pack?! She turns her stormy gray eyes on the closest khidra, and hisses angrily, "Fear!"
The khidra she aimed her heart shaping at barks a bit, recoiling a little, before shaking its head clear and blithely ignoring the suggestion that it run in terror.
Mikal fires the arrow at that one, still angry.
The man stops chanting for a moment, then takes in a sharp breath. "Yes! Yes, I think... yes, it's open!" He looks over his shoulder at the others; where his hands are upheld, there is a rippling in the air as if there was a curtain of still water right in front of his nose. Where the ripples meat, there is a shimmering; strangely, while the shimmering isn't bright it is impossible to see through. "It's the only way out," he says hastily. "I'm sorry, but I cannot keep it open for too much longer...."
Mikal's third arrow strikes a khidra, but only grazes it.
Mikal messes up her shot, twitching as the man shouts something. Irritably she mutters under her breath, then hastily nocks another arrow, "What?! What is it?"
Jareth reaches for Mikal's elbow, raising his voice, "I think he's saying we need to move it. He's opened a door, I think!"
"A doorway! To... to outside. There's only so much I can do here, but this will let us evade the beasts! I know I haven't done anything to engender your trust, but I hope I can rectify that!" He sounds genuinely anxious and nervous now. "Please... I could not bear to save myself without bringing you along as well."
That causes Mikal to pause, glancing around in startlement, "What?!" Her eyes widen at sight of the... portal? -then she looks around hastily, "Jareth, we can't! What of Norris?!"
The man pales. "Blast, there's a fourth?" He shakes himself. "I swear I will return to find him and bring him back, else may all heap curses upon my name!"
Mikal gives the man a puzzled look, "Fifth! There are four of u- wait, why am I arguing?!" She puts two fingers to her lips and lets fly with a piercing whistle! Then she looks around anxiously, muttering under her breath, "Come on, Norris -- show up!"
The khidra are getting much braver now, and their approach is become more brave. Their musky scent is heavy and some are starting to drool in anticipation of Food.
Mikal snarls irritably, bringing the bow up and letting fly another arrow at the closest one.
The man makes a quiet, pained sound. "I... can't... hold it open... much... longer...!"
Jareth steps close to Mikal saying, "We will be no good to Norris dead." He glances at the man and tries to see his emotions again.
Jareth still can't see the truth of the man's heart, but he seems in earnest. He speaks quietly and urgently to Mikal, "I believe that he will come back for Norris."
He rasps out, "Upon my name of Myrddin, I swear I will return for your friend, but we... we have not a moment more...!"
Jareth says, "And Norris would not want us to die waiting on him."
Mikal glances at the man, then back at the monsters... then takes a deep breath, nocking another arrow, "Go, Jareth. Take Raphael with you." She smiles faintly up at him, adding, "Norris wouldn't leave us." She blinks suddenly, repeating softly, "Wouldn't... leave..." Abruptly tears sting her eyes as she realizes the one way Norris would leave them, and she angrily brushes the tears away from her eyes, "Damn them! Damn all the stupid monsters!" She turns, her vision blurry and one hand buried in Raphael's mane, blindly following the big raptor-wolf through the portal.
As they go through, Myrddin lets out a sigh, and lets himself fall through as well....
Passing through the portal Myrddin indicates is a sudden shock. The transition itself doesn't feel like anything; rather it's what the group finds themselves in....
There is utter silence, and not merely the silence of a still forest. No sound, whatsoever, in a heavy silence that seems to roar and scream in their ears. And they feel themselves drifting, floating, as if in water, except they are completely dry. They feel as if they have no weight as they tumble slowly. And yet there is a feeling of motion, stark movement forward.
There is an utter blackness around them, seemingly surrounding them as they tumble slowly end-over-end. At first glance, it is like a moonless night, with so many glittering stars surrounding them. A fine, gossamer webwork of lines seems to connect many of the visible stars, giving it a lovely appearance of dew-glistening spiderwebs.
Far ahead, they think they can see the billowing dun robes of Myrddin as he precedes them in their headlong barreling through this place. Far, far below -- and just seeing it seems to give direction in this directionless place -- is what looks like the surface of a calm pond of water, vast and immense, upon which the glittering star-and-web-scape is reflected almost perfectly but for the occasional ripple.
Their slow tumbling continues, and, slowly, what was behind them when they entered this place comes into view.
A vast wall, black and gleaming like obsidian crystal, retreats slowly off into the distance; a single pinprick of light, doubtless the portal or door that Myrddin bade them step through. The wall is coated here in there in threads, no, cables of ash-grey silk; and slowly, as they draw even further back from the wall, the three start to see that it is not so much a wall as it is a sphere... and the strange grey silk becomes more and more visible as a cocoon.
Mikal hastily throws her arms about Raphael's neck, suddenly desperate to not lose contact with her pack-brother amidst all this strangeness. She glances around wide-eyed, utterly out of her depth.
Jareth finds himself bemused with the strangeness and wonder of it all. It's like falling into a dream of jewels and, despite the pang of worry tugging at him over Norris, he can't help but lose himself partly in the beauty of it all.
A slight hint of motion draws the eye, and then the three see what must have cocooned the sphere.
Gargantuan in dimensions, it's slow movements nevertheless having their own sort of fell grace, the monstrous spider is adjusting it's position from where it perches atop the sphere. Slender, spindly legs close upon the cocooned sphere possessively from a thorax that seems almost too narrow. The spider's surface seems almost transparent, a sickening milky translucence that reveals faint blue traceries within, hints of unwholesome organs throughout it's body, even more so in the almost obscenely long abdomen.
The spider's almost skeletal head surveys the nightmare darkness, before opening it's mouth in a silent hiss that would surely shake mountains if not worlds; as it does so, as if in a flourish massive wings spread out behind it, glistening and glittering like those of a dragonfly's. It shakes it's head about, droplets of venom flung from it's fangs and cast off into the void, before sinking those horrendous teeth deeply into the obsidian sphere.
It would feel like a nightmare, if it did not feel so real.
In fact, it feels more real than anything they have ever experienced in their lives.
Mikal screams in sudden terror, then buries her face against Raphael's mane -- the spider is abruptly just too much for her! Shaking, she clings to the raptor-wolf, whispering over and over to herself, "Just a nightmare, just a nightmare -- wake up, wake up!"
Jareth reaches out a hand to try and brush Mikal's arm comfortingly. He nearly bites through his own tongue to keep from screaming. The color drains from his face, leaving him a pasty grey as the wonder of the travel is lost in the horror of the spider.
Mikal is shivering as she clings to Raphael, terrifiedly hiding her face from what's behind them.
Mikal screams again, jerking violently away from the faint touch as soft as spiderweb. Her face is tight with fear as she whips out her hunting knife, starting to lash out. Fortunately a combination of not looking and terror does dreadful things to one's aim, and she misses -- then realizes it's Jareth. "Jareth! D-d-don't scare me l-like that!"
Tears start welling up in her eyes, and she sniffles, wiping the tears away with the back of her arm. Her voice is shaky, "A-are we... are we d-d-dead?"
Mikal keeps her other hand tightly tangled in Raphael's mane, desperately clinging to him.
Jareth jerks his hand back, a short proto-scream of a squeak squeezes out of his throat and he laughs hoarsely, "I'll remember that!" He doesn't say 'Do you sleep with that knife?', having enough of his wits about him not to be that stupid. After a deep, shaky breath, he says, "I don't think so... I feel very alive..."
Slowly, the tumbling brings the spider atop is gigantic cocooned prey out of sight, and once again they are facing ahead of them, racing along the faint spidersilk traceries that line this place.
Something is far ahead of them, growing closer and closer as they hurtle at unimaginable speeds through this spiderwebbed void. It appears to be a simple rock formation of some kind. Myrddin's form is soon lost upon it, and it looms large before them. It isn't until something firm yet gentle is slowing them down, bringing them gently to some sort of rest beside Myrddin, that the three see it is a broken, hollowed hulk, the desiccated, empty exoskeleton of one of those spider-wasps, caught amongst the array of web-threads that crisscross this place.
It is immense; even saying that does it a disservice. They stand upon what was once the head of the beast, and even then they can barely see the distant tip of the conical abdomen. The wings have long since decayed, and vast craters and holes in the chitin reveal the cavernous hollows of the thing's interior.
Mikal is carefully studying Raphael's mane as she re-sheathes the knife. She sniffles again, wrapping her arms around the big raptor-wolf again, and smiles faintly when he reassuringly slurps her face. She shudders and looks hastily away again when she realizes what revolting thing it is they stand on.
Myrddin slowly seats himself, regaining his breath. "I... forgive me, please," he says, wearily. "I did not see a better way for us to escape those creatures. And there was no time to warn you...."
Jareth steps close to Mikal and carefully slides an arm around her. She may be the warrior, but she's also very young in some ways. He's shivering like a new-born kid, but he's trying to be reassuring. "Well, it's good not to have khidra trying to eat us, but where in the name of the One are we? And when can you go back after Norris?"
Mikal reaches out with one hand -- the other is still tangled in Raphael's mane -- to grab Jareth's shirt tightly. Her eyes are still widely dilated with fear and fixed on the stranger, as she carefully whispers in an aside to Jareth, "Who is this man? Can we trust him? Is he a monster too?!"
Myrddin takes in a slow breath. "Give me a moment to catch my breath and rejuvenate myself, and I will go immediately." He draws a pale turquoise bottle from his robes, unstoppering it. "As for where we are.... We are within the Dreamtime. Where souls are when they dream, while their bodies are in the Waking."
Mikal shakes her head slowly, and fear makes the repeating motion speed up and become more vehement, "No! Nononono, I've never had d-dreams this horrible before!" Her hands are shaking from tension, and Raphael grunts a little and tucks in against Mikal as his mane gets pulled.
Myrddin pauses, hesitantly, before taking a slow breath. He takes a draught from the turquoise bottle, and says slowly. "That is because... you have always been dreaming. This is as close to waking as you have ever been."
Mikal stares blankly at the man for several heartbeats... then says simply and softly, "You're... mad."
Jareth catches his breath as he finally, finally gets a good read on Myrddin. Most of the time, he doesn't even realize he's doing it. This time, however, he gets a flood. Wrapping both arms around Mikal, he says, "Calmly, calmly little wildcat. He'll help us. And he'll help Norris. We're safe here."
He pauses in taking another draught, looking at Mikal. "I wish I was, m'Lady. That would have made all this much easier to deal with. But, no. I am not the one who is mad." He stands. "But first, I should recover your friend." He tucks away the bottle, and pulls forth a small jade whistle blowing on it shrilly.
Mikal gives Jareth an astonished, open-mouthed look, then adds blankly, "Is everyone but me crazy?" She wraps one arm about Jareth's arm as she says it, though, clinging tightly to him, as if he were an anchor.
Jareth says with a little smirk, "You know I'm not mad, Mikal. A little eccentric, maybe, but I'm as sane as you are."
Myrddin looks out at the glittering heavens, as if awaiting something. "You have been dreaming, for your entire lives. Occasionally, the body in the Waking rouses a little, and the connection to the Dreamtime is momentarily lost. This is what happened to your friend, but I expect he will be present again shortly. But I would not wish to leave you on your own here....."
Mikal's brow furrows as she considers that statement... then she looks a bit more worried, glancing around from within the relatively safety of Jareth's arms and Raphael's comforting weight leaning against her thigh. Maybe they're all mad...? Terrifying thought. Her lips are quivering as she whispers, "I... I w-w-want to go back to d-dreaming then, please...?"
Myrddin looks gently to Mikal, hesitating a moment. "Let me rescue your friend, m'Lady, and then I will give you and yours the chance to decide.
Mikal stares at the man, shocked for a moment -- then fixates on the one thing she can understand: "I'm not a lady!"
Myrddin blinks. "Ah... of course. m-- uhm. How shall I address you?"
Jareth wraps his arms more tightly around Mikal. He's showing absolutely zero inclination to let her go.
Mikal blinks confusedly at the man, faltering, "I... I'm Mikal! J-just..." She takes a breath, reassured by Jareth's presence, then adds, "Who are you?! Where did you come from? How do we get home?"
He nods quietly. "My name is Myrddin. In past times, before the war which tore the cosmos apart, I have been known as Ambrosius, and Emrys, and Maerlyn. But now I am only humble Myrddin. I am a mortal, who learned the truth of what had happened to the universe while I was dreaming. I came from a place similar to you, a dreamscape of my world. And now I seek to make things right, to heal the cosmos.
"For getting you back... that would be hard. But not impossible. Again, please. Allow me to rescue your friend, and then I will speak more on this and let you decide what you will do.
Mikal stares blankly at the crazy man for several heartbeats... then just nods slowly. She has no idea what to think, but... protect the pack. They need to get Norris back first. She can focus on that. She makes sure her hands are firmly closed on both Raphael and Jareth, so they won't disappear on her. When they're all together again, then they can make a plan.
A bit wildly she wonders -- could she just have hit her head or something? That'd make sense! She must be having a truly horrific dream, after hurting herself somehow! All right, that she can handle; got to keep the pack together and get better and get home. Right -- that she can do.
Myrddin -- Maerlyn -- nods quietly again, and looks around. "As I said, I shall not leave you here alone. The first time I saw the state this portion of the Dreamtime was in, I was much as you were. My companion had to hit me with a fish -- ah, there he is. Virgil! VIRGIL!" He waves. "Here!"
Mikal blinks again -- a fish?! She has the weirdest dreams!
There is a whisper of movement upon the blackness, occulting some of the dewdrop spiderwebs, then a moment later there is a great gust of wind as a massive creature begins to land nearby them. "I heard you, you backwards-living fool. You left the dreamscape so fast I could almost not keep up with you." The voice is rich and sonorous, not at all as booming as she would imagine.
The creature is big, far bigger than a khidra, in fact so large it would have trouble fitting in Mikal's home. In form it is like some of the lizards which scamper around the banks of the river, sleek and sinuous, a rippling hue of azure scales upon it's back, fading to pale blue upon it's belly. It's head is atop a sinuous neck, slightly boned and horned, with whiskers like a catfish's upon the narrow snout, set before a pair of large golden eyes. The tail extends long behind it, and it stands on a pair of strong, sleek hind legs. It's forearms are not unlike those of a person's, resting the large, clawed hands upon it's knees. Almost as an afterthought, she notices the four large, leathery wings which fold against the creature's back as it settles down.
Mikal screams again, jerking back violently and slamming into Jareth -- then remembering herself. Protect the pack! She yanks her bow free and fumbles for an arrow, snarling, "Keep back!"
The creature looks at Mikal, and holds up it's hands. "I have no intent of harming you, mortal, of this I swear to the Light."
Myrddin takes in a sharp breath as Mikal draws and knocks an arrow. "Mikal... Virgil is an ally. Again, I swear he will not harm you.
For the time being, Raphael seems startled as well, though it seems more from Virgil's size rather than any sense of threat from the dragon.
Mikal is faintly reassured by the steady, low growl next to her, and the faint warmth behind her. She may be terrified, but at least she's still with her pack. With a small internal coldness she amends -- most of her pack. She prays silently for Norris to be safe!
Mikal stands very still for a long moment, her arrow point unwavering as her storm-gray eyes flick nervously back and forth between the two me- er, entities. Finally she says, "C-c-c-c-" She stops, swallowing and trying again carefully, "C-can you f-find Norris, monster? Bring him here s-safe and sound?"
Myrddin nods. "I will do so immediately. Ah... please do not kill Virgil while I am away? He is, at the very least, my only means of reaching my current home." He walks to the edge of the petrified spider, looking out at the cocooned obsidian sphere they emerged from, takes a deep breath, and leaps. And within seconds he is far out of sight, speeding towards his destination....
Virgil gives Myrddin a bit of a wry, sour look, and considers, then says, softly and sonorously, "Mikal, it was? Mikal. What would you say is the most vulnerable spot upon me? That with your arrow would do the most grievous harm?"
Mikal sighs softly and her shoulders droop a bit as she exhales. She lowers the bow, although the arrow remains nocked, and watches Myrddin anxiously until she can't see him any more. She sighs again then, leaning against Jareth and feeling unaccountably dizzy for a moment. She blinks, then takes a few deep breaths to pull herself together -- can't be fainting here. A moment later she looks at the strange monster and says simply, "What?"
Virgil says slowly, "I am willing to make myself vulnerable to you in order to earn what trust of yours I may in this time we have together, and to show in part that we are safe here for the time being. Letting you point your bow and arrow at a vulnerable spot for that time was a thought I had to that end."
Mikal blinks at the monster blankly again -- then shakes her head once, and rubs her eyes, murmuring, "Damned weird dream..."
Virgil sighs a little, and starts to shift his position so he is lying down, head upon crossed arms, while still not moving closer to Mikal. "In some ways you are... not dreaming, but unlike that silly old mortal who just flew into the spiderweb again, I do have to admit, that in some ways you are correct."
Mikal relaxes a bit more when the monster lies down, leaning tiredly against Jareth and hoping Norris arrives soon.
When Mikal doesn't seem ready for immediate conversation, Virgil makes a soft rumbling sound, and closes his eyes. Raphael starts to get a little braver, sniffing cautiously at the dragon's whiskers.
There was just a moment of disconnection, of dissociation. Maybe he blinked. But when he next realized it, Norris was alone in the forest, with no sign of Mikal, Jareth, or the raptor-wolf that had attached itself to Mikal. And there was a loud chorus of khidra hunting sounds just to the north-west.
Norris stood there blinking for a good number of seconds, confused, torch in hand. It took the call of the khidra to spur him to action. More than one khidra, and him suddenly, confusingly, alone. "This ain't good." he says to the torch.
The khidra sound spread out to the north-west, west, and south-west. But he also hears the sound of them closing in from the south. He's never heard so many khidra before. THey're not supposed to run in packs!
Norris is frozen in indecision...he would not want to leave his friends prey to the khidra. But continued looking seems to show that they are nowhere about. No, only he is in danger, and with scant few moments to protect himself. He does not have time to wonder after his friends...he must save himself, so he can save them, if needs be.
IN this area, the woods are thick with growth, and lots of large, old-growth trees. The chasm is about a hundred yards to the north, and the village... well, quite a long ways to the east.
Norris first puts out the torch. it will do him no help now...he considered for a brief second starting a fire, but that's an uncontrolled weapon that could do lasting damage to himself and others. He considers climbing a tree, but the khidra will smell him up there as easily as anywhere else...and they might wait him out. And who could rescue him from a pack of the beasts? So, instead, he hoofs it to the one place that khidra can't follow him...the side of a cliff. He's had a lot of practice climbing, and bets that he can easily escape that way...maybe even climb all the way down to the bottom. He runs tirelessly, his long legs an advantage in an escape.
It's as he's approaching the chasm to the north, that he catches sudden sight of a man in dun robes, possibly the one who had been shouting for help, standing there and looking around nervously. And at about the same time he spots the khidra -- five of them! -- closing in rapidly from the west.
Norris doesn't hesitate...without slowing, he bears down on the man, preparing to sweep him up into his powerful arms...
What actually happens is that he stumbles on a rock, and goes careening into the man, knocking him over. THUD.
Myrddin goes "OOOF!" and a moment later, slowly regaining his breath and focus. "You... you must be... Norris, aye?"
Norris recovers, picking himself up and pulling his maul from it's sheath. Facing the approaching khidra bravely. "M' friends call me that. Khidra be calling me Meal number one, tho...less we can get outta here. Y'all any good at climbing?" he queries, trying not to flush at his clumsiness.
The old man pulls himself up, wincing a little as he straightens his back. "I'm afraid not... but I can bring you to Mikal and her two companions. You'll just need to keep the khidra off for a short bit.
Norris blinks at the man. Mikal, Raph and Jareth are safe? Thank the One! "Yassir. That ah kin be doin." he assures, swinging his hammer in a wide ark, his face like stone, daring the monsters to charge into his deadly bludgeon.
The man nods, holding up his hands as he faces the chasm, softly chanting: "Anail nathrach, ortha bhais is beatha, do cheal deanaimh...."
Meanwhile, the khidra are in sight, and one of them, particularly brave, with one of MIkal's arrows in it's shoulder, seems particularly brave, snarling as it start to lope slowly around Norris. THis one isn't just hungry; it's mad.
Norris smiles almost friendly-like at the beast, steady in his swings...he hears the man behind him, and doesn't really know what he's doing that might save them from a horde of khidra...but he will happily face off against this one, knowing at least that his friends are safe. "Yew got an arrow in your shoulder, fella...that's the stinger of mah friend. If'n yew think that hurts, then come inta the embrace of mah hammer, fella...see if'n we cant take that pain away permanently." he tells the beast. Making his stand.
The khidra seems to scream-howl at Norris's challenge, and leaps forward at him.
Norris stands firm, not letting the snarling goad him to attack...he is the mighty tree, and he will not break. And when the beast leaps, he brings his mighty hammer to bear, meeting his assailant weapon-first...
Norris's hammer hits solidly upon the khidra's shoulder, and it spins from the impact. The strike opened the shoulder injury, wounding the creature even more and staggering it in it's steps, breaking it's charge. It wobbles, as if trying to focus on Norris.
At that moment, the old man says. "It is open! Come, hurry, take hold of me!"
Norris thought he might feel satisfied at wounding the beast...for some strange reason, he does not. But when the man calls he brings his hammer to a halt, giving his trust to the man that saved his friends...latching a beefy hamhock of a hand onto the man's.
A moment later the old man simply pushes himself forward out into the chasm... but even as he passes the edge of the cliff everything for Norris changes....
Norris tumbles into nothingness with the man as his friends did, looking bemusedly at the utter alienness of what now surrounds them...he has nothing to say to the awesomeness, only struggling not to flail as he moves through this strange world like a leaf on the wind. Then finally he does speak.
"Now that there's a big guldang spider."
Myrddin says, perhaps unhelpfully, "Biggest in the cosmos. Hold on, we're about to 'land.'
As with Mikal, Jareth, and Raphael, some gentle force slows their headlong momentum, and they slow to a stop enough to put feet on solid ground, or at least the solid, titanic petrified remains of the spider-wasp. Myrddin looks exhausted, now, and almost collapses as he sits down. But Norris appears unharmed.
For his part, he sees Jareth, Mikal, and Raphael... and a big, blue creature that looks like a sinuous whiskered lizard with four wings. It opens one huge golden eye to peer at the arrivals, then opens both almost luminous eyes.
Mikal is leaning tiredly against Jareth, with Raphael seated and leaning against her thigh. At sight of Norris, the girl's anxious face lightens, "Norris, you made it!" She darts over for a quick hug, then looks up at him worried, "Are you all right?"
"Yassir. Holdin on." Norris agrees. He starts to wonder if he's actually asleep. it would explain a lot. People disappear all the time in dreams, and he's definitely seen weirder things than giant spiders. He smiles at his friends, looking relieved. And then he sees the lizard. He considers the beast for a moment, and then looks at his friends. After he appreciatively hugs Mikal back "M' all right." He looks over her shoulder. "Ahm gonna go out onna limb and save mahself the embarassment from last time ah saw a big guldang monster: e's not sommat ah should hit with m' hammer?"
Mikal glances dubiously at the blue monster, "I... don't think so? I mean, he's the only monster I know that talks, you know?" She hesitates, then adds in some embarrassment, "I -- I'm sorry, N-n-norris -- I just don't know! I -- I've never seen anything like him -- it? -before!"
Mikal blinks again, looking startledly up at Norris, "Wait... you saw more monsters?! Where?"
Norris tilts his head at Mikal. "Raph talks t' yew, don't he? Given that, a feller what can speak in language don't seem that much stranger. An I was referring to th' time ah tried t' protect yew from your brother, remember?" He looks at the reclining Raph. "Sorry bout that again, furry fella."
Mikal says indignantly, "Raphael is not a monster!"
The blue dragon looks only slightly miffed. And Myrddin actually chuckles a little, though he sounds exhausted. "No... no, Virgil is an Ophidim, Not what most people would call a monster." Virgil keeps himself laying down, though he shifts his position a little.
Norris nods agreeably. "He is scary through...at least as scary as a gigantic spider, or a big lizard thing. At's what ah meant."
Virgil says slowly, a touch incredulously. "'Big... lizard... thing?'"
Norris looks apologetic. "Sorreh, Mr. Oh-phee-dim. Didn't mean nothin. Ahm always gettin off on the wrong foot with strange lookin people like you. Ask Mikal's brother bout that. Took him a while to even let me touch him, after bein all menacing with m' hammer."
Mikal relaxes a bit as she realizes when it is Norris is talking about, and adds, "But never mind that now." She grabs Norris' hand, then reaches for Jareth too, glancing down to reassure herself Raphael is close -- then she takes a deep breath and says firmly (her voice only shaking slightly), "We w-w-would like t-to go home now, please."
Myrddin makes a quiet sound, and pulls himself up to sit up. "If you can give me a few moments to regain my strength, Mikal, and to explain what it is that you see before you...?"
Mikal blinks uncertainly, then gives a short, quick nod, "We can wait for you to be strong again, I guess. Um..." she looks confused, "Explain what what?"
Raphael snorts faintly, with a long-suffering look. Mikal giggles faintly... then blinks as she can't seem to stop giggling. She sits down abruptly, the laughter turning into sobbing tears as the pent-up emotions come pouring unrestrainedly out. Raphael sighs softly and settles next to her, his big head in her lap, and she wraps her arms around his neck and rests her cheek against him as she cries.
Myrddin nods, and says slowly. "We are in the Dreamtime. It is the place where souls are when they dream, while the body in the Waking slumbers... or is unconscious. This exact region is the Mirror." He gestures a touch wearily in the direction of the spider-mounted, cocooned obsidian sphere. That... spider-wasp... is an Aqal. They exist in the Waking, and it is... currently attempting to devour your Waking world.
"What you just escaped from is the dreamscape of your world. You, all of you, have been unconscious and collectively dreaming while the Aqal has been...." He bites his lip, one part gathering his strength, one part gathering his thoughts.
Myrddin stops as Mikal cries, and he sighs softly. "I am sorry," he says quietly. "If there was some way I could have prepared you for this...." He breaks off, and sits there quietly with his head bowed. Virgil for his part remains somewhat more alert, quietly watching.
Norris moves to support his friends, but he's listening the whole time. "An ah thought khidra was bad. Never knew sommat that could devour a whole world." he murmurs, clumsily patting Mikal's shoulder.
Mikal's tears eventually run out, and she wipes her eyes on her sleeve with a sigh, feeling weirdly numb. Still, she's here with her pack... it could be worse. She forces a small, still somewhat teary smile for her companions, whispering in embarrassment, "S-s-sorry... I'm b-better n-now."
Myrddin shakes his head. "No, Mikal. You've nothing to be sorry for. This is not normal, not by any stretch of the imaginations of any mortal."
Norris doesn't look like he understands, but he's patient, and hovers over Mikal as she pulls herself together. "Aint no shame in cryin, Mikal. This aint exactly a normal day inna village." he assures her.
Mikal nods tiredly at that, her gaze flicking around once before she decides it's safer not to look too closely at where they are. She closes one small hand over Norris' much bigger fingers, and looks back at Myrddin. "Um... I'm s-sorry -- you w-were saying?"
Myrddin blinks, as if he'd lost his train of thought. "Oh. Again, do not apologize, Mikal." He gestures to the spider-wasp, far off in the distance. "Before the war, this would not have happened, and the Aqal would have at best been boogeymen, fictional or even at best mythic." He sighs. "Instead.... They are devouring the surviving worlds-shards of the Waking. They feed on the matter in the Waking, you see. And then, like wasps, they lay their eggs...." he breaks off, shaking his head. "They are like locusts, devouring everything in their path." He looks to the four. "Your world is under... 'attack' for want of a better term. By an Aqal spider-wasp. But that is partly why you were in your world-shard's dreamscape."
Mikal blinks blankly at the man -- this is so far beyond her comprehension that she has no words for it.
Norris considers Myrddin's words. "Ah spose a spider-wasp what eats worlds dun have no natural enemies, hey?" he queries, seeming to take what he's saying in stride. If he's dreaming, he may as well play along...and if he's not, asking questions is all the more important.
Myrddin shakes his head to Norris. "No. None we have seen. And so they have multiplied beyond measure."
Myrddin looks between the four -- even Raphael, who looks back at him without comment -- then he nods slowly. "Right. I apologize, my friends. Let me see if I can explain it... better--"
Virgil interrupts gently. "You have been dreaming," he says softly, in a sonorous baritone. "You have been dreaming all your lives. Your lives are a collective dream. That is why you are in the Dreamtime now. As to your Waking forms, we know nothing except that one of those spider-wasps is devouring your world. I am sorry if I am being brusque."
Mikal blinks at the blue monster, then nods slowly. That she can understand, although she's getting a sinking feeling inside. "So... it was all... fake? Daddy? The village? The monsters? None of it was real?"
Virgil's words make Norris's brow crease...this is a little hard to understand, from what little logic he can muster. "Wait a minute, here. If we's dreamin when we's awake...then what's goin on when we fall asleep durin a dream? We wake up? or is there a second dream place for dreaming people?"
Mikal blinks, looking down suddenly at herself. She studies her clothes, runs her fingers through Rapahel's mane, reaches for an arrow and gently tests the tip. It's sharp. She gives the two entities a suspicious look, "And if before was all a dream... why are we still dressed like then?"
Virgil straightens a little, lifting himself up on his forearms. "'Fake?' In some ways they were very much real. You live, do you not? You have memories of them? You remember your father, you remember fighting the monsters. The Dreamtime is Dream, but that does not mean that what happens here has no import or is 'fake.'
"You are who you are because of your experiences in your dreamscape. Your soul has this mask that it is wearing, this self-image, of who you are." He cocks his head at Mikal. "A forester of some sort, yes? A forester named Mikal -- that is who you are. It is your identity and it will stay with you."
Virgil looks to Norris. "You were, most likely and quite literally, dreaming that you were dreaming. I apologize if that sounds overly simplistic."
Mikal looks confused for a moment... then simply shakes her head, "Um. I don't understand, but I guess it d-doesn't matter that I get it. So... when do we go home, please?"
Norris nudges Mikal. "Not t' belabor th' obvious, Mikal...but mebbe home aint th' best place to go what with it bein eaten by a wasp-thing."
Mikal blinks again, then gives Norris a huge-eyed look, "But... but what about home? Is it getting eaten too? We can't just... abandon our families, can we?"
Myrddin asks gently, "Are you sure you want to go home? Back to the dream? Mikal... I know it's scary out here in the Mirror of the Dreamtime... but not all of it is like this... this bleak landscape. There are people fighting the Aqal, fighting the chaos." He takes in a slow breath. "I... cannot promise victory against the Aqal. Few would. But your world is being devoured by a spider-wasp in the Waking. When the Waking world goes, so too does it's reflection in the Dreamtime...."
Norris shakes his head. "Not sayin that, atall. But seeing this big monster, knowin what we knowin, goin back int' the fire seems like a good way to get burned, hey? We gots folks here that says somaat bad is happening...I spect we need to hear all they gots ta say onna subject."
Virigl is looking carefully at Myrddin, who seems to collapse in himself. "I will abide by your wishes," he says, "if you wish to return. I shall not pressure you or force you. Others have done that in the past, and... they are partly responsible for what has become of us. So I shall not do that to you. As I said... I will abide by your wishes."
Mikal shivers, her fingers tightening around Norris' fingers as she stares up at him. Her face is pale and a bit hopeless... then she nods once, abruptly dropping her gaze, "I -- all right." She seems almost to huddle between the two larger boys, peering out at the other two entities like a frightened kit.
Myrddin looks up curiously at Mikal, then nods, soberly. "Let me take you--"
Virgil interrupts amusedly, "'Me?'"
Myrddin looks like he's considering piking Virgil. "Let Virgil take us to a place where you are not faced with this horror. You may rest there, and take in all that you have heard, and hear more from others better able to speak on these things. My days as an advisor ended badly, and I lost that gift long ago. But there are others who may help. And I swear to you, upon my name, whenever you wish, for whatever reason... I will bring you back to your dreamscape."
Norris embraces his companions in his large arms as he looks at Virgil and Myrddin. "beggin yer pardon, sirs...but we's just barely monster hunters as it tis. We's not tryin t' be ungrateful for savin us from rampaging khidra...but nothing we ever seen or done ever prepared us for doin battle with sommat like that." He indicates the wasp with a jut of his chin. "Can't help but wonder what t' four of us kin to in a war lak you describe. But ahm willing t' listen, if'n you're willing to talk."
Myrddin says, a little wryly, "We are mortals, and mortals have a... a power, and a strength, in the Dreamtime that those native to this place do not have."
Mikal leans back against Norris when he puts his arms about her, making a small sound much like a tired and worried child finally relieved. At Myrddin's words she glances uncertainly up at her two taller packmates, then whispers to Raphael, [Does he smell dependable, Raph? Should I tell the others to trust him or not?]
Raphael's broad nose quivers; Raph doesn't fear Myrddin, or Ambrosius, or Maerlyn or whatever his name is or was. He doesn't seem to be hiding anything, but that's about as far as his nose goes.
Norris looks a little doubtful, but does not gainsay the man, looking instead to his companions...this has been a strange day, but with their assent, he will go with the man and his Ophidim companion. It seems a better idea than to simply try to pretend that none of this ever happened.
Mikal nods, relieved, [Thanks, Raphael. That helps.] She remains silent, though; Norris has spoken her fears and worries better than she can right now... and she feels a bit safer here with her pack. As long as the strange entities don't try to separate them, she thinks she can handle this -- whatever 'this' turns out to be.
While Myddirn is talking, Virgil takes the opportunity to unconcernedly tilt his head, reach up one hand, and scratch vigorously behind one horn.
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