deercountry | [001] time has a funny kind of violence

Who: Orpheus

themuseabandonsyou
What: Arrival, acclimation, acceptance
When: September 1st
Where: The beach, Cellar Door

Content Warnings: suicidal imagery,

In another world, in another time and place, Orpheus plunges an antler - the last physical remnant of Deerington that came with him when he returned home - into his chest with shaking hands, and the world goes dark.

He finds himself floating in the darkness of some great and cold and foreign sea, the current too strong to resist. Somehow, though, the lack of light and the freezing temperatures and the pressure of the water all around him don't seem as immediately dangerous as they should. Somehow, the body he's in now is perfect for it, all flowing lines and long tentacles. It should be horrifying. It is kind of horrifying, if he thinks aboout it too hard, but there's an odd sort of peace to it, especially as he lets the tide sweep him inexorably wherever it's going, giving him time to reflect.

He thinks about arriving back home, walking out of the fog that surrounded Deerington and arriving where he fell asleep, and immediately turning around and heading straight back for the railway town. About Mister Hermes waiting for him with some small amount of surprise but great relief that he was back so soon after he'd run away in the first place. About telling him everything - about Deerington, the people he'd met there, the visions he'd seen, and his decision to come back home rather than keep running away from everyone who might want to help and support him. He thinks about how for a while it had seemed like it might be alright, and that he'd renew his search for a way back into the Underworld with support from those around him this time.

Of course, it couldn't stay that way. Slowly, steadily, things had started to feel... wrong, somehow. Off-kilter. Over time he began to feel less and less like he belonged anywhere, not because of anyone shunning him or anything like that, but in the sense of feeling connected to the world itself. It was hard to describe, but when he called on Hermes again to ask him about it, he got his answer.

You see, Hermes is the god of between-places - of travel, transit, of being neither here nor there. And that's where Orpheus was, caught between where he came from and where he was going. And the only solution, he'd said, was to finally go, to get to his destination, wherever that may be. And as much as Orpheus wanted to protest, he knew Hermes was right. So he said his tearful goodbyes, as best he could with his very self starting to slip sideways out of reality, and took the plunge.

I. it can't leave you the way it finds you

And now he's here, washing up on the beach. The transformation back into his old shape is awkward to say the least, but he manages it, crawling out of the ocean hand over hand and gasping for air as his lungs regrow. Once he's free of the waves, he collapses, just lying there for a moment in the sand and taking in the new and foreign sky above him. He feels... less bereft, than he might have expected? That's not saying much - being here is essentially accepting that his search for Eurydice is over, and he's still not sure that's sunk in all the way yet, but there's an odd feeling of belonging. A sense of relief, the loss of an ache that he'd felt so acutely that there had been no other way but to come here. It's strange, and he doesn't quite know what it means or how to deal with it, so he just... doesn't. He's cold and wet and covered in sand, but right now all he really has the capacity to do is lie there and stare at the sky.II. good grief; I've heard people say it

long

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Orpheus leaves Fern to his own investigation this time, hanging back and catching the eye of another passing Trenchie headed the opposite direction in order to flag them down while the other boy makes his inquiries. They have another brief conversation, before saying their polite goodbyes and leaving Orpheus to wait for Fern to come back.

"Did you find anything?" Orpheus asks, leaning against a wall off to the side of the thoroughfare so as not to be in the way of all the foot traffic as they talk.

Fern is far from the best investigator out there, but thankfully this is a fairly straightforward task. He interrogates the Trenchie, asking about Doug, or a guy named the Dog Keeper, or a guy who has an affinity for dogs - anyone like that who might be living in or around the city.

When he gets his answer he heads back to Orpheus excitedly, happy to have found something out. "Yeah! There's a guy way out by something outside the city called the Waystation. It's a big windmill, and the guy there is known for having a bunch of dogs that go out and help people. Sounds like him if you ask me."

Orpheus nods, beaming.

"Right! The person I talked to said he's been around as long as anyone can remember? So I think you might've been right about it being a really long time since the dream came apart."

And there'll be time to think about the implications of that later, because right now Orpheus is too relieved to hear there's yet another familiar and friendly face around.

"I'm glad he made it. Should we go look for him now, do you think?"

It's a huge relief, though it does raise the question of whether the Dog Keeper is still a human, or now something else. If he's been living here for that long, it sounds like he's something more than human....

Who knows. Fern taps his chin thoughtfully. "Would you be up for it? It might not be the safest place to check out."

"Oh, that's a good point." Orpheus frowns a little, thinking about that. "Vira-Lorr was telling me that there's apparently a lot of monsters that live on the fringes of this city? I don't know. Maybe it wouldn't be a problem? But I don't want to slow you down having to protect me."

As curious as he is, he figures it's probably a good idea to at least wait until he's found somewhere safe to put one of his instruments, so he's not juggling his bag and guitar and lyre all at once.

"I'd still like to go see him! But it might be a good idea to prepare a little first, at least for me." He's pretty confident Fern would be safe out there, with his skills as a knight, but after having washed up on shore and regrown all the bones in his body less than two hours ago Orpheus is much less sure of himself.

Fern nods along at this. He's been to the edges of the city, seen the monsters for himself, and while he's eager to fight them, he also doesn't want to drag Orpheus into a situation where he could get killed.

"Sure dude. I got no problem protecting you, but some preparation's not a bad idea," he agrees. That gives them time to make sure he's ready to walk into an area where they're likely to get attacked. "You gonna need any help with that? Or do you wanna let me know when you're ready to go - a couple days or weeks or whatev - and we can head out?"

"That sounds like a good idea," says Orpheus, nodding as he glances around at the city around them. There's so much here that he has to get acquainted with - essentially starting his life all over again, save for the friends who've come along with him. As it is, now is probably not the best time to go running off into the wilds without any idea of what's going on.

He frowns a little, thinking about what to do next. It's a little overwhelming, trying to work out what comes in which order.

"I should probably find a place to stay, first?" he says, thinking out loud more than anything else. "And then maybe gather supplies, depending on how far away the Waystation is, or if there's anything that helps keep the monsters away. Oh, but that probably means finding a job, before all of that..."

Fern notices the shift on Orpheus's face, and yep, it sounds like they shouldn't go running off into the wilderness right away. As fun as that would be it's just asking for trouble, and Orpheus isn't much of a fighter. This is safer.

"Maybe take it one thing at a time, dude. It's pretty easy to get settled here, stuff's a lot less formal compared to Deerington," he says, trying to be helpful. "They trade instead of using money, so if you got something worth trading like shiny rocks and plants it's easy to get set up. Lemmie know once you do, okay?"

"Oh, do they? That sounds..." Wait, would that make things easier or harder? Coming from a small town where supply lines were an issue, Orpheus is pretty used to the idea of trading in goods or favors on those occasions where it was just easier than money, but there were some times where it did make things a bit more convenient. He'll have to think about that, he guesses.

Either way, he shakes his head and shrugs. "Well, I'm pretty good with plants, at least? So I should be able to figure something out. And I'll be sure to tell you once I think I'm ready. We've got, um. Those gemstones, right? That work like the Fluids? So I can contact you even if I don't know where to find you right away."

Fern isn't too concerned about Orpheus. He can probably handle himself, and settling in here isn't all that different from settling into Deerington. A bit more dangerous, sure, and a lot bigger, but the residents here are generally easier to get along with.

"Yup!" Fern says, nodding. "The Omnis basically work the same way, so just contact my inbox."

Nodding, Orpheus flicks through the Omni's menus to try to familiarize himself with it before looking back up at Fern.

"Right! I guess I'll go see about getting things in order here? Unless there's anything else you want to do, or if you want to come with me. I think I should be fine on my own, though, if you have other things to do."

Monsters aside, the city itself seems pretty safe, and Orpheus is confident he'll be able to navigate through getting himself settled just fine.

[001] time has a funny kind of violence

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