OA Arc 0 ~ An Aurora in the Night Sky

RE: Arc 0 ~ An Aurora in the Night Sky

Devis finally regained his balance after several seconds of stumbling. Though, his sudden slight pleasure of regain of balance suddenly left his face, as a sudden displeasure appeared. He stared at the painting on the wall of the main room for a split second, his attention then diverting to the unconscious Stu. Though, the displeasure he felt suddenly disappeared as he heard the voice of Kaneli calling for him and Sharra.

"... Okay, give me a minute." Instead of immediately walking towards the table, Devis focused his attention back towards Stu. He aimed the eye on the back of his left hand at the idiot. The eye began to give off a very faint green glow, and slowly, several rose prickles began to grow out of it. Devis then snapped his fingers, the sound acting as a signal for the prickles to begin rapidly shoot out of the eye and toward Stu. The prickles began to wrap around the unconscious idiot in a tight grip.

Satisfied with the action he accomplished, Devis simply smirked as he walked towards the table. "As much as I'm proud of that, I'm afraid he'll somehow break out of that-" Devis stopped mid-sentence as his attention quickly turned towards the plates of wolf meat Kaneli had prepared for the group. He then proceeded to sit down at the table. His attention was fixed upon Stu again for a split second before inquiring, "Hey, if it's not too much to ask, do you think we could give the idiot's plate to someone else?"

 

RE: Arc 0 ~ An Aurora in the Night Sky

Nosich followed the others to the table, rather impressed by the hospitality the group at least tried to give, even if that same hospitality was falling apart at the seams, more or less. Taking one of the plates of wolf meat, his mind raced back in his memories, starting to go back to the day when Nositch's entire village was razed off. Wincing at the pain of an event two decades in the past, Nositch put his focus back on the present, back to the kind strangers who gave him a place to stay.

Taking a bite of the meat, Nositch savored it in his mouth for a few seconds before chewing it and swallowing. Looking towards the girl who had cooked it, he smiled and nodded before he spoke. "Thank you for this," Nositch said softly to the young girl, "Kaneli, right? You're a good cook, you should be proud of it."

 

RE: Arc 0 ~ An Aurora in the Night Sky

The scene seemed to be bonding, all the strangers sitting down together to eat. Stu easily crashed the warm mood as his head suddenly popped up next to Devis, still wrapped in rose prickles. "OH BOY YUMMY STUFF!" Stu immediately slammed his face on the table. Unfortunately for the half-witted fellow, Stu miraculously missed the plate he was aiming for by several inches, slamming his head straight into the hard wooden table. Stu instantly collapsed onto the floor without another word.

[LONG PART]

Spoiler

On the outside of the underground HQ, a dark figure stared down at the ground, seemingly ignoring the obvious dirt barrier that separated it from this group. It's gleaming red eyes seemed to glare menacingly as it watched the group. The shaded wolf let out a cold breath of air, which also seemed darkened in the atmosphere like it's constantly evaporating figure. It's almost unnoticeable pointed ears stuck up in the air as it heard a calling. The wolf turned and dashed off away from the "headquarters" of these strangers, its paws simply passing through the crystal white snow and leaving no trail marks.

The wolf dashed across the frozen plain for several minutes, suddenly stopping at a large clearing. The wolf looked around, then howled at the sky, a rough and eery screech that could've emanated from a nightmare. And speaking of nightmares, several suddenly began to appear at the presence of an unknown energy. The wolf waited a moment, its piercing red eyes unmoving as it gazed into the sky and apparently ignoring the presence of the Nightmares. But its gaze wasn't off into nowhere...

A large black mass slowly and silently drifted from the sky, almost blended with the blackness of the night. As it neared, the mass began to clear into what appeared to impossible floating castle, massive parapets and huge black-brick walls. The underside of the castle seemed unreal, just a black plain that evaporated into the air similar to the shaded wolf awaiting at the ground. The Nightmares suddenly began to flee at the presence of something much darker and more powerful, quickly dissipating into the woodland as the castle hovered over the snow.

The wolf readied its hind legs and jumped, clearing the thirty foot distance like nothing and phasing through the walls of the castle easily. It landed onto a black marble floor, quickly padding down the dark hallways only lit by black fire. After traversing down several turns, it stopped at a large black doorway, supporting two dark oaken doors that couldn't be pushed open even by elephants. The wolf sat down, awaiting for some unknown reason, then suddenly dashing through the door effortlessly and landing into a massive throne on the other side. The room seemed to be the one that took up the majority of the castle, reaching down several meters each way.

The wolf padded down toward the other side of the massive room, where a large haze covered a massive throne chair. It stopped short of the haze, laying down obediently. Out of the dark haze, two gleaming red eyes opened, looking down at the wolf. A metallic-crimson claw reached out of the dark cloud, resting itself onto the wolf's head, a gentle grazing of the shadowed head. "Ahhh...." a familiar mysterious voice cackled, the blood-red claw retreating back into the black fog. "They are bonding...." The red eyes stared maliciously at the door, but obviously not focusing at the dark oaken barrier. The wolf stood up and left as the red eyes seemed to smile wickedly. A figure suddenly stepped out of the shadows nearby, a small teenage girl still protected in a dark haze. "Let me rid them of their happiness, Master..." she pleaded, "I know how much you love to feed on pain..."

The hazed figure sighed. "I can wait. After my last meal, I can suffice for awhile longer..." the eyes seemed to give off an even more evil glow as a rough cackle started up. "Don't worry... their pain will be mine to feast on. The taste of the separation of unity was always my favorite flavor..."

A hideous and nightmarish laugh echoed through the throne room as the wolf dashed out of the castle, landing onto the snow silently and running back to its position overlooking Sharra's abode....

Bryce seemed to groan as a hideous laugh filled his head for unknown reasons. Something crept back into his mind and was now torturing him once again, although he felt not completely intentional. He gripped the bedside again, trying to crawl his way back to consciousness, out of the constant dreamland that kept turning into a haunted circus....

 

RE: Arc 0 ~ An Aurora in the Night Sky

[[Yay I finally psotted]]

Fyuren just stood as Kaneli requested his presence at their table, one he had not been to before. He had been busying himself too much. It can wait the night... I need to calm down; think and rest. Eat.

Others were flocking toward the delectable smell that emanated from the food upon the primitive table. Primitive indeed. It didn't even have a self-cleaning system. Had he not been living in the wilderness alone for who-knows-how-long, Fyuren would have been disgusted at the thought of having to manually remove the waste.

He stood indecisive for a time, eyes scanning the table and its occupants for no real reason. He let out a light sigh as the decision he knew he would come to had arrived. His first real meal in a long time. Sitting himself in a vacant seat, he eyed the food for a moment before accepting it, placing a modest amount on his own plate. Again he waited, uncertain of the customs these people followed. After a brief time of self silence, he finally tested the source of the intoxicating aroma.

In honesty, it could have been better. He'd had better. Compared to the meals he partook of back home, prepared by the finest of chefs, this was a peasant's dish. But here, in his journey across the expanses of time, after spending many a year working on a way home, with nothing but what he himself could muster for sustenance, this was the most stupendous delicacy Fyuren ever partook of. A solitary tear dropped down his emotionless face, he longed to be home.

"Ma'am, I must say that this is the most delicious thing I ever did have." He continued his dining, slowly and politely, savoring each sample of the gourmet Excellency.

 

RE: Arc 0 ~ An Aurora in the Night Sky

Bryce felt like he could never surface from his endless dreams, one dream reappearing after trying to come through another. His body seemed to still pulse with agony, and it was a surprise to him that his body could rest with this pain. He felt what was left of any hope start dwindling.....

His eyes finally burst open as he feels a soft warm hand graze his own. He felt himself seeming to still be in a half-daze, the world around him still fuzzy like a dream. The pain was perfectly real unfortunately, and he groaned as he turned his head to look at whoever made contact with his hand. A face seemed to appear in his twilit haze, brown hair dazzling like a dreamlike state. "Who... who are you?" He said drowsily, his mind numbed at that moment in his fatigued state. Suddenly a name appeared and clicked. "Kaneli..." he answered to himself, remembering the name from the woods.

Bryce suddenly grips the bed as a wave of pain penetrates his dazed state, causing the small black lining of his corneas turning bright blue, causing his crystal blue eyes to light up in a dazzling spectacle. He looks up at the ceiling and grunts as he tries to vent out the pain.

 

RE: Arc 0 ~ An Aurora in the Night Sky

The context of the question suggested a single recipient, however the body language suggested she spoke to all. Fyuren pondered about it for a time, deciding if the truth would be appropriate, or more importantly, whether the guild would be against such an action. Scanning his memories of reading through the "rulebook" of the test as if he had read it just yesterday, he found nothing against his explaining his presence, nor did it mention what to do if he were to come among people aside from "No outside help."

After some time of contemplation, he finally spoke. "I came here not quite by plan, but expected in a way. Living in the past of some land I cannot name for several years, I was able to construct a device which was simple in design, due to my lack of resources. It's purpose was to acquire the earliest sign of technology in the nearest world it could find. I am here because that signature happened to be that craft in the woods. I am done speaking." The last sentence was an unconscious formality of his old, or rather new, world. It was considered a courtesy to state your finishing of your speech if you do so for an extended amount of time, so that others may know when they may speak without interrupting.

 

RE: Arc 0 ~ An Aurora in the Night Sky

Nositch looked carefully at the girl with the gun, trying to discern her intentions. After hearing the grizzled man speak, Nositch decided to talk himself, although his would not even be as colorful as the other man's. "A traveler travels, whether with heed of his locale or not," he said, purposefully making it somewhat cryptic. In reality, he had no idea what land he was in. All he knew was that it was far colder than any other he had been to, with horrors that did not seem to exist elsewhere, albeit only in legends.

As he glanced around the room, he thought back in time. Remembering the mountain village in which he had spent his early childhood. Almost sighing in reverie, he quickly got that out of his mind. Because he knew that he would remember that one day. So he shook his head, not wanting to feel that separation, that pain that no physical blow could ever give. He returned his consciousness to the table where he was sitting, back to the room lit dimly by the ice mana crystals, to the group he had found shelter with.

 

RE: Arc 0 ~ An Aurora in the Night Sky

Bryce calmed down at the sound of Kaneli's voice, locking his eyes onto hers and relaxing his hand on Kaneli's as he calmed down. His body stopped contracting as the dreams seemed to go away, his whole body being freed from the darkened grasp of the torturous nightmares of his world. His eyelids drooped a little as he felt the full effort of his body to keep itself awake. He sighed and tried to speak something, then finally reverting to nodding.

Bryce's glowing eyes slowly dimmed until they resumed normally, his grip on the bed finally relaxing. He sighed with relief, tightening his grip on her soft hand gratefully for pulling him out of the dark abyss.

Stu stood up, somehow freed from the rose prickles. "Here, I'll show you what happened to me!" Stu exclaimed, his eyes suddenly glowing. To everyone's immediate surprise, the table lit up from Stu's eyes as a projection appeared. It showed Stu walking in the snow, when suddenly he falls down a hill. He then climbed the hill, appearing at the door of Kaneli's cabin and asking if she wanted to buy cookies. It seemed that Stu had forgotten everything before that as his eyes stopped glowing and the projection disappeared.

 

RE: Arc 0 ~ An Aurora in the Night Sky

Devis took slow bites of the meat in front of him as he listened to the others' answers to Sharra's question. Upon hearing Nositch's brief answer, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, though it didn't take him long to figure out exactly what he meant. Like Nositch, Devis had no idea where he was or exactly how he got there, he was just there. Of course, when Stu rose to tell his side of the story, Devis simply sighed and resumed eating...

That is, until a projection of what appeared to be Stu's home movie appear on the table. "... The hell?!" Devis simply stared at the projection, not exactly knowing whether to be shocked or disgusted. When the projection ended, he glanced at Stu in complete disgusted-astonishment for several seconds. "... You... are... just..... WHAT ARE YOU?!" Devis attempted to say more, but instead covered his face with his right hand as he turned away from him.

"Ugh..." He then took a deep breath as if to calm himself down. "Okay, that... No, that's not even weird. That's just-" Devis then slapped himself in the face. "... Anyway, I honestly have no idea where I am or how I even got here. I've just been roaming the planet, result of not only me running away from home but my map being burned by tribesmen and my compass suddenly breaking apart. So pretty much, I've been lost for several weeks and somehow ended up here."

 

RE: Arc 0 ~ An Aurora in the Night Sky

phantasia. Nositch had not referred to this world or heard it referred to as such for a long time, the name only a drifting memory, making him unsure if it was a memory or a long-forgotten dream. Nositch had never taken the time to learn the continents and countries of the world, if only because he preffered to be surprised.

Scraping the last but of the sauce from his plate into his mouth, he looked around at the rest of the group gathered together. To most people, the group would no doubt seem strange. Sure, for now the group was very dysfunctional, but he preferred it that way. Even as the one name Stu projected a memory onto the table, Nositch smiled, stifling a small chuckle. Yes, this group would be perfect, even if only because of its imperfection.

Maybe, this was the group Nositch would stay with. Maybe, just maybe, he would finally have a reason to cease this aimless wandering.

"Fitting name," Nositch finally said with a smile, half joking in his reply to Sharra.

 

RE: Arc 0 ~ An Aurora in the Night Sky

Bryce sighed, relaxing more and feeling more functions returning to him, although most would not be useful due to the extreme pain of the wolf bites. Bryce looked at the tea cup a moment, licking his lips, then back at Kaneli. Although Bryce didn't know her that much despite the confrontation in the woods and her letting him sleep at her cabin, he felt something was off about her... she seemed paler, like her very soul had been ripped from her. Her mind also seemed very distant, along with vivid tearmarks on her cheeks.

Bryce decided he was strong enough and gruffly sat up, his body aching from the feeling. Already in his previously numbed state he tried to walk, but he practically fainted into Sharra's arms. Maybe he could try something easier like grabbing a tea cup. "Thank you..." He said gruffly, his voice extremely coarse. He lifted his arm, the feeling of ten hundred-pound weights keeping it down causing him to groan as he reached for the tea. His hand finally caressed the stand next to the bed, using his fingers to pull the rest of his arm to the cup, where he struggled to pull a firm grip onto the handle.

Bryce began to sweat at the incredibly simple task, his body refusing to believe that it could not pull off something so realistically easy. "C'mon..." He groaned frustratingly, trying to pull the tea cup toward him, determined.

 

RE: Arc 0 ~ An Aurora in the Night Sky

Nositch watched in mild surprise as the strange man freaked out the way he did, screaming and shouting in some language Nositch had not heard before -- which was quite a feat, considering how many places Nositch had traveled to in his time. The traveler smiled, raising his hand. "I can get him," Nositch said as Scott ran outside. Focusing, Nositch summoned a huge wind that generated itself past Scott, blowing into the shelter. Along with the wind, Nositch created an extreme amount of cold around the extraterrestrial man, hoping that this would lock his body up, preventing him, perchance, whether physically or mentally, from throwing a further tussle like he just showed

As he made the winds grow increasingly stronger, to the point where they would no doubt pull Scott back inside. Nositch stood, walking towards the door. "Calm down, calm down," he said in a pleasant, soothing voice, "Don't make it worse for yourself here. Believe me, I could make it a lot worse."

 

RE: Arc 0 ~ An Aurora in the Night Sky

He listened intently as the conversations rolled on. He did not care much for the reason of the humanoids being there, he was just glad to have the company of sentient beings for once. When it came back around to Sharra, he finally obtained information of which he quite minded having. Come to think of it, the name sounded familiar. Flipping through the pages of his unnatural near-photographic memory like the pages of a book, he found the one he was looking for.

"~ Phantasia ~ Very little is known of this world as it is difficult to traverse to, given the algorithms required to span the gap between our world and it. It is known to be a world of magic in vast quantity, making research into this world a field of choice for some scientists."

It was an older read, one from many decades before, not that time had any current relevance. Perhaps he could learn more into the details of this world before he returns. It would be valuable information among his colleagues. Maybe he could eve-

"PHANTASIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" The yelling pried him from his contemplation like a spatula to a pancake. Instantly, he leaped from his seat, moving the chair with his leg as he did so as to position it in a form of light defense, dropping into a semi-low stance, while reaching into his new coat for something he knew he would not find. He stood a moment, looking fully as if he were to strike, before realizing himself what he was doing. With a quick apology to no-one in particular, he returned to his seat, which he had to re-position to do so.