ENDPLOT | BEFORE THE DAWN

[ironwood]

Characters: ALL!
Date: December 1-7, 2014
Location: Under the shell and in the Dreaming
Situation: Malicant’s defeated, but it seems the Foreigners have gotten a little bit stuck ...
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings as needed.

Where are you going?

What did you do?

Can you hear me?

Hello?

At first the Dreaming twists and warps around the Foreigners, radiating with the sort of unheard shriek that causes adults to wake sweating in their beds. The only problem is--they don’t. Something cracks like a thud in the skin and the surroundings of the turtle’s body dissolves, and their environment changes in a heartbeat between blank greyscale and any familiar environment.

Eventually it settles, but something is wrong. Where before the Foreigners had clarity of thought even in the Dreaming while battling Malicant, at first it feels as though their minds are shrouded, groggy with half-sleep. They might find it difficult to realize where they are--that their most familiar environment, surrounding them now, is not because they've been sent home. They’re still Dreaming, and the Dream is subtle, but can be manipulated and can be shared if they remember their comrades strongly enough. More of them converging in one place will help shed that torpor, leaving them to realize what might be happening...

They’re trapped. Every now and then they hear Eva’s voice speaking, and some of them will even see her in person, walking through their Dream with a trail of grey mist in her wake.

Can you hear me?

Follow me.

If you want to go home, follow me.

---

[OOC: If you’re intending to canon update your character (even if they just want to return home to "check in") OR if your character is departing Tu Vishan for good, please use Eva’s subheading! If you’re not going to canon update but your character will still try to follow Eva, she will vanish into grey mist and they’ll be unable to follow.

The rest of the log is general "mingling" while the characters who choose to remain in Keeliai are trapped together in the Dreaming. They can share details of their battles against Malicant, try to brainstorm a way to escape the Dreaming, anything they want. They will be aware of the passage of time, though they won't have any concrete way of knowing how much, only that it seems like it's much longer than it should be.

Please see this OOC post for additional information regarding timing and posting during this log, or questions. Thank you! ]

Comments

[insertdadjoke]

For all that Akito was aware of where he was, Romulus certainly was not. This was his reality for as long as he wanted it to be. It was a simpler time, one where he had his brother and the world wasn't fair but at least it never failed to make sense. Part of him missed it while the rest wanted it to be put to rest.

"The master's estate," he answered. Although he actually did know where they were located, it was not his place to say as such. Any visitors would know where they were, and any trespassers would only know they were there by the tenuous grace of the landlord. The longer he watched the two of them, the more his heart began to ache. It was like... it was like—

"There you are, Romulus," said another voice. Or was it the same? They were certainly very similar, and the man that owned the voice had a face identical to Romulus. He stopped momentarily at seeing Akito and Agito, and then his stride became more purposeful. He stood aside Romulus and placed a protective hand on his brother's shoulder. "Who are these people?"

[akito]

"And where is this 'master's' estate?" Agito growls out, earning a gentle knee to the side for being an asshole because being an asshole won't get them answers. The appearance of this Romulus guy's twin sets them both on edge; metaphorical hackles raised. Agito knocks Akito back down behind him with an elbow, effectively hiding him from view again.

Akito whispers out both a story and a joke, though not necessarily in that order. "Five chocolate bars says his twin is named Remus." Agito, not as well-versed in literature, doesn't get the reference. "And if we're in trouble we, um... Escaped from a captive ship and washed up here, so that's why we don't know where we are."

[insertdadjoke]

"Remus," said Romulus with a look up to his twin. He moved to stand alongside his twin, who kept his hand firm on Romulus' shoulder and instead sat down next to him. Remus wasn't going to go as far as outright blocking Romulus from the teens but he was obviously on guard.

Although Romulus looked rather reluctant to answer, his twin had fewer qualms about the decorum they were supposed to followed. Especially with two strangers that looked as though they were horrifically out of place. "It's in Tuscany," he answered. It wasn't quite right, actually, that wasn't what the area would be called for quite a while and yet neither Romulus or his twin seemed to notice the displacement.

Breathing through his teeth and giving Remus something of a nervous look, Romulus turned back to the two with a furrowed brow. "What is your business here if not with the master?"

[akito]

Akito and Agito don't find anything strange with the answer, and so accept it as it is. Akito manages not to giggle at the confirmation of the other man's name, but does hide a smile in the skin of Agito's neck.

"We ran away," Agito answers easily, both of them aware of how to embellish Akito's planned excuse.

"People were hunting us," Akito adds. "Because we're twins, and have strange colouring, ne?"

Agito shrugs. "Had to jump the ship we snuck on since it got captured. It was fucking shitty."

"Really shitty..." Akito mimics Agito's motions. "People get pretty determined when they want to use you for nefarious purposes." A sigh, because the story is not entirely a lie. Just not related to how they got here.

"Washed up here like, what? A couple days ago?"

"Un, yeah, this is day three of our beach vacation! You caught that crab yesterday, remember?"

[insertdadjoke]

Romulus and Remus shared a look at the story told by the two of them without apparent prompting. There was a small smile on the older brother's face, while the younger seemed less inclined to hide it. They had never met other twins outright before and this was obviously something they were both enjoying.

"What sort of people?" asked Romulus. If there were slavers around, the master wouldn't take kindly to them poaching in his property. Perhaps he could use that to get these two time to escape and give them a head start in getting away...

[akito]

"Killers," they say in unison.

Sensing Akito becoming distressed, Agito holds a hand out casually at his side for his other half to take. Once Akito does, he weaves their fingers together securely.

"We're far enough away now that they can't get to us."