Day 1

[mirror_mod]

The first sign is maybe different for all of you – the hard ground underneath you, the lack of a body next to you, or no blanket to pull over your shoulders when you reach for it. Either way, when you open your eyes you know for certain you aren’t in the castle.

It’s a little too quiet here, except for the sounds of people around you moving about. There is a strange, unreal quality about everything, as if were viewed through the grimy patina of an old piece of film or photograph and half-realized blurs of images and words seems to hang suspended in the air like solid smoke – there but not quite there.

The group seems to be at the edge of a dead forest, the trees dark and twisted and the ground swirling with mist. A path seems to lead into the depths, but the sky that way is cast with dark umber and hanging shadows that don’t seem terribly inviting.

Not far off, however, is a long stone bridge stretching over a chasm of nothingness and leading to what looks like a city. Far beyond the rooftops, there is the briefest glimmer of dazzling light, gone almost as soon as you see it.

((OOC: WAIT FOR SECTIONS PLEASE! Aaaaaand GO!))

WAKING UP | THE CITY

Comments

[thetrudger]

[Geoff's looking around when he notices Arya getting far ahead of everyone. He quickens his pace until he's near enough to bend down near her.]

Careful, my dear. We don't know who or what lives here.

[persequor]

That's what we're trying to find out, isn't it? [ She chews her lower lip. ] This place seems familiar. But I don't know where I've seen it.

[thetrudger]

I suppose so. But we must tread lightly. And stick together.

[Wait.] You recognize it?

[persequor]

Not quite. It just... [ She exhales in frustration. ] I'm sure I've seen someplace like this before.

[ She steps up to the window, cupping her hands around her face to see inside. She gasps. ]

That's my room! And that's my mother! She's in there! Mother! [ She bangs on the glass before scrambling to find a door. ]

[mirror_mod]

[There is an open doorway not far off, but going inside it simply looks like an empty shop. Her mother is not there at all...]

[persequor]

Mo—!

[ She freezes in the doorway, eyes wide.

Empty. It's empty. It's not their room and her mother isn't there.

Arya shakes her head. ]

But I saw her. She was here. I saw her, I did!

[thetrudger]

[He frowns. It had looked like his room. And he hadn't seen anyone.]

Is your mother at Paradisa?

[persequor]

Yes. [ She takes one last glance at the empty shop and goes back outside to look at the window. ] She's there. Look! [ She points. ] You can see her, can't you?

[thetrudger]

[He squints at the window.]

I don't see anyone. I just see my room.

[persequor]

No, it isn't. [ She says it with the surety only children can manage. ] That's our room.

[ She heads back into the shop, hoping something has changed. It hasn't. Biting her lower lip, she slams her foot against a wall. ]

[thetrudger]

[He follows her, watching her with uncertainty.]

...No, that was definitely my room. Perhaps it is magic fooling us.

[persequor]

I hate this place! And I hate magic!

[thetrudger]

[He sighs.] I can understand hating this place. But you must remember that not all magic is bad. [After all, there were people like Martel.]

[persequor]

It's unnatural. And it's not like you can fight it either. It's not fair.