deercountry | It's time to write our own story

[The portal opens near the woods, which is appropriate, given that the scene it's connecting to is a forest as well. As in Trench, it is dark, lit only by the moon.

Well, the moon and the faint glow from the pale figures of women who drift gracefully through the forest and then through the portal. They are silent, their expressions sad, as they dance without ever quite touching the ground. These ghosts will seemingly brighten up when someone living approaches. Young men, in particular, will find themselves eagerly approached. They will surround you, inviting you to dance.

And dance. And dance.

No matter how tired you are, you will be compelled to keep dancing. If night and day were acting normally, the ghosts would stop and disappear come dawn. But there is no sunrise to offer their victims relief.

You may dance until you collapse in exhaustion, lying there to be discovered by a passerby (or not). You may have a heart attack and whoops, you're a squid again for a while!

But there is one other way out. If a friend, or lover, or someone moved by heroic impulse, breaks into the circle of ghosts and steals this dance, the ghosts will move on after half an hour or so. You don't even need to know ballet to compete with these spectral ballerinas! So, do you remember the moves for the Macarena?]

[Flying through the forest, Luz's interested is piqued by the strange, swirling figures she sees in one clearing. Now Luz could regularly see ghosts anyway, but usually they never seemed to be in a cluster, and if there were several they were usually going about their day. Intrigued, Luz lowered down to investigate and found herself among a conclave of ghostly women. They seemed strangely pleased to see her.

Huh. Wasn't expecting that. Something right out of Ahiru's kind of world.

She couldn't help thinking that because of the dancing: Luz would, after all, always associate her housemate friend with ballet, and that seemed to be the dance the ghosts were favoring. Weirdly, Luz found herself compelled to dance with them too. She was reminded of Grom with Amity, and imagined she was wearing that very outfit, and so she was swept into the dance too, admiring the movements and attempting to lead herself].

[It's a time of year when Beasts are even more plentiful and dangerous, apparently. Fakir can believe it - the unending night is unnerving, to say the least. The darkness pulls the mind towards dark thoughts.

But he's a knight. Or, well, he tries to be. And so he goes out and patrols, in case he can protect someone.

Most of the time, the threats in Trench don't look too familiar to him. But tonight he's found one he recognizes right away. The Willis, from Giselle. And it looks like they've already found a target.]

Get away!

[It's not immediately clear just who he's shouting at.]

[Luz could almost hear the sway of the orchestra around her as she imagined she was part of that dance again, and Luz dipped her partner, then sauntered up and sway along with them. For a moment, she could see Amity with her again, the two of them dancing atop Amity's abomination, then the two of them leaping off and Luz catching her.

Luz would have been content reliving that dance all over again, but she suddenly heard a shout, which had her trip over her own feet.

Darn it, she was being so cool for once]!

Wha-?

[The Willis step back, divided. Some of them continue to cluster around Luz, patiently waiting for her. Some of them break off to come surround Fakir. A few simply drift back into the woods, there to wait.

Fakir has drawn his sword, holding it firmly in front of him as he faces the ghosts.]

Get back! There's no one for you here!

[There is a quiet tittering amongst the Willis, like laughing.]

[Luz was nothing if not fully able to spring back up and did so, apparently willing to take her dancing up a notch. While Fakir may have been bravely trying to rouse the girl from her dance compelled stupor, Luz has not yet found herself unwilling to continue.

Now, however, she's moving a little shakily, as if she were starting to come to, and was noticing that the Willis somehow seemed fewer and were less clustered around her now.

She squinted as she danced, as if she were starting to see the cracks in the illusion].

[The Willis, perhaps unsurprisingly, prove to be completely unintimidated by swords. They can apparently choose when to be corporeal and when to be unsubstantial - quite convenient for ghosts. A slash at one of them simply disrupts the air for a moment. Meanwhile, two of them grab onto Fakir's arms, trying to draw him into the dance.

As he attempts to stand firm where he is, Fakir calls out.] Luz! Do you hear me?

[Luz was starting to get into the dance, but her ears perk up. Was someone calling her? It was pretty faint, but she was pretty sure that she heard something. Granted, it was hard to concentrate with the dancing and the pretty ladies and such, but the voice sounded familiar].

F-fakir? Is that you?

[That, at least, is a relief.]

Luz! Yes, it's me.

[He would be fighting his way towards her right now, except that...he doesn't have to fight, really. The ghosts clinging to his arms are pulling him towards the center of the dance anyway. Though he does keep trying to shake them off, slashing ineffectually at them with his sword.]

What are you doing here? What...actually, what am I doing...here?

[Luz is feeling hazy now, like she was only just waking up. She could see there were people dancing all around them, and she knew she needed to be concerned. She just needed some prodding].

You dance too?

The ghosts are doing this. You've got to get away from them.

[As does he, though he's still making no headway there. In fact, he's just found himself participating in a clearly experienced waltz turn with one of them. He dances too indeed.]

Ghosts? These gals, you mean? I just thought they were really good dance partners!

[Does Luz actually dip one of them as she's speaking? Yes she does, an admirable feat even though they're a ghost! Luz is paying attention, but she is also a girl that is steadfast to a fault. This may take a minute or two].

[Luz does have style. Maybe they should ask if she'd like to practice with them some time.

Now, however, is not the time for social plans. It's time for getting out of here.]

They're ghost dancers!

[As the pattern of the dance brings them closer to each other, he reaches out to grab Luz's arm.]

[Luz's eyes seem to clear once he says this, because normally Luz would have immediately known that they were what Fakir said they were.

And now she was starting to wake from their influence. She still was keeping in step, but once she got close to Fakir, she did a quick step and slid closer to his grip].

So. Uh. Let's shimmy on the heck away from them!

[she's gotten used to only having the moon. in fact, for reasons she'd rather not get into, she rather likes it. it reminds her of an ancient song, "Paint it Black" by a group whose name she can't recall.

when the ghosts surround her, it's almost a relief. something strange, something peculiar to occupy her attention for a while.

she's barefoot, but that doesn't prevent her from rising en pointe at the invitation to dance. hers is a solo routine, letting grief and loneliness out and pouring her entire heart into dancing well. at least she can do that much?

she doesn't care how tired she is as time goes on, seeming to last for minutes or for hours. they want her to dance, so she'll dance. she's so pale and her hair is so black, she could almost pass for one of the ghosts, which she finds bitterly funny given her codename back home.

again, it could be minutes or it could be hours, but even if she could free herself from the dancers' thrall, there's a good chance she wouldn't. she's already died and was a ghost herself once, so the company of ghosts doesn't give her a moment's pause.

in the end, she doesn't dance until she dies, but she does dance until she collapses with exhaustion, black hair a stark contrast with overly pale skin and a white slip-dress, black hair matching the dark circles under her eyes, betraying her lack of sleep.

but she'll have to wake eventually? won't she? if some kind person saw fit to rouse her, anyway]

[Forests always tend to harbor secrets. Or, sometimes, ducks who have gotten lost. Fakir often fits the edge of the forest into his patrols, and even more now with the permanent night. There's a lot of darkness to lurk in, around here.

He doesn't encounter the Willis himself tonight (today?). But he does find someone who looks almost as drained as a ghost. He leans over the woman, checking to make sure she's breathing.]

Hey. Wake up.

[His voice isn't loud, but it is insistent.]

[she normally stayed clear of the forests. just because she had the skills to be a Hunter, had she wished to, it didn't mean she wanted to use them. better off that she be a Night Walker, performing, dancing, and soothing frazzled Hunters.

she'd find it ironic that she was as pale as a ghost, given her past. and her breathing was a little shallow, but steady]

...hmm? [she yawned and shifted on the ground until she was sitting up] Oh. Where are the dancers?

[These are good signs. Yawning and sitting up generally indicate someone's not doing too badly, other than exhaustion.

He frowns at the question.] The dancers?

[she's still exhausted and far too pale, which gives her skin a bluish tint, but she's doing her best to try and make herself "presentable" as soon as she can.

unfortunately, it's kind of hard to explain away being passed out in the forest]

Yes, they were right over--[she goes to point to the area the dancers had been, only to see nothing. more than nothing, the grass didn't seem to have been disturbed where they were, only where she was]. They're not there anymore, but it was 'Giselle' they were dancing, I'd swear on my grandmother's grave it was that.

[Giselle? That's troubling. If it's they, and she's been left collapsed on the ground...]

The Willis?

[Fakir frowns once more. Wasn't there some rumor that they had existed back in Gold Crown Town? Haunting an abandoned manor, or something like that. But he's not sure. Maybe Ahiru would know about it.

He has some ideas about how things from their world could be turning up that go beyond the portals he's heard about.]

Edited 2022-04-24 19:11 (UTC)

The...I'm sorry, but I don't know what those are. Are they something from a portal?

[she's heard that many things have slipped in through them. she guesses that it's possible ghosts or spirits, maybe even extra-dimensional beings. but it's impossible to be certain, at least right now.

she felt rather silly to have gotten caught up in something so clearly not normal]

The ghosts from Giselle.

[He sits back on his heels.] It might be a portal. Or it could be something that's already here.

[Brought by someone already here, perhaps.]

Yes. Them.

[she still looks a little shaken, but she's quickly trying to recover her equilibrium, not wanting to seem off-balance by a stranger] Hmm. I'd say that ghosts are impossible, but I know better.

[for example, herself being a ghost for an extended period of time]

I'm not sure what isn't possible here.

[It seems to change every month.

He doesn't sound happy about it. Because, well, he isn't.]

Hmm. At least I got to dance with someone other than me?

[she's trying to put a positive spin on things, she hates being seen as or thought of as being weak more than anything else in the galaxy. and it had been nice.

up until the point where she passed out, at least]

I should introduce myself. I'm Tinya. What's your name?

[Do people start taking things so casually after being here long enough? Or is she just the type who chooses to shrug everything off?

...In any case, he should probably try to be polite.]

I'm Fakir.

Do you live near here? [He's not convinced yet that she should walk very far on her own.]

[compared to the other world where she had been? this is the dream to the nightmare.

and none of it will break her.

and she looks genuinely pleased to hear his name]

Oh! I've heard your name before! Ahiru's friend from the same world.

[and she curtseys]

I live in Cellar Door, in a house I call The Maze.

[This portal opens in the middle of the city. If you look through it, you'll be treated to a delightful Christmas scene, with an enormous, richly decorated tree, lights, and heaps of presents. But the creature that comes through is decidedly less festive. A huge, monstrous rat in incongruously nice renaissance-style clothing is now stalking the alleys of Trench. Looking for...sweets.

Are you carrying candy or pastries? Then you'd best hope you're also ready to defend against a rat with a sword! If left unchecked, the rat king will attack any bakeries or candy stores around. Using the door? Ha! He breaks through the windows, brandishing his sword before grabbing an armful of treats. Can you save the sugarplums? Or get the jump on the rat when he takes a break to eat his stolen goods?]

[This portal opens onto a lakeside at night. A flock of white swans glide across the lake in lovely, perfect formations, as if they're dancing. Except, maybe they are a group of women in white, with feathers in their hair, somehow dancing on top of the water? If you keep watching, the image shifts back and forth, one minute birds, the next humans. Should you call out to them, they'll pause, smile sadly, and then continue with their dance. That's...it, really. But they are very good dancers, and it's a free show.

All that comes through from this portal is perfectly ordinary swan feathers. But hey, maybe if you stay long enough you'll get enough for a pillow.]

[There is a workshop behind this portal, filled with gears and doll parts. A lifelike doll of a girl dances stiffly across the floor. But she, it seems, has no interest in the portal, simply continuing until she slows down and eventually stops, the clockwork driving her having wound down.

But something else does come through. A series of puppets painted like clowns, who somehow are suspended on strings even in Trench, seemingly controlled by some invisible hand far, far above. They don't attack people, not exactly. But they point at Sleepers, surrounding or following them, and accuse them of not playing their proper role in the story. Of being a puppet who does not know their place.

People who are followed by the puppets for enough time will find that they start developing strings as well. Perhaps it starts with your arm, leading it to point at strangers just as the clown puppets do. Perhaps it starts with your head, making you say things you don't mean. If you can't cut all your strings and break free, eventually you will be completely controlled, joining the puppets in their accusations.

Harming the puppets themselves does nothing. To defeat them, you must cut all their strings, which may not be easy to see. Once disconnected, they collapse on the ground, nothing more than painted pieces of wood.]

Edited 2022-04-10 21:21 (UTC)

[This is a cozier scene, opening up several times during the month in different places around Trench. The portal shows the main room of a small, medieval-looking cottage, full of hanging herbs and strange implements. In front of the portal, gazing through with some amusement, is a woman. She has a wild, unkempt look, but doesn't necessarily seem threatening. Should you draw near, she'll offer to tell your fortune.

What the witch tells you may be a hard truth about the present. Your beloved is enamored with another, your sibling is hiding something important. It may be a possible future, you happily married or dying alone. It may be or come to be true, or it may prove to be completely false. If you are rude to her, it's more likely she will tell you something true that you don't want to hear. Should you be polite, it's more likely to be something pleasant, perhaps even a kind lie.

If you are particularly mean or nice, she will also offer you a gift. To those who prove good-hearted, she will offer something with a small, beneficial charm on it. A packet of herbs that, placed under your pillow, will guarantee peaceful and restful sleep. A light shawl that keeps you as warm as a thick woolen coat. A stone that gives off a light like sunshine.

If you've been cruel, well, it certainly seems like she's still giving you something helpful. A nice little bag of lavender to ensure sleep, a charm on a necklace to keep you warm. These things do, indeed, have the promised effect. Just with a catch. You will have a full 8 hours of sleep - full of nonstop nightmares. The charm will keep you warm, but it will also eventually burst into flame, possibly while you're wearing it.

Who said it doesn't pay to be nice?]

[Kokichi doesn't usually put too much stock in the mystical. Not after Angie had her precious Atua trying to guide everyone. Not after Korekiyo had his stupid rituals that were cover-ups for murder. Now he was in a place where the occult was very real, however, and so he'd let his cynicism fall by the wayside. Just a tad. That wasn't to say he'd let go of all of his snap judgements, not at all, he was still quite paranoid, as distrustful as ever, but...he was making an effort to be a better person.

It was out on a walk one day, passing by a building, that he saw it. A portal. This time, it wasn't a scene of the Gifted Inmates Academy, it was of an unfamiliar place with an elderly woman with wild hair. Kokichi paused, and the woman offered him a smile.

"Hello there, young man." She spoke, in a heavily-accented voice that was gentle from age. "Would you like to have your fortune told?"

Kokichi tilted his head, humming.]

I, uh, couldn't really give you anything in exchange. Anything worth anything, at least. I've got shiny rocks. But I'm saving up stuff for a project. Sorry, um, Miss.

[The old woman chuckled. "No. It's fine. I do not ask anything in exchange. I would just like to know your name."]

...Kokichi. Kokichi Oma.

[ "Kokichi. You must have good fortune already. Your name means 'little luck', did you know?"

Kokichi chuckled weakly.]

You'd be surprised.

[The woman had shut her eyes, that small smile still on her face. "You are someone not at ease with himself. I see. You fear being known because it is a mortifying ordeal to you. If people know me, they know the bad parts. I do not know myself. Is that something you think often?"

Kokichi hesitated for a moment.]

...Yes.

[The woman slowly nodded. "But. The future holds much hope for you, Kokichi. If you persist in this kindness, you will one day know how to accept yourself. And others will accept you. You will no longer have to fear being alone. Perhaps, even...someone you adore will return to you. Kindness is often returned in kind, Kokichi. You've been a bit of an abrasive person in the past, so I would hope you would know the opposite." Her tone ebbed with amusement, even if guilt flickered across Kokichi's face for a brief moment.

All of that were things he'd like to believe, but reality usually wasn't so kind. Still, she seemed to almost know him better than he knew himself. He paused for a moment, fishing some of the shiny rocks out of one of his pockets.]

Here. I don't like owing people for things they do for me, so...

[The old woman got up, hobbling towards the edge of the portal. She looked down at the rocks, and gently replied "Keep them." Kokichi put them away, only to be met with the woman holding out another item.

A small, elegantly designed music box.

"Here. For whenever your anxiety is at its peak. Wind this up, and it will play a melody - one from the heart that soothes you."

Kokichi stared down at the music box, then at the old woman with a questioning eyebrow raise, before taking it into his hands carefully. Normally there'd probably be precautions about taking things from strangers, but--

"If you are fearful, try it tonight. You'll have good rest. I promise."]

Okay. Um. Thank you.

["Just remember to be kind, Kokichi. Change isn't your enemy."

Kokichi nodded slowly, before reaching up to tip his hat. The old woman gave him a small wave goodbye, as he began to stroll off.

What a weird encounter...still, it could be useful...]

Edited 2022-04-13 11:30 (UTC)

[Fakir has, at this point, seen a number of the beings that came through the portals. But he hadn't yet seen one of the open portals themselves. He doesn't hear the end of the exchange between the older boy and the woman in the portal, but he sees her offer the gift.

It seems like a friendly exchange. Still, as he draws nearer, Fakir is compelled to be the skeptic.]

Is that safe?

[Ah. Another boy...one younger than him. He holds the gift close as he pauses. The portal behind him seems to close, and Kokichi shrugs.]

I don't know. I'd like to assume so. Could be worth a shot?

[Kokichi, too, is distrustful by nature. That's why he doesn't blame the other boy for being a skeptic. It's something worth being skeptical about, but he's usually good at reading intent behind expressions. The older woman didn't harbor any malice, to his knowledge...as long as he was right.]

[Fakir glances at the portal as it closes and fades from view. There's nothing overtly ominous about what little he sees of the woman or her house. And, of course, there's nothing overtly ominous about the gracefully wrought box in the older boy's hand. He notes the winding mechanism - a music box, then.

Fakir nods. It could be worth a shot. But it's probably best not to test that alone, right?]

What does it play?

...The lady told me it played 'music from the heart'. It's supposed to soothe anxiety. Or so she said.

Guess we can both give it a listen, see if it works.

[He shrugs lightly, adjusting so he can wind it...

And it begins playing a familiar tune. This...gets Kokichi to pause.]

Ah...so it's this, huh.

[He glances down at the box. His smile is relaxed - surprisingly so - but mournful.]

A friend of mine considered this her favorite song. She's not around anymore....but she played it for another friend of mine while we were in school.
Even passing by, you could probably feel something. I kind of watched, too. Secretly. I don't think she would've minded if I'd made my presence known, though.
But I'm pretty sure anyone who heard it and knew her would...know her spirit is in this, too.

[Not literally, obviously.

But there was no composition that better encapsulated Kaede's spirit like Clair De Lune. There was no other song that could put the students in the Gifted Inmates Academy at ease quite like it. They'd all know.]

Debussy?

[Fakir can't help but smile a bit himself. It feels nostalgic, and makes him realize how much he's been missing having this kind of music so regularly in his life.

The older boy's story fits his bittersweet expression. She's not around anymore. But the song still is. It can still be played for others, even people she didn't know she was playing for. Or people in another world.]

Sounds like it was a good gift.

[Well, stranger things have happened.]

Yup. Clair De Lune. You're familiar?

[The other boy admits it was a good gift. Kokichi nods gently.]

An unexpected one. But I'm gonna keep it safe. So maybe someday, if she finds her way here...she'll be able to enjoy it, too. It's the least I can do.

...I'm usually not this sentimental. Heh.

[He supposes even he couldn't help but be touched by Kaede's heartfelt melodies. Even now.]

It's time to write our own story

1. Giselle (cw: ghosts)

I wonder if Gender flipping "I'm-a-bad-boy" Luz here counts as a "young man"

Luz's got game

She does indeed! (and is now instantly uncool again)

she tried so hard...

Re: she tried so hard...

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she is not a young man. she is however a ballerina. lose/win? (CW: depression, self-harm)

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2. The Nutcracker (cw: giant rat)

3. Swan Lake

4. Coppelia (cw: creepy puppets, creepy clowns that are puppets, potential loss of bodily autonomy)

5. La Sylphide

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