Fantasy Shadows of the Past (Closed - Inactive)

[Neon Valkyrie]

It's hard to tell which of the barrage of sensations that woke her registered first. Hard to tell which ones mingled with her dream, and which ones pulled her from them. Had the woman in her dream actually been speaking to her with the deep, throaty caw of a raven? Had the woman started spitting at her as she spoke, or was it just the condensation forming on her cheeks from the fog? She'd forgotten to put her uniform through the dryer ... no, wait, she was soaked. Why was she soaked? One eye peeled open, followed moments later by it's sibling. Her vision was half-covered by a curtain of corn silk-blonde hair. It had just become saturated enough to start clinging to her face. She was sore from head to toe, like if workouts could give you a hangover. Even her hair hurt. Why was she soaked? She lifted her leaden arms and planted her hands on either side of her, pushing herself up with great effort, and drawing her knees up under her with a groan. With her head lulled down, her ears ringing, she took a moment to enjoy the feeling of the grass between her fingers.

Forcing her eyes open, she leaned up, sitting back on her feet as she waved her hands out to either side, a precaution as her equilibrium re-calibrated. A light shake of her head proved to be a horrible idea, and brought her right back down onto the grass, the world spinning. Issuing another groan, she looked down at her body. Why was she soaked?! She was wearing some kind of uniform, rough, faded blue jeans and a black t-shirt, a bright blue vest pulled over top. On the right breast of the azure garment was a flimsy plastic tag that read 'Sophie.' Well, really it read 'Welcome to Walmart! My name is ... SOPHIE, How can I help you?' but most of that seemed incredibly unimportant. This time pushing herself up into a sitting position, she inspected the tag with fascinated anxiety ... was SHE Sophie? That didn't seem right ... or did it? Taking a few calm breaths, waiting for her ears to decide which was was down, Apparently-Sophie pushed herself up to one knee, paused, then finished climbing to her feet. This time she stayed there, peering at the ground for long second for fear of upsetting the delicate balance she'd achieved.

It was dark out ... not night dark, but ... stormy evening dark. It didn't matter much anyway, thick fog had poured into the area, obscuring all but what lay within a dozen or so feet. As to what she actually could see; Gnarled trees, glistening with dew and sap, roiling up from the ground like every inch had been painful. Branches all stretched together like fingers reaching for comfort, or victims, and tapped gently together in a wave of light clacking at the slightest breeze. Was this ... was this where she was supposed to be. She'd inadvertently begun to step backward, away from ... from all of this, from everything, when her foot struck something. Whirling around, she looked down to see a motionless form at her feet.

It was almost a relief, seeing the body sprawled there, face down as she had been. Maybe they knew something, maybe they had a phone. Excited, Sophie reached down and pulled them onto their back, intent on waking them promptly. Her smile lingered for a few moments while she scanned the corpse's face, its gaunt, rotten cheeks, part of which still lay in the grass. It's gaping maw, it's pitted eyes. The smell made her stomach lurch, and combined with the shriek that tore past her lips, she almost added her own lunch to the disgusting mess. Backpedalling frantically, she tripped over something else, something that moved when she landed across it, something alive. Her hand clapped over her mouth as she met ( SandsOfElsweyr ) 's stare dead on, swallowing the bile that had risen into her throat.

 

[SandsOfElsweyr]

Seeing as how the woman was right in front of the mans face, She could make out his features quite clearly. He had sharp black eyes that seemed like they were staring at you, Yet not at you, It seemed like his gaze was looking at something.. Deeper. His hair was also black; The hair on his head was of medium length, It was scruffy and messy, But then again, how could it not in this situation? His face was surprisingly clean, No freckles or anything of the sort, Except a large scar that stretched from a inch to the right of his nose to an an an inch above the right side of his right eye, Just narrowly avoiding said eye.

He spoke up in a deep, Rugged voice, Not moving an inch. "Hey, Watch your step. And here's a tip. Don't. Scream; There's something out there in the forest, And unless you want to attract it, I suggest you stay quiet."

 

[Neon Valkyrie]

Sophie froze. She was too scared to apologize. She'd never seen a dead body before ... right? She certainly didn't remember seeing one before, and now she'd outright touched one. A shudder ran through her as she recalled the hollow sockets staring up at her. A quiet, gravelly scolding brought her back into the moment, and she peered into the deep, black pools with irritation growing in her stare. This was kind of a lot to deal with.

"Look," she whispered harshly, her own voice husky, tired. "I don't know where the fuck we are, or what the fuck is going on, and I don't know if you know this, but there's a dead fucking body next to you ..." He'd warned her that something was watching, that something was out there, but it wasn't until she heard a raspy hiss that she thought to stop talking. A whimper escaped her nostrils as her wide eyes scanned the fog. Was it getting thicker? Moving next to the man subconsciously, she glanced at him briefly before continuing to scan the fog. Leaning in, she whispered as quietly as she could. "Wh-where is it? Can you see it?"

Shapes seemed to sway and lurch just beyond the fog, the tree tapping furiously as a wind blew the fog up, reducing vision further. With her hands now clamped over her mouth, Sophie took a step backward, crouching low to the ground. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She froze. Another hiss sounded. Much closer this time.

 

[SandsOfElsweyr]

The man squinted and leaned in, Then looked around his field of vision, Then turned and repeated the process. It seemed he was looking for something specific; But couldn't find it, He would look at many figures which looked somewhat similar, But after lingering his gaze at the figures he would seem to pass it off as nothing.

After a while he went back to you and spoke in a whisper. "No, I don't see it, It seems to only show themselves when they want us to see them, I don't know how it sees us when it's not there though, But it does. Don't you feel like something is watching you?"

 

[Neon Valkyrie]

Sophie just stayed there, knelt down, trying not to wet herself. She'd kept an eye on him, the stranger, as he tried to survey the area. He came back after a moment, sounding frustrated behind that cool exterior. His words sparked a crawling sensation that moved down her spine. Even if she hadn't before, she certainly did now. She was working up to an answer when she froze again, her eyes wide. The blood fled from her face as she stared up at the space behind him, her hands falling away from her gaping mouth as she tried to remember how to scream.

The thing was tall, taller than a man, towering over the two crouched figures. It was narrow, skeletal, a gnarled, scared, bark-like skin pulled close over it's ribs and joins and skull. It's extremities were distended, it's legs bearing most of its height, while it's long, spidery arms would have dragged on the ground, but it had them curled up to its chest, its long, dagger-like fingers hanging limp. Its eyes had been gouged, stabbed through with wooden stakes, the ends of which now peered down at them. Rotten teeth were clenched around a third spike, black ichor leaking from the injuries as its fingers began to click gently together. Flakes of its own skin, cracked and calloused, had given way on its scalp, what looked like roots or branches starting to grow up out of its skull in search of light.

One of its long, clawed hands began to stretch toward them.

 

[SandsOfElsweyr]

The man looked at the women's mortified face, He noticed she wasn't looking at him, but the space behind him. He let his reflexes take over, He grabbed his dagger out of wherever he hid it, He didn't even know, He then slashed at the air behind him as he twirled around.

Before he could assess the damage, If there even was any that is; He looked at the creature again, He had to take in the horrific sight again, When he first saw it, When it killed the third person who appeared, He didn't show any signs of fear, Same thing now, But then, He felt the slightest bit of fear for the first time in his life, But now he had gotten over it, He just looked the thing in the "eyes".

 

[Neon Valkyrie]

A light simpering sound escaped from Sophie as she took a shaky step backward. The strange seemed to take the hint, whirling around, already attacking before he'd seen what lay waiting. Outstretched hand met cold steel with a wet, but wooden thunk. The blade was stuck, buried in bark or bone or both. The creature just froze, seemingly confused by the thing now lodged sideways into its hand. Lifting the weapon up and out of the stranger's grip with uncanny strength, it peered down at the dangling man with those cold, blackened stumps where eyes should be.

A groan, like an oak tree bending in a storm, like an old house settling at night, started from the creature, steadily growing in volume until it filled the area like a claxon, deafening. Then it stopped. Sophie grabbed at the strange man, pulling at his shoulder as she peddled backward. More groans sounded all around them, sounded until the sound was all they could hear. Sophie just get yanking the man along, away from the creature, away from his weapon. Losing grip on his arm, she tumbled backward into the dirt.

 

[SandsOfElsweyr]

The man felt genuine fear, He looked the creature in it's eyes and walked backwards, Bumping into the girl then falling down. He himself 'Don't show any signs of fear, It feeds on it.' and eventually calmed down after what felt like an eternity.

He reflexively started to put his arm out to grab his dagger, But stopped. He couldn't just do that, It might threaten him; If the dagger in it's arm didn't do that. Speaking of, He somehow managed to block out the horrific roar.

He just sighed and sat down, He gave up.

 

[Neon Valkyrie]

((Soooo ... what's on your mind?))

 

[SandsOfElsweyr]

((Honestly, Nothing, Just going to see where it goes I guess.))

 

[Neon Valkyrie]

Honestly no clue.)

((Just not feeling it? I'm open to changing stuff.))

 

[SandsOfElsweyr]

((Oh no, I'm loving it. I usually just like to see where things go, You know?))

 

[Neon Valkyrie]

((Oh no, I'm loving it. I usually just like to see where things go, You know?))

((Cool cool, give me some time to work with it then.))

 

[SandsOfElsweyr]

((Alrighty.))