Poppy finally found Audrey, she was curled up on the ground with a small dog. She got up and apologised to Poppy. "It's okay" Poppy said, smiling at Audrey. They made their way to the smoke covered island. When they arrived, they were suprised by what they saw. All around them were these silhouettes, enjoying themselves. They were playing the drums, dancing around a huge fire and laughing with each other. They seemed to be having a sort of celebration, but for what?
"Are they celebrating?" Poppy asked curiously. "Who are these guys anyway... Previous dreamers maybe?"
She looked at Audrey and shrugged her shoulders.
"Who knows" she muttered.
She then noticed a table which had been set up. Poppy ran over to it, licking her lips.
Poppy picked up a bit of food and it just slowly disintegrated in her hand. I watch dust float down to the ground, I was confused. Blue sat with his head poking out of my backpack...He was looking around at the smoke. I was confused about the people because they were silhouettes. I walked over to one and touched it but my hand went through the shadow. I pulled my hand back like I had touched something hot and looked at these strange people.
Poppy was still trying to pick up food when I noticed a floating ship at the end of the island. It seemed to be coming in and when it threw the staircase down onto the wood lots of silhouettes spilled out to join them. I tapped Poppy on the shoulder and said "Look! A ship, We could escape on that lets go!" We gathered up our items and ran for the boat. Once we boarded onto it, I let Blue out for a stretch just so he wouldn't get anxious. He jumped about the boat trying to catch the ropes that hung down from the sail. A tall thin man stood at the wheel of the boat, The shadow of him had a huge hat with a feather sticking out of it. Once the last person went of the ship a few men pulled the staircase up and the captain made the ship go.
The sun set over the horizon. I found a haystack to relax on. Blue curled up next to me and fell asleep, Soon after that I fell asleep too.
I woke up the next morning. We were closer to a land, I could see humans standing on it. They weren't silhouettes but they had colour. I didn't know how to react to this but at the dock on the other side I could see lots of silhouette people standing there. We eventually got to the dock, I gathered Blue into my backpack and spilled out of the boat with Poppy...
As the prince kneeled down Kat grew excited, never had she met someone like him before, even if he said he wasn't from a story book he still looked like it. She was fascinated and when he said she looked like a princess she smiled from ear to ear. He waved at her sister so she looked back and signed as best as she could with Rollie in one hand, 'he is nice, he said I look like a princess! Come and say hello.' She looked back at the prince, "That's Kait and Rinto, they don't wanna be ninjas or heroes..." She sighed looking at her sister who was still standing behind the pillar, "She says people are always bad, but since your a prince.. That means that you are good, right?" She knew he was but if Kait heard him maybe she would come out, "Rollie loves playing with me though.. So it's ok." She sat down, making Rollie sit upright next to her as best as she could, "Do you like to be a prince?"
Syndra hid her grimace and looked up. The bitter pickle was still standing there. He looked very much like a bitter pickle that tasted a bitter pickle, what, with the tone and all.
"Do I know you? No. Do I know them? No," she answered and looked down again. "Do I know myself? Probably not either!"
"Yes, there's a lot of bad people out there. But you know how fairytales work. Good always triumphs over evil! And I'm one of the good ones." -Pierre said smiling at her. He then had an idea. Apparently he was inside a dream, which means that he might be able to do certain stuff that he can't do in real life. He extended his hands and closed his eyes. He tried to focus. Until he felt something appearing right on top of his hands. A tiara. He quickly opened them, surprised. He then stood up, he looked at Kat and said, "I, Prince Pierre, want to declare Kat as a princess. May you be always nice and humble to everyone." He then placed the tiara right on her head. Pierre hoped Kait could be watching them having a good time and realize he was a good person. That way she could come out and join them.
Kait shook her head, 'Did you see that Rinto? He created a tiara from nothing.' she thought, looking at her bear, looking back toward the boy and her sister, she slightly tuned out seeing a shadowy figure behind the two, in a shadow of the pillar- that 'figure' greatly resembled her mother, making her eyes widen, though when she looked at Rinto to make him notice, the shadowy figure was gone. Focusing again on the princely male with her sibling, she shook her head. 'Princesses aren't all their cracked up to be, Kat.' she thought. Kait had never been a fan of princesses, she liked tales of monsters and mythological creatures. Knowing she'd have to come out eventually, she some what reluctantly left her spot from behind the pillar, standing in the light, feeling the slightest bit vulnerable as she made her way toward the two, stopping half way between them and the pillar she had been behind.
She watched as Pierre placed the tiara on her head, her eyes and smile widening, to her this all felt real. She stood up, smiling happily and hugged Pierre, it lasted a few seconds before she stood back, "Thank you," she said happily. It surprised her when her sister came out from behind the pillar, "Kait!" She ran over and hugged her and Rinto before signing, 'He is a prince.. You gotta be good or he will chop your head off..' She giggled and kept signing, 'How do you think he made this?' She indicated to the tiara sitting on her head, 'We could get ponies!!' She smiled, dragged her sister over to where she had been standing previously and looked back at Pierre, "How did you do that?"
The girl watched in surprise as the princely boy interacts with the small girl and gradually another small girl comes from behind a pillar. Twins. She gives a small smile, though her insides were twisting and turning like they were on their own little roller coaster. She backs up slightly and sits on the grass, leaning back on her elbows. The second twin then gets dragged by the first. That one. The shy one. We'd get along. A kind and soft grin spread across Alex's face as she watched the little girls. The first one, with the tiara, seemed excited about meeting a prince. But the second one.. the second one is like me.
Poppy felt puzzled by the disintigrating food. Why couldn't she eat it? Her stomach growled with rage.
"Ugh.." she sighed, "I was excited to eat"
Poppy felt a rush of air brush her cheek. She look to see what had caused it, and noticed a floating ship had arrived at the end of the island. She grabbed her backpack and held Sydney tight as she ran towards it, following Audrey.
Poppy climbed up the rope ladder that had been dropped down and just managed to get on board before it was pulled back up again.
"Looks like these guys can't see us.." she thought, clutching onto Sydney. She was a little uncomfortable with the idea of flying on a boat.
"Oh gosh.. this is going high" she whispered to Sydney, whos big blue eyes were staring at her. He hugged her, like he was reassuring her that it would be okay.
Poppy walked over to a chair in the middle of the boat and sat down. She closed her eyes slowly and sat there relaxing for a while. A few minutes later she had drifted off into a deep sleep, and when she had woken up, she found herself in a new area.
Poppy climbed off the boat and walked over to the fresh green grass. She sat down and noticed some people off in the distance. She stared and watched as they socialised with each other.
"They look real.. should we go and talk to them? I hope I don't make a fool of myself again." Poppy said quietly, glancing at Audrey.
Holding my arm, I take slow, deliberate steps over to Pierre and the two girls. Unsure of what to do, I turn to the Kat and put on my best smile. "H-hi, Kat, I'm Lucas," I say. "Um, I'm not a prince or anything, but I hope we can be friends."
AJ's mind stirred, but he wasn't yet ready to wake up. He rolled over and adjusted his hoodie to better suit him as a pillow. And then he realized he felt...Different. Not he himself, but his surroundings. He was not lying on hard rooftop he'd gone to sleep on. He was lying in the middle of a meadow. He looked around in awe; he'd never seen so much grass in his life, nor trees so tall- Wait....Those aren't trees....those are stone pillars! His mind raced as he tried to make sense of his surroundings...And he did. It's a dream, he realized.
After coming to that realization, he did what he always did, in his life and his dreams: He fought. He already had his hand wraps on, he left them on almost all the time, and was outfitted for fighting, again, he always was. It's just what he did. He focused and sifted through his memories, searching for a worthy opponent he remembered. Finally he found one: A fair skinned, blonde boy named Tommy...Honestly if they'd met under different circumstances, AJ thought they might have become friends. But there's no room for friends when your life depends on your physical performance.
Long story short, AJ beat the snot out of the kid...Not that he expected different; it was his dream after all. Even so, he didn't manage a flawless victory, and took several blows of his own. He figured he'd take the rest of the dream to just relax...Soon enough the dream would be over...But it wasn't. AJ's bruises faded, the pain subsided...But he didn't wake up. He didn't really take note of that fact until he'd been lying motionless for maybe an hour. He'd never had a restful sleep for more than an hour, let alone a dream.
He should have been happy. This was his escape from reality. But he wasn't. He was angry. Angry that he was being kept here in a fucking dream. He rose hastily, and rammed his fist into the pillar nearest him. He felt nothing, but the pillar took a considerable dent. He continued wailing away on the pillar, no hit quite matching the force of the first rage-filled blow, until he tired. He looked down and his hands were bleeding through the wraps, yet he didn't even feel the pain that logic dictated should be there.
AJ removed his white t-shirt for use as bandages, revealing the red and black tattoos that wrapped around his torso and arms. After nursing his wounds, that didn't even fucking hurt, he had one more bright idea: To climb one of the pillars. Try as he might, AJ never got further than a meter or two. He accepted his prison and simply went to sleep leaning against it. At least it's more comfortable than the rooftops back home.
Name: AJ (Andrew Jicon {JYE-con})
Hair: brown, often covers his eyes when he fights (he has below average eyesight and as such deemed his eyes untrustworthy in a fight, relying mostly on his other senses)
Eyes: also brown, but usually covered by hair
Body type: medium size, small enough to duck around, but big enough to appear intimidating. ~5'10"
Clothing: Athletic shorts, sometimes wears a white t-shirt, though mostly only when sleeping. Prefers wearing a hoodie with no shirt.
His tattoos are serpent-like creatures, intertwining on his midsection, and each arm bearing a head and tail, one serpent black, the other red.
Background: SECRET/spoiler]
Kat hugged him. Pierre couldn't think of the last time someone hugged him before. He closed his eyes for a second, treasuring that moment with all his heart. Pierre then watched as Kat quickly ran towards her sister, who seemed to finally come out of that pillar.
He decided to follow Kat. Once there, Kat asked him how he managed to make a tiara appear. He knew apparently it was due to being inside a dream, or at least that's what Lucas told him. He was about to answer, when Lucas appeared right next to him. Saying hello. "Oh hey, Lucas." -Prince Pierre then looked at the twins. "As he said, his name is Lucas. And he might explain to you both better how I managed to do that." He then looked at Kait. The girl still seemed reserved and quite defensive. He then thought of Alex. "She seems like she can get along with Kait." -He thought. "Be right back!" -Pierre said excited.
He quickly ran towards Alex who was siting there in the grass. "Alex, right? Hey, um... not sure if you've been watching, but there's this little girl. Her name's Kait. And I really think you two would get along very well." Without waiting for Alex's response, he gently grabbed her hand. Making her to stand up. He then started walking towards the group, still holding her. "You know, Alex. I'm a very shy person as well. But I assure you that you're surrounded by great people here." He turned around and smiled at her. He stopped walking once he reached the group once again, releasing Alex's hand. He then turned to see Kait. "Hey, I'm Pierre by the way. This is Alex." -Pierre said while placing his hand on Alex's shoulder. "And I'm sure both would make good friends."
If it had been anyone other then Kat who dragged her toward the prince, the female would have squirmed about and made an attempt to book it out of there. 'Ponies...?' the girl thought, 'I don't like ponies... and if he's the 'good guy' would he really do that?' she signed, before hiding behind her sister. When more came to introduce themselves she was reliefed they spoke to Kat and not her, allowing her to move away a few steps. Though not too far so Kat would notice straight away. A few moments later the male spoke to her, although she simply stared blankly at him, before he walked off with the words 'be right back'. The dark haired girl sat down, staring back at Rinto as though he'd speak to her. Looking up when she heard footsteps, it appeared Pierre had brought someone else to speak to her. 'Alex?' she thought, tilting her head slightly at the two, having to blink from her eyes getting a little sore. '...friends?' the girl thought again, looking at Alex. "..."
The man frowned once again, looking at the girl in front of him. Mixed thoughts went through his head. Anything ranging from 'Who is this person?' to 'In what way could I break off her arms?' after a moment, the man asks: "So, what do you plan on doing? Do you think they could mean harm?" He had a hard time suppressing the laugh from the irony of that question.
I walk for a while. I'm in no hurry, but I do try to keep going in the same general direction; I would like to end up meeting up with others- if there are more than just me and Isaac- eventually. And if there aren't others, I can at least assume I'll find him again.
Upon looking around idly for about the millionth time, I see someone leaning against a pillar a distance to the right.
I change direction.
I might as well walk towards the person I can see instead of meandering off into the horizon.
As I get closer, I see that this new person's another guy...who happens to be shirtless. I just sigh. 'Seriously? This is a dream, you can just go ahead and make one.' Unless, of course, he isn't aware that this is a dream, which I sort of doubt.
When I get to him, though, I see that he's sleeping. It's worrying to see- especially if he turns out to be lucid after he wakes up. 'Sleeping within a dream?'
Not quite sure of what to do, I shift my weight to one foot and just stand there. On one hand, I don't want to bother him; on the other, I'd like to talk to someone who maybe won't be as standoffish as Isaac was. Plus he has a cool tattoo. What can I say?
...but instead of saying something, I just stand there awkwardly. Like a total creep. Really, what can I say? Hi, did you last fall asleep after taking a blow to the head? Obviously not.
So I settle for just standing a few feet away in silence, waiting for him to wake up and/or notice me.
Looking around at the landscape to see if I somehow missed any detail, of course.
...
((Timdood3))
AJ felt a chill go up his some. So much for it being comfortable. His instinct told him that someone was standing by, watching. He opened his eyes, moving nothing else, and saw a boy standing before him. Starting like a creep. AJ was always ready for a fight, but for one was going it didn't come to that. He stood up and spoke confidently, "Oh good, there are others. What's your story... And name for that matter."
"Yeah, there's more than just me, too." I let myself relax at the first few words, giving a slight smile. "My name's Sage. But, uh... Care to elaborate on what you mean by 'my story'?" That kind of threw me off. Does he know what's going on here?
I hope so.
When Lucas introduced himself to her she became her old self, shy and reserved. Instinctively she looked at the ground, she didn't like to meet new people, of course there was an exception for princes.. "H-hi..." She mumbled quietly, meeting one new person in a day was more than they had met in years. "Ok.." She said quietly, she looked up shyly taking in everyone's appearances, suddenly she remembered something. She quickly looked at Kait, and signed, 'Wait.. Where is mum and dad? We haven't seen them all day!' Tears started to swell up in her eyes, what had happened to them? They were always with her, 'Kait have you seen them? Where are they?' She looked at her sisters hands hoping for an answer
Kait flinched slightly, looking toward her sibling. 'Mum and dad...?' she thought, looking at Rinto, 'What should I tell her? She's pretty fragile...' she seemed to discuss what to do with the bear in her thoughts, before looking at her sibling, '...this is a dream scape, right? Mum and Dad are awake, they won't appear in the dream.' She signed, unwilling to tell her sibling the truth. '...Don't worry, okay?' She added, watching her sibling for a moment then looking back at the others.
'Oh right!' She smiled and wiped her tears with her dress, she looked at Lucas, "Can we make a pony.. Or a dragon?" She asked shyly, and remembering her mother's rules quickly added, "..Please?" She smiled a little, maybe meeting people wasn't so bad after all..?
The new boy, Sage, seemed confused. AJ elaborated, even if only slightly, "Your story. Your past. Where you came from. For example..." AJ was open to sharing his past, but was unsure. He hesitated, but continued. "I grew up in the city. My parents were never the nicest of people... Mother was always drunk, Father never came home. I got myself the hell out of there. Lived on the streets for a while. Scraped up what living I could. Spent a lot of time on the rooftops... The ground never really felt right to me. Too many tight spaces. . ." He decided to stop himself; he didn't want to divulge everything just yet. "So yeah, your story."
((This might be a good time to mention that AJ is Asian. Not like 100% but the heritage is there and his looks reflect that.
Pierre heard as Kat mentioned her mom and dad. He noticed Kait was hiding something from her about them. He could see it in her face. "What could've happen there?" -Pierre thought to himself. He decided not to ask in front of Kat. Maybe he'll ask Kait later on, when she gets to have more confidence with him. "Hey, princess. Are you sure about a dragon? That sounds a little bit dangerous. But a pony sounds good to me. A princess needs her horse after all!" -Pierre said to Kat smiling. He the nudged Alex with his shoulder. Noticing she was still a little bit quiet.
Alex tensed up as Pierre ran over and took her hand, pulling her towards the group. Confused, she said nothing, but was shaking violently. "O-okay.." she muttered, looking in bewilderment at the two little girls. She didn't say anything in response to Pierre introducing her to the little girl and just looked around nervously. He nudged her with his shoulder and she jumped, her manner much like a dazed deer in a car's headlights. "O-oh.." She cracked her knuckles repeatedly, as if it was an anxious, obsessive habit and fidgeted uncontrollably, looking at the ground.
"I guess I've had it pretty okay." I cross my arms, contemplating what I'm to tell him. "I've always had my mom to help me through difficult stuff, and my sister... My dad ditched us though, after-" I cut myself off. No, not bringing that up here, around people that don't know- "...let's just say I wasn't his idea of a perfect child."
I cringe, knowing what's coming next. "Cue a few years passing, and...well..."
I never talk about this- I never know how to say it- but I can't pretend it never happened. "My sister... My twin..." I swallow. "She drowned."
I shake my head. "I started working out, and that was a great distraction. Didn't really keep me safe from the asshats out there, though. I have them on my heels all the time."
Sighing, I continue, "Other than that, I guess my life's pretty generic."
Which is a lie, but like hell I'm telling anyone here that.
"By the way- I'm not looking for pity. That was a while ago..."
Not that I'm completely ready to let it go.
"That enough for you?"
...
((Timdood3))
AJ sighed. Not an annoyed one, but rather a contented one. At least now I know I'm not the only one here with a hard life back home. ...Back home...The words struck something in his mind. As if he had accepted that it would be a while until he returned to the rooftops with which he'd been so familiar....If he returned at all.
"I'll tell you what." AJ scooped up his hoodie, still where it was when we awoke, and slung in over his shoulder. "I won't pry for any more if you can actually convince me that everything in your old life was okay." Old life....Once again, he was coming to terms with the potential duration of his stay in this world. "In any case, you were probably better off than I was. I had to fight for my survival. And I don't mean that as in I struggled to get by. I mean I was literally fighting to live. After I left home, I found my way to an underground fighting scene....Ironically on the rooftops....And proceeded to promptly beat the shit out of anyone in my way...Couldn't count the number of fools that ended up running- or being pushed- off the rooftops and into the streets below. We were never caught though. Every one of them was deemed a suicide."
"Oh, by the way, I'm not looking for pity... I've just never really had anyone to talk to."
