[007] Heard them calling in the distance

[themuseabandonsyou]

Who: Orpheus (themuseabandonsyou) and others
What: May catch-all, departure
When: Throughout May
Where: All over Trench

Warnings: Grief (loss of a loved one), body horror (pseudo-beast transformation), returning to the sea

I. So I packed my things and ran
( OTA )( cw: potential discussion of grief, loss of a loved one )
Orpheus has taken to spending a great deal of time at Serenity Garden, sitting in the shade of Airy's fruit trees with his guitar propped up next to him. He still doesn't play, but he looks less... acutely troubled than before, at least. The symptoms of corruption, or at least the visual ones, are entirely gone from him now, and with it some of the weight on his shoulders.

He still thinks about Eurydice often, of course, and of all the other people he's lost. Varian and Fern add to the count, and he falters slightly when they go. But today he's managing to smile, watching the returned sunlight filter down through the trees. He's upset. He's not doing well. But he has it in him to enjoy the day, for now, and that's got to be enough.

Tracing his fingertips over the petals of the reddest flower in the garden, he hums softly, too quiet for anyone else to hear, and the sunlight seems to shine just a little brighter where he stands.

II. Far away from all the troubles
( OTA )( cw: body horror (pseudo-beast transformation), potential discussion of grief )
One morning, when Orpheus wakes from troubled dreams, he finds himself transformed in his bed into a horrible bird. Again. Clattering awkwardly onto the floor in a whirl of too-many flailing limbs, he twists about in an attempt to examine himself, panicked as unfamiliar muscles answer his call. His memories of beasthood are vague at best, but this does seem to be the same form he took then, his hands tracing the lines of the antlered bird skull-like helm that now makes up his face, hard and bony and pointed, and down his long, arching neck. Glancing down at himself, he sees ashy, pale skin stretched sickly-tight over a human torso that fades at the waist into a gigantic bird's body.

And yet, despite all of this, his mind feels... oddly clear? Certainly he doesn't have any urge to fly out to sea and start singing a song that will lure people to him once he's there. He's entirely lucid, now that he's had a second to wake up. Pausing for a long moment to see if it isn't just a case of the instincts having to catch up to him, he concludes that he's... fine? As fine as he can be, under the circumstances. Not truly a beast, then, just confused and much larger and more unwieldy than he was when he fell asleep.

With some great effort, he shuffles on taloned feet not designed for walking to the door, cramming himself awkwardly through. It takes even more careful planning to maneuver the stairs, but then it's a straight shot down the hallway and out the front door, where he finds himself out on the streets of Crenshaw and realizes he hadn't thought of what he was planning on doing once he left the house. Should he... seek help? Go back inside? Hmm. He stands there, looking as puzzled as one with a rigid beak for a face can look, glancing back and forth between the heart of the city and the door to his house.

III. I had caused with my two hands
( Closed to existing CR* )( cw: potential discussion of grief, loss of a loved one, returning to the sea )
Shortly after that particular incident ends, Orpheus wakes from strange dreams again, this time with a sense of purpose and a lightness in his step. He hurries through his morning routine, washing himself and throwing on his clothes, before gathering up his most important belongings - including his lyre and his guitar - and setting out to the town. He makes a beeline for the homes and workplaces of his friends, darting from one to the next, and should he find them there he greets each one with a nervous mix of giddiness and... sorrow?

"Hello," he says, brightly, though his eyes shine with the very barest precursors of tears before he even starts. "Do you, um. Have a moment? I just Saw something important."

You can practically hear him pronounce the capital S in 'Saw'. This was a vision.

[ *OOC: If you've threaded with Orpheus even once before you qualify for this!! ]

IV. Alone we traveled on with nothing but a shadow
( OTA )( cw: potential discussion of grief, loss of a loved one, returning to the sea )
After a long, long several days of hunting down each and every one of his friends to speak to them about what he Saw, Orpheus finally stops at the shore, sitting on an abandoned and half-crumbling pier. He doesn't have his lyre or guitar with him - or his bag, or the jacket Julia gave him. He's dressed simply, the robe the Wakers gave him when he arrived wrapped around his shoulders for warmth in the chill of the evening. He seems... at peace, though. Calm. Clear-eyed. As he gazes out at the sunset over the water, he begins to sing, in a high, clear voice.

"Wait for me
I'm coming
Wait, I'm coming with you
Wait for me
I'm coming, too
I'm coming too"

V. We fled far away (Wildcard)
( OTA )
[ OOC: Need something else? Feel free to plot with me on Plurk at questionableveracity or Discord at quodVide#2951, or just pop in here with your own prompt. ]