Once upon a time, in a land not so far away...
You wake to the feeling of being watched. Of a set of unfamiliar eyes, of warm breath on the back of your neck. A jolt back to the land of the living, and it's gone. No matter how quick you are, how sneaky, the source of the disruption has long since disappeared, so you have no choice but to try and ignore it. To continue on with your day and try to set that moment of strangeness aside.
You eat, drink, speak with others. Perhaps you explore a little. Whatever it is you choose to do for the day, that feeling from the morning won't return. And by the time the sun sets and the moon glows brightly above, you've likely set those moments of strangeness aside. It's not like it's anything new, after all.
It's the same again for the next few days. No better, no worse. Something best ignored, right?
A speck of blood on the doorframe. That wasn't there before, was it?
A snap of twigs in the distance. A crunch of leaves.
Claw marks gouged deeply into the door.
Into the wall above your bed.
Scraps of red fabric, turned darker with blood. Pieces of fur. Of flesh.
Do you run and hide? Do you fight? Whatever you choose, it's definitely time to make sure your body parts aren't scattered next...
...what a horribly big mouth you have.
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Since first waking up on the island, characters have been stuck with that feeling of being watched. It isn't a constant. Isn't more than a few seconds at a time, dotted throughout the day. Investigation has never turned up much, and there's never been any sightings of the cause of it all.
Until now.
Throughout the first half of the week, characters will find themselves suffering from that feeling of being watched on a far more constant basis. Rather than it being a one-off, few seconds occurrence each day, that feeling will last for minutes at a time, and on multiple occasions.
However, it isn't until the fifth day that they'll start stumbling across physical signs of their monitoring. There are claw marks on doors. Spots of blood on the paths outside. A crack of twigs in the forests, or the imprint of bloodied paws in the snow.
Ten days in and those signs start finding their way indoors. Wet footprints, tinged with red. Claw marks in the walls, the floor. Torn sheets and the smell of wet...something. Whatever it is that's been watching you, its finally decided to come and say hello.
Two weeks in and characters will begin to have sightings of the creature, its fur dark and its eyes a glowing yellow. At times it looks like a wolf, prowling in the distance. At other times, it's walking on its hind legs, almost human were it not for the muzzle full of gleaming sharp teeth. Get too close, and it slips away like a shadow, gone between one blink and the next. It decides when to reach out to characters, not the other way round.
It's after characters finally get a good look at the creature that it starts leaving...gifts. Characters will start to find familiar items from their home worlds amidst the mess. The remains of a childhood pet, perhaps. Photographs of loved ones, faces torn almost beyond recognition. It's only once it delivers its final gift that the creature retreats to the trees again: a blood-splattered item of clothing that clearly belongs to the person the character misses the most at the time, alive or dead.
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fablelands2018-08-27 11:34 pm
A+ but doesn't sound very appetising raw...
Asparagus and mustard, apparently. To be fair Constantine is just a chef's outfit away from running his mouth like Gordon Ramsay.] ...I don't think I'll have these raw, but thanks. [John crouches down and drops the haul onto a nearby big leaf, wrapping it up and depositing it into his backpack for later when they find a place to settle down.]
You don't think we're getting out of here anytime soon, do you? [Why else are they having all this talk about foraging and thinking/planning for the long term?]
We can settle down around here for the day if you like. I don't know if you uh... sleep.
...Making fires is gonna be fun. I just realized this.
I don't sleep. I'll root and explore the green a bit. That will get us out faster.
...I hope.
[He pauses, looking to the green trees beyond him.]
Either way I don't like the thought of leaving you.
burn them all.gif
Are you this clingy with the other John as well? How does he put up with you? [John's just joking of course, but it's not always obvious with his accent and perpetually snarky tone.] I'll be alright, if you want to go. [And if he's not, Alec will definitely hear him screaming and making a run for it.]
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You're still intoxicated. In a strange place. If you want me to leave however... [ And he fades. Dissolves in a haze of dark green leaves leaving a vaguely earthy smell behind him.]
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It wasn't helping him sober up, but he'll figure out a way to cook the hangover treat as his eyes flicker around and his resourceful mind churns away. The fire's the easy part but he's not exactly that kind of survivalist to be able to make something work out of twigs and mud.
The solitude is nice for a while. At least until the weird feeling like someone's watching him comes back and he thinks he hears some old dried leaves crushed in the distance. And then he's thinking maaaaaaybe he should pick his backpack back up and go looking for his swampy friend.
At least when something comes at him he can throw Alec at it and let him die first.]
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That's where he goes. He needs to commune with it anyway, to show it he's not a threat. No Avatars, still mysteries, there's only - the red creature.
After getting no further details, but feeling more secure and rooted, he pulls himself out of the green. Wrapped in his abilities he starts growing a body that may seem more like...a shape then anything else at the moment.]
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...Swamp bloke? [He's got all of two seconds to answer before John starts pulling some nasty magic out of his arse.]
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[His voice might sound rougher then normal. He straightens and stares into the darkness.] What's wrong? What happened?
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[He approaches the fire closer and stays back a foot more then needed. His gaze turns to the green before turning back to him.
That's birds man. Jesus.]
This is a good fire. You'll be warm.
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[He's not going to burn you either. Just saying. Not this early in their relationship, anyway.]
Do you feel hot and cold? Or does it not work that way?
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[He shakes his head before looking into the fire.] I feel hot and cold the way a plant does but I can change to suit the location. See?
[Holding out his arm it alters and twists before it's covered with hundreds of tiny cactus spines. He flexes it before it fades away again and regrows that same mossy swamp-creature arm that John might be more familiar with.]
...What did you think I was?
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I think I heard it coming. [Paranoid? Constantine? Perish the thought.]
I'm not sure about spending the night anywhere. Maybe we should keep moving.
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Let's go. I don't like this place.
[He frowns.] The grass is lying. It's refusing to tell me where the creature is.
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Ooohkay. [John gets to his feet and brushes some dirt off his coat before he reaches down to swoop his pack up.] The grass tell you anything else?
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No. [Hrrm] If the earth can't be trusted then we have a lot to be afraid of.
[Perhaps even I can't be trusted. If this green speaks to me, commands me...I'll have to obey. I'll have to listen.]
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At least, that's what he's assuming the green is about.]
Maybe you just have to learn to speak brown. [Ain't nobody got time for that though. John's certainly not hanging around waiting for that to happen.]
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[His voice trails off. It's getting dark and Alec frowns. There's something in the distance. A feeling of something coming. A dark red shadow.
He lowers his sword, calmly straightening. He's glancing off into the distance.]
...We need to walk, slowly, towards shelter. If we can.
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Leaving a trail of smoke behind, Constantine heads back towards the water and follows along the bank.]
If there isn't any we'll just have to slum it for the night.
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[Build a shelter. Why didn't he think of that? Continuing to walk slowly the trees and grass whisper He's coming and his angry requests for "Who is He?!" are met with silence. He can't press. It's like dealing with children despite how annoyed he's starting to get.]
Or we can try the water. You object to sleeping on a boat?
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If it comes. Keep it distracted.
[Making constructs is probably the best part of being the avatar of the green. His time spent in the paradises built by previous avatars basically gave him ideas. Some of it was obscene, the rest...
He raises an eyebrow along the edge of the water before he stops. Now? You dare deny me now?
The lake plants say nothing. Fine. He vowed that the green of this world would regret this as his form dissolves and reshapes itself. Some of the earliest boats and rafts were made of plants. This should be easy.
By the time he's finished there's a small boat made of tightly bound leaves and palm fronds built around a solid root framework. It takes time. More time when he wanted to take. I always hated physics.. Testing himself, he turns his features back to Constantine.]
John? Get in!
[In the boat made of the guy who was standing next to you a few moments later.]
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Yeah I brought a rubik's cube just for that reason. [Seriously? 'Keep it distracted'? With what? Shoving his hands into his pockets, John keeps his back turned and just looks into the stretch of trees and shadows, idly wondering about the unwelcome company. Maybe they'll find someone else who's not sure where they are, how far away they might be from home, why are they here, and all the rest of it. But he's not hoping for the best.
He turns around when Alec calls his name and eyes the boat warily before stepping in.]
I was joking about the morning wood thing by the way. I haven't any lube.
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I can't have sex.
[Oh boy. That's a road he doesn't want to go down. Hey at one point a guy borrowing my memories and sense of self used your body to impregnate my wife. Also he tattooed a pine tree on your ass. is...awkward when this is a different John.]
I have no drive for the physicality of it. I just feel the emotional aspect.
[He starts making for the farther shore.]
...If you're from another world there's a chance that there's another Alec Holland there. A human Alec Holland. Make your jokes at him. He'd probably laugh.
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...well at least when we're up shit creek without a paddle you can piss one out of your arse. [Silver lining?]