[Hospital Waiting Room]
Ambrosia was exhausted after all the effort it had taken her to get here but that was still no excuse for her next words.
"Are you out of you mind?" She questions as she takes a step towards Kirk. Despite being the shortest person in the room she suddenly seems all the more menacing as the light seems to dim around her. "I knew who she was but I was being polite-" The light across the room starts flickering as she speaks, stepping right into Kirk's personal space. "-which is apparently too much effort for you. But if you can't even keep your act together for the children you've helped put into this world for the painfully brief moments we will spend together then the door is right there-" As she gestures towards the door she came through the fluorescent light above her simply seems to die on the spot.
"-please." She breathes out through her nose, which comes out as billowing black smoke that raises into the air.
Then she suddenly seems to calm down and as soon as she's done so the lights all return to normal. Well, except for the one above her which seem to have suffered more critical damage than the rest.
The nurse seems to study Ambrosia as this is happening, looking surprised to say at least. Yet he doesn't miss a beat once Tina brings up her question. Making him look down at his digital clipboard. "Well, m'am, I am not actually a doctor but I can tell you everything is looking good. We did have to put the snakes out as they were acting aggressive and interfering with our work but otherwise everything is about what you can expect." He looks up at her with a smile as he corrects his glasses. "I can't say how long she will be in there but I don't expect it to be more than a couple of hours. Your friend and the children are going to be just fine."
Inside
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Shadowcaller
- Poster from Beyond the Veil
- Posts: 2856
- Joined: Aug 02, 2022 6:29 am
- Location: Sweden
Re: Inside
Planar IntroductionsShadowcaller wrote: ↑Nov 14, 2022 10:29 pm Planar Introductions
"I had... a surrogate." Ambrosia admits, speaking slowly and carefully. As if afraid she was going to insult someone otherwise. "It hasn't been great for her I think considering that that my father was involved." Neon would know little of Ambrosia's father beyond that they had had adopted her and that they had a troubled relationship. Him getting involved in something seemed to be a code for it getting complicated and sometimes even outright unpleasant.
For this reason she didn't really like to talk about him much.
"Still, we made an agreement and the child will be born soon. Very soon in fact." She takes a deep breath. "So my life is about to get a whole lot more complicated."
"Hm..." Embralat ponders how to delicately direct this whole conversation.
"But you did the whole thing to make them a dragon? Did you pick a name already?" she asks.
Market Street Mayhem
"That only means you lost to the power of friendship!" Sirius calls back, laughing.
Then of course he goes to find Khannie and make sure she's okay.
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bc56
- Poster from Beyond the Veil
- Posts: 2768
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- Location: Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Re: Inside
Train
"Doesn't look like we have a choice," Jason projects a new shield and steps forward, creating a spear of light in his right hand. "Come and get me, you pink playdough!"
Eidolon slithers forward and stabs at him with razor tendrils, but he steps to the side and stabs the spear into its central mass. It doesn't really seem to hurt it much. "Is that your best shot?" Its attention is completely focused on him now.
PREP Campus
Mary shudders. She doesn't want to think about it. "So that's why you leave in the middle of the night sometimes." Really she just desperately wants to change the subject to anything other than the horror she just witnessed.
... "So how's the art project going? ..."
The pair head back to the dorm in hopefully more pleasant conversation from here on out.
"Doesn't look like we have a choice," Jason projects a new shield and steps forward, creating a spear of light in his right hand. "Come and get me, you pink playdough!"
Eidolon slithers forward and stabs at him with razor tendrils, but he steps to the side and stabs the spear into its central mass. It doesn't really seem to hurt it much. "Is that your best shot?" Its attention is completely focused on him now.
PREP Campus
Mary shudders. She doesn't want to think about it. "So that's why you leave in the middle of the night sometimes." Really she just desperately wants to change the subject to anything other than the horror she just witnessed.
... "So how's the art project going? ..."
The pair head back to the dorm in hopefully more pleasant conversation from here on out.
Avatar by me! No more outsourcing!
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Shadowcaller
- Poster from Beyond the Veil
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- Location: Sweden
Re: Inside
Planar Introductions
Ambrosia blinks. "The whole thing..." She shakes her head.
"No, the surrogate is a gorgon. With some aid she's able to give birth to a dragon even if it comes out as humanoid." She glances over to Thariza and Utayo, slowly becoming aware they were now listening in as their conversation had fallen silent. She hadn't really intended for them to know these details but she supposed it was no harm now...
"As for names, I have considered a few but I'd love to take suggestions. It's a boy." She gives them a sheepish smile.
Since this did indeed seem to be a question meant for everyone now that they were all listening to her. Might as well.
Re: Inside
[Hospital Waiting Room]
Thariza puts a clawed hand on Ambrosia's shoulder. Her friend has a temper under her calm exterior, that some circumstances bring out.
"Right. Childbirth is pretty scary for the first time. A bit less the second. I didn't have such a large waiting committee when I gave birth, but Charr do it differently," she says in a clear attempt to ease the tension. "The father wasn't there for either of the births, for one thing. Let's keep our tempers down and wait."
[Planar Introductions]
Thariza's tail swishes behind her as she bites into a large platter of ribs and thinks.
"I don't know if you'd like a Charr name, but in case you do... I figured that if I had another male cub, I'd name him Grav. Short and punchy. Or Gashdur, if I wanted to be fancier."
Thariza puts a clawed hand on Ambrosia's shoulder. Her friend has a temper under her calm exterior, that some circumstances bring out.
"Right. Childbirth is pretty scary for the first time. A bit less the second. I didn't have such a large waiting committee when I gave birth, but Charr do it differently," she says in a clear attempt to ease the tension. "The father wasn't there for either of the births, for one thing. Let's keep our tempers down and wait."
[Planar Introductions]
Thariza's tail swishes behind her as she bites into a large platter of ribs and thinks.
"I don't know if you'd like a Charr name, but in case you do... I figured that if I had another male cub, I'd name him Grav. Short and punchy. Or Gashdur, if I wanted to be fancier."
Re: Inside
[Planar Introductions]
Utayo smiles a bit awkwardly. "Oh well, I'm afraid this isn't a matter I've had much experience with. We've, ah, not yet gotten to that point in our own preparations. I'm afraid my suggestions would be out of place anyway, given our distinct cultures."
Utayo smiles a bit awkwardly. "Oh well, I'm afraid this isn't a matter I've had much experience with. We've, ah, not yet gotten to that point in our own preparations. I'm afraid my suggestions would be out of place anyway, given our distinct cultures."
~Images by Soushiyo
Re: Inside
[Hospital Waiting Room]
Cantata looks back towards Fettina and covers her mouth in a pantomimed laugh, attempting to paper over Kirk's rude behavior by simply ignoring it - until Ambrosia snaps and steps towards Kirk, the lights dimming around them. At first her face pales in shock as she watches the dragon chew Kirk out, but then it darkens with a flash of righteous anger. Ambrosia's right! How dare Kirk - she shakes her head. Ugh, no, stop it, this isn't her!
The empath seems to raise a palm to her brow as the burst of fury dies down, wincing at a sudden absence she was entirely unready for. Cautiously, she watches Kirk as she shakes it off, extremely worried as to whether he'll lash out in response. Oh gods, she really hopes she doesn't have to try and hold him back. That's just going to make the... situation between them even more awkward.
Cantata looks back towards Fettina and covers her mouth in a pantomimed laugh, attempting to paper over Kirk's rude behavior by simply ignoring it - until Ambrosia snaps and steps towards Kirk, the lights dimming around them. At first her face pales in shock as she watches the dragon chew Kirk out, but then it darkens with a flash of righteous anger. Ambrosia's right! How dare Kirk - she shakes her head. Ugh, no, stop it, this isn't her!
The empath seems to raise a palm to her brow as the burst of fury dies down, wincing at a sudden absence she was entirely unready for. Cautiously, she watches Kirk as she shakes it off, extremely worried as to whether he'll lash out in response. Oh gods, she really hopes she doesn't have to try and hold him back. That's just going to make the... situation between them even more awkward.
"Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is: are we living a life that is worth the harm?"
~Welcome to Night Vale
SliiArhem wrote:Arkh I may be slightly delirious but I don't think that would make sense even if I was coherent.
Re: Inside
[The Tall Grass]Rebonack wrote: ↑Nov 17, 2022 7:27 pm [The Tall Grass]
Ugh.
What an arrogant butt.
Makes Khannie want to find this guy and just deck him straight in the face. Make him eat those words along with his broken teeth. But first she's gotta find him which is proving more difficult than she would like since he's skulking around in the grass like a cheater.
But then the idiot takes the bait.
CHOMP!
Aaaand the duplicate just blew up violently.
A fun trick she had figured out how to do during her stint as a magical girl. Her magic doesn't work the same way anymore of course so it had been tricky. She's been working on shadow evocations and it had been a real breakthrough to figure out how to tie them to a relatively fragile illusion. Pop the illusion and it goes off like a bomb. Hopefully the snake having an explosion go off right inside its mouth will ruin its day sufficiently.
Khannie doesn't have much time to celebrate, though, since something just swatted her out of the air and into the ground.
Into the ground being pretty literal, here, since she's still insubstantial and just went whizzing straight through it.
Heck.
She doesn't have a ton of fine control when she's doing this since she can't really interact with things and it's all she can do to phase back in as quickly as she can before she goes to deep because this is NOT going to be fun and-
Khannie materializes and immediately gets shunted back to the surface, taking some pretty unpleasant magical distortion in the process. This basically results in her popping out of the ground near Arthfael again and going, "Beans this guy's a pain. What the heck is his deal what am I even fighting?"
In retrospect she probably should have asked that first but hasty will as hasty does.
BOOM!
HREEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH!
When Khannie pokes her head out again, she's going to be treated to the sight of that viper thrashing around with a pretty gratuitous face wound, dripping some unidentifiable black liquid from its mouth before it vanishes into the grass again, still leaving a trail of... blood? Venom? Something, as it moves through the grass. She shouldn't have too much trouble tracking it down again.
"I... I think they're both here." Arthfael replies, backing into the other summons. "I only see Horned Viper, but the Centiped has to be around here some-" The strigoi cuts himself off, suddenly finding himself staring off past Khannie and into the grass.
"...Well, he's officially gone out of his head." The corpulent knight hauls Arthfael onto his shoulder, looking around their immediate area. "Which means we're in without any information. Fantastic."
"Good news is, he told me about this thing before." Peekay offers, along with extending her hand out to help Khannie up. "It's a literal nightmare. I'm not sure how well it tracks with its inspiration, but fighting it is like fighting a bad dream, so I gather. Particularly for your boyfriend." She grimaces. "...Maybe he was right. We should be getting him out of here, at least. Clearly he can't handle it."
[Riftline: An Angel and Me]Thursday Violist wrote: ↑Nov 18, 2022 2:32 am [Riftline: An Angel and Me]
Marianne will probably be disappointed to learn that nothing jumps out at them.
In sanguinem umbram
The woman follows Marianne, looking down aisles and under seats as she follows.
In coronam invocatum
Once Marianne picks up the hat, she'll discover that it feels really moist and slimy and squishy.
O monarcha ques puer erat
And she'll be doubly disappointed when there's nothing on the ceiling looking down at them. Just a normal ceiling.
Iuveneste despinas in coronam secit
In fact, the way to the front just has suspense building. Nothing particularly frightening happens. Just that sense that something may happen at any moment.
Animus et Gladium malectum sanguine proto ingru hostium factuam
The door's locked. It doesn't open.
The glass is also bulletproof glass so...might have to hit it pretty hard if you want to break it.
Throno immortalem providentia hereram in tua vanus insidia tu
As Marianne tries to work on the door:
"Hey," the woman says. She taps Marianne on the shoulder. "The shadows are being weird." She points back behind them, at the rest of the train carriage.
In fact, the shadows being cast from Marianne's glowing hand against all the seats and everything are being weird. They're getting bigger and darker and suddenly there's low and indistinct whispering.
O Dominum Umbros, datoreo terra in ubi nostra turrim instruere
And then a shadow the shape of a hand starts reaching, from the back of the train carriage, towards the front. Its shadowy arm stretches out.
Moving... shadows?
Coming after her?
Oh shit.
Ohshitohshitohshitohshit-
Marianne lets out a terrified scream and pulls the woman back away from the shadows, frantically pounding at the door.
No... no, that's not going to work, is it? She's not physically strong enough to just force it open.
She's trapped.
Trapped in here with something dreadful.
Marianne squeezes her eyes shut and curls up against the door, hands thrown up defensively. "No! No, get back! I'm not ready to go back!"
No fancy new angel powers are going to manifest to save her. All she can do now is just sit and wait for the shadow monster to close in.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Re: Inside
[The Tall Grass]
Yeah!
Eat explosions you dumb snake.
Khannie accepts the hand up and quickly draws her weapons again. "Okay yeah if Arthfael is fainting and stuff we had better leg it. We get him somewhere safe and if these goons decide to follow us we kick 'em in the teeth some more. I GET fighting nightmares. That's what it was like taking Witches on. I can handle that. But if he's gone all floppy we gotta get him somewhere he won't get snagged."
Why the heck would Arthfael make things that he doesn't have any capacity to control?
Or trust for that matter.
Like, the other summons seem pretty helpful maybe?
But the snake and the centipede seem anything but.
More a hindrance than a help.
"Okay let's start baking up. We keep Arthfael guarded until his dorky butt wakes up again."
Yeah!
Eat explosions you dumb snake.
Khannie accepts the hand up and quickly draws her weapons again. "Okay yeah if Arthfael is fainting and stuff we had better leg it. We get him somewhere safe and if these goons decide to follow us we kick 'em in the teeth some more. I GET fighting nightmares. That's what it was like taking Witches on. I can handle that. But if he's gone all floppy we gotta get him somewhere he won't get snagged."
Why the heck would Arthfael make things that he doesn't have any capacity to control?
Or trust for that matter.
Like, the other summons seem pretty helpful maybe?
But the snake and the centipede seem anything but.
More a hindrance than a help.
"Okay let's start baking up. We keep Arthfael guarded until his dorky butt wakes up again."
Re: Inside
Leaving the [Train]
With Eidolon focused on Jason, Kiun jumps up and flaps her wings to take to the air.
Hmm, this could be a perfect time to get away. But they still didn't prove how Eidolon is catching up to them. If the train had worked, that would be one thing, but...it didn't, so they know just as little as before.
Plus, she would feel bad for Jason.
She flicks a ball of fire down towards Eidolon, expecting the creature to be hurt just a little after Hoplite's stab. But it's more important that it be angry than hurt, right now...
Meanwhile, Haru judges the rest of the train useless to them and is making her way towards the torn holes in the side of the car.
With Eidolon focused on Jason, Kiun jumps up and flaps her wings to take to the air.
Hmm, this could be a perfect time to get away. But they still didn't prove how Eidolon is catching up to them. If the train had worked, that would be one thing, but...it didn't, so they know just as little as before.
Plus, she would feel bad for Jason.
She flicks a ball of fire down towards Eidolon, expecting the creature to be hurt just a little after Hoplite's stab. But it's more important that it be angry than hurt, right now...
Meanwhile, Haru judges the rest of the train useless to them and is making her way towards the torn holes in the side of the car.
~Inner Circle~
Character DirectoryRe: Inside
Shadowcaller wrote: ↑Nov 21, 2022 9:01 pm [Hospital Waiting Room]
Ambrosia was exhausted after all the effort it had taken her to get here but that was still no excuse for her next words.
"Are you out of you mind?" She questions as she takes a step towards Kirk. Despite being the shortest person in the room she suddenly seems all the more menacing as the light seems to dim around her. "I knew who she was but I was being polite-" The light across the room starts flickering as she speaks, stepping right into Kirk's personal space. "-which is apparently too much effort for you. But if you can't even keep your act together for the children you've helped put into this world for the painfully brief moments we will spend together then the door is right there-" As she gestures towards the door she came through the fluorescent light above her simply seems to die on the spot.
"-please." She breathes out through her nose, which comes out as billowing black smoke that raises into the air.
Then she suddenly seems to calm down and as soon as she's done so the lights all return to normal. Well, except for the one above her which seem to have suffered more critical damage than the rest.
The nurse seems to study Ambrosia as this is happening, looking surprised to say at least. Yet he doesn't miss a beat once Tina brings up her question. Making him look down at his digital clipboard. "Well, m'am, I am not actually a doctor but I can tell you everything is looking good. We did have to put the snakes out as they were acting aggressive and interfering with our work but otherwise everything is about what you can expect." He looks up at her with a smile as he corrects his glasses. "I can't say how long she will be in there but I don't expect it to be more than a couple of hours. Your friend and the children are going to be just fine."
[Hospital Waiting Room]Arkhosia wrote: ↑Nov 24, 2022 5:58 am [Hospital Waiting Room]
Cantata looks back towards Fettina and covers her mouth in a pantomimed laugh, attempting to paper over Kirk's rude behavior by simply ignoring it - until Ambrosia snaps and steps towards Kirk, the lights dimming around them. At first her face pales in shock as she watches the dragon chew Kirk out, but then it darkens with a flash of righteous anger. Ambrosia's right! How dare Kirk - she shakes her head. Ugh, no, stop it, this isn't her!
The empath seems to raise a palm to her brow as the burst of fury dies down, wincing at a sudden absence she was entirely unready for. Cautiously, she watches Kirk as she shakes it off, extremely worried as to whether he'll lash out in response. Oh gods, she really hopes she doesn't have to try and hold him back. That's just going to make the... situation between them even more awkward.
"Don't be ridiculous. Do you think you have more of a right to be here than me? Get over yourself." If Kirk was just moderately irate before, now his tone cuts like a knife. "You waltz into our lives, make an offer that can't possibly be refused, and do you think we should be grateful? Glad for your presence? I don't have the gall to suggest you leave, but perhaps you can muster some understanding when I'm not polite enough for your standards."
~Images by Soushiyo
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Shadowcaller
- Poster from Beyond the Veil
- Posts: 2856
- Joined: Aug 02, 2022 6:29 am
- Location: Sweden
Re: Inside
[Hospital Waiting Room]
Ambrosia's eyes narrows as Kirk responds, seemingly feeling little to no empathy towards his plight right now. Even just mentioning the possibility of him asking her to leave, even if he had outright dismissing it, seems to make her more furious than anything else.
"I wasn't even talking to you. Yet you're the one objecting like you've given yourself the right to dictate what others should feel offended by." She gestures wildly at Tina who she had ignored just seconds earlier.
"Since no, I don't expect you to have any positive feelings towards me but it speaks volumes that you can't even act like you do. That you have such a high position in an organization offering a service is nothing but astounding as you can apparently barely handle a normal conversation without an emotional outburst."
Ambrosia's eyes narrows as Kirk responds, seemingly feeling little to no empathy towards his plight right now. Even just mentioning the possibility of him asking her to leave, even if he had outright dismissing it, seems to make her more furious than anything else.
"I wasn't even talking to you. Yet you're the one objecting like you've given yourself the right to dictate what others should feel offended by." She gestures wildly at Tina who she had ignored just seconds earlier.
"Since no, I don't expect you to have any positive feelings towards me but it speaks volumes that you can't even act like you do. That you have such a high position in an organization offering a service is nothing but astounding as you can apparently barely handle a normal conversation without an emotional outburst."
Re: Inside
[The Tall Grass]Rebonack wrote: ↑Nov 24, 2022 5:47 pm [The Tall Grass]
Yeah!
Eat explosions you dumb snake.
Khannie accepts the hand up and quickly draws her weapons again. "Okay yeah if Arthfael is fainting and stuff we had better leg it. We get him somewhere safe and if these goons decide to follow us we kick 'em in the teeth some more. I GET fighting nightmares. That's what it was like taking Witches on. I can handle that. But if he's gone all floppy we gotta get him somewhere he won't get snagged."
Why the heck would Arthfael make things that he doesn't have any capacity to control?
Or trust for that matter.
Like, the other summons seem pretty helpful maybe?
But the snake and the centipede seem anything but.
More a hindrance than a help.
"Okay let's start baking up. We keep Arthfael guarded until his dorky butt wakes up again."
"Right. Allen, sourpuss here and I will stay back here and buy you some time." The paladin offers, gesturing toward the oversized knight and the armored wolf. "The rest of you, head for Trog's. From what I remember, the Centiped won't go anywhere near it. You should be safe there." She pauses, and adds, "If we're not there thirty minutes, don't come looking for us. It's not going to be worth it. Just tell Art he's going to need to draw us again, okay?"
"Ugh. Four to one odds in our favor and we're going with a sacrifice play? That's annoying." The knight comments, taking up a defensive stance alongside the chosen summons. He hands off Arthfael to the Warbull and rolls his neck as he waits for the next attempt at an attack.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Re: Inside
[The Tall Grass]
Khannie doesn't like running away.
She does not like running away.
But that's going to be what she's doing if only because this isn't a great place to be fighting something. She could try for a large scale illusion but if this jerk was able to pick her out when she was doing the ghosty thing then she suspects he would make a mess of whatever baffle she created and it would all be a waste of effort.
Which means?
"I'll let him know, thanks," Ghost says as she and the others head off toward Trog's.
...
Huh.
Khannie hasn't ever been to Trog's before, has she?
Not really the sort of place her dad would take her daughter. Hopefully it isn't as weird and crazy as the stories say.
Khannie doesn't like running away.
She does not like running away.
But that's going to be what she's doing if only because this isn't a great place to be fighting something. She could try for a large scale illusion but if this jerk was able to pick her out when she was doing the ghosty thing then she suspects he would make a mess of whatever baffle she created and it would all be a waste of effort.
Which means?
"I'll let him know, thanks," Ghost says as she and the others head off toward Trog's.
...
Huh.
Khannie hasn't ever been to Trog's before, has she?
Not really the sort of place her dad would take her daughter. Hopefully it isn't as weird and crazy as the stories say.
Re: Inside
[Hospital Waiting Room]
Fettina is almost ready to listen to reason from Thariza, but things continue to escalate. Unfortunately for Cantata, she'll feel yet more anger bubbling up in the room, and from someone a lot less conscious of Ambrosia's mighty powers.
Sadly, the helpful nurse's response is ignored in favor of Fettina standing up and stepping right in front of Kirk, between him and Ambrosia. Her wings flare with the sound of crossing swords.
"Hey, bitch," Fettina opens diplomatically, "I don't know who you think you're talking to, or who the fuck you think you even are, but Kirk isn't your little servant boy to be chewed out whenever you feel like it. He's not the one having the tantrum here. So how about you go and take a walk, huh? Or I can toss your skinny ass out of here and you can collect your purchase at the door when we're ready."
Fettina is almost ready to listen to reason from Thariza, but things continue to escalate. Unfortunately for Cantata, she'll feel yet more anger bubbling up in the room, and from someone a lot less conscious of Ambrosia's mighty powers.
Sadly, the helpful nurse's response is ignored in favor of Fettina standing up and stepping right in front of Kirk, between him and Ambrosia. Her wings flare with the sound of crossing swords.
"Hey, bitch," Fettina opens diplomatically, "I don't know who you think you're talking to, or who the fuck you think you even are, but Kirk isn't your little servant boy to be chewed out whenever you feel like it. He's not the one having the tantrum here. So how about you go and take a walk, huh? Or I can toss your skinny ass out of here and you can collect your purchase at the door when we're ready."
-
Thursday Violist
- Coffin-Bound Aged Poster
- Posts: 660
- Joined: Aug 17, 2022 5:44 pm
Re: Inside
[Riftline: An Angel and Me]
The loudness of the whispers around the room is only surpassed by the silence coming from the door. Nobody's on the other side; nobody's going to open.
The shadows keep on reaching, getting closer and closer.
The woman gets pulled back, and grabs on to Marianne. The woman definitely doesn't want to get eaten by these shadow monsters, either. She buries her face.
However, even though Marianne can't just pull out a new angelic power to solve this, she accidentally ends up doing something remarkably helpful. And it actually has a lot to do with one of her powers that she's already shown multiple times. Because the woman is touching the angel, the woman feels that feeling where she's satiated, that everything's alright, and this has been causing more of the black inky nightmare stuff to run down the woman's face and drip to the floor.
What's different this time, though, is the terror that Marianne's feeling, plus the feeling both of them have of being trapped, and all the panic in the train carriage behind them, ends up changing the quality of the quasi-liquid.
Instead of a small arguably-sentient creature forming itself from the liquid, instead an oily-grey woman's hand rises out of it. It grabs onto the approaching shadow, and seems to pull it into the liquid, which only serves to make the black liquid grow. It grows, making the shape of a marquise gem cut. Then it starts manifesting a teal circle that looks like an eye's iris...which the oily-grey woman's upper body starts climbing out of the iris. Oily-grey skin, light grey hair, and a weird eye on the ground. At this angle, it's hard to see but instead of the oily-grey probably-a-person having a face, it's just a big mouth.
More and more shadows get pulled towards the quasi-liquid, making everything look greyer and less sharp.
Then, it starts affecting anything that holds its reflection - the shiny metals, the glass: their reflections become fuzzier and frosted, and their structural integrity goes down, too. The metals start creaking, the sunglasses crack, the (unpowered) light bulbs pop, the glass becomes extremely brittle and fragile....
...enough such that Marianne's frantic pounding on the door causes its big glass window to shatter.
"!" the woman says, when she hears the glass shatter and feels the glass fall around the two of them. She lets go of Marianne and reaches through the window, trying to find the lock to unlock the door.
The loudness of the whispers around the room is only surpassed by the silence coming from the door. Nobody's on the other side; nobody's going to open.
The shadows keep on reaching, getting closer and closer.
The woman gets pulled back, and grabs on to Marianne. The woman definitely doesn't want to get eaten by these shadow monsters, either. She buries her face.
However, even though Marianne can't just pull out a new angelic power to solve this, she accidentally ends up doing something remarkably helpful. And it actually has a lot to do with one of her powers that she's already shown multiple times. Because the woman is touching the angel, the woman feels that feeling where she's satiated, that everything's alright, and this has been causing more of the black inky nightmare stuff to run down the woman's face and drip to the floor.
What's different this time, though, is the terror that Marianne's feeling, plus the feeling both of them have of being trapped, and all the panic in the train carriage behind them, ends up changing the quality of the quasi-liquid.
Instead of a small arguably-sentient creature forming itself from the liquid, instead an oily-grey woman's hand rises out of it. It grabs onto the approaching shadow, and seems to pull it into the liquid, which only serves to make the black liquid grow. It grows, making the shape of a marquise gem cut. Then it starts manifesting a teal circle that looks like an eye's iris...which the oily-grey woman's upper body starts climbing out of the iris. Oily-grey skin, light grey hair, and a weird eye on the ground. At this angle, it's hard to see but instead of the oily-grey probably-a-person having a face, it's just a big mouth.
More and more shadows get pulled towards the quasi-liquid, making everything look greyer and less sharp.
Then, it starts affecting anything that holds its reflection - the shiny metals, the glass: their reflections become fuzzier and frosted, and their structural integrity goes down, too. The metals start creaking, the sunglasses crack, the (unpowered) light bulbs pop, the glass becomes extremely brittle and fragile....
...enough such that Marianne's frantic pounding on the door causes its big glass window to shatter.
"!" the woman says, when she hears the glass shatter and feels the glass fall around the two of them. She lets go of Marianne and reaches through the window, trying to find the lock to unlock the door.
Re: Inside
► SHOW SPOILER
The anger in the room just builds and builds, filling the room like a pressure cooker as Cantata stumbles behind the two and presses a palm to her brow. It lances into her mind with superheated spikes, boiling the brain within, until....
"ENOUGH!" Cantata shouts, her own fury manifesting to propel the silent word into their very minds in waves of frustration as she stomps a heel down and stalks between the coalescing battle lines. She seizes Kirk's wrist in an iron grip, attempting to drag him past Fettina and then grab Ambrosia's hand with a look that swells with resolve and sincerity.
The moment Cantata connects to either person, they'll feel a sudden surge of emotion pour into them. Frustration at how things have deteriorated; disappointment at both of them for failing to stay civil; a dashed, despairing hope for today to be something bright and hopeful, for everyone to leave here in harmony and optimism.
And then, if there aren't wards preventing it, both Ambrosia and Kirk will feel the very emotions propelling the other to fight in the first place - for Ambrosia, the long-suffering weight of seeing someone you care about in pain and discomfort, and for Kirk, the terror of someone standing in the way of you and your child.
This only lasts a second as Cantata tries to constrain the empathic link into a one-way flow from her alone, hoping to maintain a sense of privacy for both of them. She gives the two a chastising look before she finally lets go and severs the connection, steadies herself with a deep breath, and raises her hands to sign. "You're both anxious, you're both uncomfortable - and you're both right to feel that way. But right now, you're lashing out like wounded animals. So please, let's take a deep breath and cool our heads. No matter how we all feel, these children deserve to be welcomed into the world with smiling faces, not anger and rage. Let's at least give them that courtesy."
This is, of course, assuming Cantata's able to grab both parties and establish the link in the first place, or that neither of them are so incensed as to interrupt when she lets go and starts to speak. There's plenty of places anyone could interrupt!
"Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is: are we living a life that is worth the harm?"
~Welcome to Night Vale
SliiArhem wrote:Arkh I may be slightly delirious but I don't think that would make sense even if I was coherent.
Re: Inside
[Riftline: An Angel and Me]
Admittedly, going from having a nightmarish shadow monster closing in around them on all sides to having a nightmarish oil monster isn't much of an improvement. Or at least it wouldn't be, for most people, save for the fact that Marianne no longer has to worry about mistaking it for the Abyss itself opening up to claim an erroneously-placed soul.
No, now it's just your standard-issue human-sized glob of nightmare fuel. Which she's much more ready to deal with.
She'll still need to act quickly, of course. And she does, albeit in a sort of panicky way that doesn't appropriately account for all their circumstances.
First thing's first, she raises her hands and points them at the newly-formed nightmare creature, attempting to put an angelic barrier around it. If she accomplishes nothing else, she wants to contain this creature so it can't hurt either of them.
But, more importantly, once it's in the spherical barrier, she has options for manipulating it, like throwing the barrier out through the newly-shattered train car windows, and therefore off the train, with the monster still inside.
She can worry about the consequences of this (like the fact that she's not certain she can make more than one barrier at a time, and calling one here and now might mean the one at the back of the train disappeared) at a later date. For now, she needs this creature gone.
Admittedly, going from having a nightmarish shadow monster closing in around them on all sides to having a nightmarish oil monster isn't much of an improvement. Or at least it wouldn't be, for most people, save for the fact that Marianne no longer has to worry about mistaking it for the Abyss itself opening up to claim an erroneously-placed soul.
No, now it's just your standard-issue human-sized glob of nightmare fuel. Which she's much more ready to deal with.
She'll still need to act quickly, of course. And she does, albeit in a sort of panicky way that doesn't appropriately account for all their circumstances.
First thing's first, she raises her hands and points them at the newly-formed nightmare creature, attempting to put an angelic barrier around it. If she accomplishes nothing else, she wants to contain this creature so it can't hurt either of them.
But, more importantly, once it's in the spherical barrier, she has options for manipulating it, like throwing the barrier out through the newly-shattered train car windows, and therefore off the train, with the monster still inside.
She can worry about the consequences of this (like the fact that she's not certain she can make more than one barrier at a time, and calling one here and now might mean the one at the back of the train disappeared) at a later date. For now, she needs this creature gone.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Re: Inside
Planar IntroductionsShadowcaller wrote: ↑Nov 22, 2022 8:50 pm Planar Introductions
Ambrosia blinks. "The whole thing..." She shakes her head.
"No, the surrogate is a gorgon. With some aid she's able to give birth to a dragon even if it comes out as humanoid." She glances over to Thariza and Utayo, slowly becoming aware they were now listening in as their conversation had fallen silent. She hadn't really intended for them to know these details but she supposed it was no harm now...
"As for names, I have considered a few but I'd love to take suggestions. It's a boy." She gives them a sheepish smile.
Since this did indeed seem to be a question meant for everyone now that they were all listening to her. Might as well.
"Hm. If it was a girl I'd have said Nectar." From the dragon's face, that was a joke.
"Any child of yours will inherit some of your aesthetics, I think. So something...light. Do you know any particularly pleasant words for wind?" Ambrosia probably speaks more languages than her.
Re: Inside
[Hospital Waiting Room]
Thariza tenses up, ready to take Ambrosia's side in her argument against Kirk, when Cantata steps forward. Now Thariza is ready to physically deal with her if she harms Ambrosia in some way. But she seems to be trying to help? The Charr can't understand her sign language.
Thariza tenses up, ready to take Ambrosia's side in her argument against Kirk, when Cantata steps forward. Now Thariza is ready to physically deal with her if she harms Ambrosia in some way. But she seems to be trying to help? The Charr can't understand her sign language.
Re: Inside
[Hospital Waiting Room]
Kirk's mouth forms into a grimace as Cantata grabs his wrist. He's very nearly on the edge of yanking out of her grip when her power does it's work. His lips form a tight line soon after. As soon as he can, Kirk pulls his hand away and tucks it away in a pocket. He looks irate, but not outright hostile, when he speaks next. "I'm perfectly willing to keep things purely professional, so long as the dragon can avoid short circuiting the building when she hears something she doesn't like." He remarks sharply.
Kirk's mouth forms into a grimace as Cantata grabs his wrist. He's very nearly on the edge of yanking out of her grip when her power does it's work. His lips form a tight line soon after. As soon as he can, Kirk pulls his hand away and tucks it away in a pocket. He looks irate, but not outright hostile, when he speaks next. "I'm perfectly willing to keep things purely professional, so long as the dragon can avoid short circuiting the building when she hears something she doesn't like." He remarks sharply.
~Images by Soushiyo
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Shadowcaller
- Poster from Beyond the Veil
- Posts: 2856
- Joined: Aug 02, 2022 6:29 am
- Location: Sweden
Re: Inside
[Hospital Waiting Room]
Tina getting between her and Kirk is enough to make Ambrosia pause but it's Cantata's shout that actually makes her stop as the empath grabs her hand. If she had actually touched her skin she would have found the notion uncomfortable but that was one of the reasons that even here, in the middle of a hospital, she wore armored gloves.
Her gaze meets Cantata's and she takes a sharp intake of air which turns into a deep calming breath as she gently breaks away from Cantata's hold. She gives her a respectful nod and a gentle "thank you".
But then Kirk spoke up which made her realize that she needed some further distance. So instead of turning back to the other three she looks up at the darkened fluorescent light above her and then looks to Thariza at her side. "Would you mind giving me a boost, Thariza?" She inquires as she gestures up at the malfunctioning light tubes.
Once the charr gives her a much needed boost all that Ambrosia needs to do is put her hand on it and somehow it flickers to life again. Whatever damage her outburst caused seemingly completely undone. "You can put me down now."
It's only once she's back standing on the floor again that she turns to address Kirk and Tina.
"This is new to all of us-" Her gaze fixes firmly to Kirk. "-even if mister Locke should have at least some experience with child-rearing-" There's a sudden sharpness to her tone as she isn't able to resist returning fire after his last comment. "-and as I'm sure you can agree, extremely stressful." The gentleness now returns to her voice as she seems to make a genuine effort here. "But that's not an excuse for my behavior. So I'd like to extend an apology for how I've been acting. It seems I allowed the stress getting to me."
Tina getting between her and Kirk is enough to make Ambrosia pause but it's Cantata's shout that actually makes her stop as the empath grabs her hand. If she had actually touched her skin she would have found the notion uncomfortable but that was one of the reasons that even here, in the middle of a hospital, she wore armored gloves.
Her gaze meets Cantata's and she takes a sharp intake of air which turns into a deep calming breath as she gently breaks away from Cantata's hold. She gives her a respectful nod and a gentle "thank you".
But then Kirk spoke up which made her realize that she needed some further distance. So instead of turning back to the other three she looks up at the darkened fluorescent light above her and then looks to Thariza at her side. "Would you mind giving me a boost, Thariza?" She inquires as she gestures up at the malfunctioning light tubes.
Once the charr gives her a much needed boost all that Ambrosia needs to do is put her hand on it and somehow it flickers to life again. Whatever damage her outburst caused seemingly completely undone. "You can put me down now."
It's only once she's back standing on the floor again that she turns to address Kirk and Tina.
"This is new to all of us-" Her gaze fixes firmly to Kirk. "-even if mister Locke should have at least some experience with child-rearing-" There's a sudden sharpness to her tone as she isn't able to resist returning fire after his last comment. "-and as I'm sure you can agree, extremely stressful." The gentleness now returns to her voice as she seems to make a genuine effort here. "But that's not an excuse for my behavior. So I'd like to extend an apology for how I've been acting. It seems I allowed the stress getting to me."
Last edited by Shadowcaller on Nov 30, 2022 11:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Inside
[Hospital Waiting Room]
Well. Cantie sure handled that. Cantata can surely feel the surprise, calm, and pride that sweeps through Tina as she stands back. She'll try to lightly touch the empath's back when she steps away though, a tiny signal to tell her what a good job she did.
She glances at Kirk. Her mouth quirks up as she watches Ambrosia fix the lights, and Fettina steps out of the way, no longer interceding. Her wings fold up.
"...Likewise," Fettina adds, when Ambrosia is finished speaking to them. It didn't get far, but she didn't exactly try to help deescalate. "...Sorry I called you a bitch, lady. Cantie's right. Just because we're all fucked up and stressed doesn't mean that should be the first thing these kids see."
Well. Cantie sure handled that. Cantata can surely feel the surprise, calm, and pride that sweeps through Tina as she stands back. She'll try to lightly touch the empath's back when she steps away though, a tiny signal to tell her what a good job she did.
She glances at Kirk. Her mouth quirks up as she watches Ambrosia fix the lights, and Fettina steps out of the way, no longer interceding. Her wings fold up.
"...Likewise," Fettina adds, when Ambrosia is finished speaking to them. It didn't get far, but she didn't exactly try to help deescalate. "...Sorry I called you a bitch, lady. Cantie's right. Just because we're all fucked up and stressed doesn't mean that should be the first thing these kids see."
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Thursday Violist
- Coffin-Bound Aged Poster
- Posts: 660
- Joined: Aug 17, 2022 5:44 pm
Re: Inside
[Riftline: An Angel and Me]
Marianne has a good point. If it's just some nightmarish humanlike monster then it's not as bad as the Abyss itself opening up.
The barrier around the newer creature successfully captures it. It starts eating away at the barrier, though, so throwing it off the train is a particularly good idea. Throwing the shadows out of the train would've been pretty hard to do! Fortunately, it can't break at the barrier anywhere fast enough to do anything before it gets thrown out.
After it's out, this front carriage is remarkably quiet. Well, quiet for a place with broken windows and wind blowing past.
The woman has managed to reach through the front door's broken window, unlock it, and then open it. She pulls the curtain aside, and goes into the driver's box area.
"Hey! I found the brakes," she says. "Am I okay to --" she starts asking before realizing that's a pretty dumb question. The oily mouth monster got thrown out the window. Stopping now would mean everyone on the train running through farmland and pastures away from an oil monster thing. Since they've left the tunnel, but instead of emerging in the urban surroundings they're in a rural area.
"Like, I'll probably wait until I can see a station or something up ahead, right?"
Marianne has a good point. If it's just some nightmarish humanlike monster then it's not as bad as the Abyss itself opening up.
The barrier around the newer creature successfully captures it. It starts eating away at the barrier, though, so throwing it off the train is a particularly good idea. Throwing the shadows out of the train would've been pretty hard to do! Fortunately, it can't break at the barrier anywhere fast enough to do anything before it gets thrown out.
After it's out, this front carriage is remarkably quiet. Well, quiet for a place with broken windows and wind blowing past.
The woman has managed to reach through the front door's broken window, unlock it, and then open it. She pulls the curtain aside, and goes into the driver's box area.
"Hey! I found the brakes," she says. "Am I okay to --" she starts asking before realizing that's a pretty dumb question. The oily mouth monster got thrown out the window. Stopping now would mean everyone on the train running through farmland and pastures away from an oil monster thing. Since they've left the tunnel, but instead of emerging in the urban surroundings they're in a rural area.
"Like, I'll probably wait until I can see a station or something up ahead, right?"
Last edited by Thursday Violist on Dec 01, 2022 1:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Inside
[Riftline: An Angel and Me]
"Of course you're-" Marianne stops and comes to the same realization, staring out at the farmland around them, complete with a conspicuous lack of transportation and no strong idea of what direction to go that isn't just "along Riftline, but slower if you get off the train". "...Yeah. Yeah, wait for a station." She agrees, looking out the window behind them to see if the oil monster is following them. "...And see if you can find a radio or something. We should let whatever station we pull into know in advance what kind of stuff we're hauling. Maybe we can't deal with it, but Riftline's security is tight, if I'm not mistaken."
...Unless they're not going to be allowed to stop the train, for the same reasons. If Riftline's security (likely Intersection, in some form or another) somehow can't contain the monster in the back car, then-
"Oh, shit." Marianne swears, running back through the door they came in toward the back car. She'd forgotten all about that thing, in the heat of the moment. If it realized her barrier's gone, it might be going for the other passengers already!
"Of course you're-" Marianne stops and comes to the same realization, staring out at the farmland around them, complete with a conspicuous lack of transportation and no strong idea of what direction to go that isn't just "along Riftline, but slower if you get off the train". "...Yeah. Yeah, wait for a station." She agrees, looking out the window behind them to see if the oil monster is following them. "...And see if you can find a radio or something. We should let whatever station we pull into know in advance what kind of stuff we're hauling. Maybe we can't deal with it, but Riftline's security is tight, if I'm not mistaken."
...Unless they're not going to be allowed to stop the train, for the same reasons. If Riftline's security (likely Intersection, in some form or another) somehow can't contain the monster in the back car, then-
"Oh, shit." Marianne swears, running back through the door they came in toward the back car. She'd forgotten all about that thing, in the heat of the moment. If it realized her barrier's gone, it might be going for the other passengers already!
Who're you? ...Don't matter.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Re: Inside
[Hospital Waiting Room]
Thariza will boost Ambrosia without delay, giving everyone a look as if daring them to question it. Things are simmering down, it seems, and she probably won't have to punch anyone. That would be a really bad example for the kids. Though different cultural standards rear their heads again; it wouldn't be that unusual for Charr. Frowned upon, yes, but not unusual.
Thariza will boost Ambrosia without delay, giving everyone a look as if daring them to question it. Things are simmering down, it seems, and she probably won't have to punch anyone. That would be a really bad example for the kids. Though different cultural standards rear their heads again; it wouldn't be that unusual for Charr. Frowned upon, yes, but not unusual.
Re: Inside
[Hospital Waiting Room]
Her own frustration fading, Cantata's chastisement turns to relief as both parties begin to back down. She wasn't entirely confident that her actions wouldn't be seen as intrusive, and though she imagines Kirk might have some words for her later she is all too happy to return Ambrosia's response with her own smile. The client's feelings matter more than his right now.
"It's perfectly understandable," Cantata simply adds with a nod. "Now," she clasps her hands and looks between the assorted assemblage. "It sounds as if we're stuck here with each other for a while yet. Should we find something more pleasant to discuss, or just sit here in silence?"
Her own frustration fading, Cantata's chastisement turns to relief as both parties begin to back down. She wasn't entirely confident that her actions wouldn't be seen as intrusive, and though she imagines Kirk might have some words for her later she is all too happy to return Ambrosia's response with her own smile. The client's feelings matter more than his right now.
"It's perfectly understandable," Cantata simply adds with a nod. "Now," she clasps her hands and looks between the assorted assemblage. "It sounds as if we're stuck here with each other for a while yet. Should we find something more pleasant to discuss, or just sit here in silence?"
"Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is: are we living a life that is worth the harm?"
~Welcome to Night Vale
SliiArhem wrote:Arkh I may be slightly delirious but I don't think that would make sense even if I was coherent.
-
Shadowcaller
- Poster from Beyond the Veil
- Posts: 2856
- Joined: Aug 02, 2022 6:29 am
- Location: Sweden
Re: Inside
Planar IntroductionsKeeper wrote: ↑Nov 29, 2022 1:33 pm Planar Introductions
"Hm. If it was a girl I'd have said Nectar." From the dragon's face, that was a joke.
"Any child of yours will inherit some of your aesthetics, I think. So something...light. Do you know any particularly pleasant words for wind?" Ambrosia probably speaks more languages than her.
"Nectar? As in a play on 'Ambrosia'?" The scholar inquires with a smile.
By now Thariza would know that 'Ambrosia Ithil' was actually a false name as back home Ambrosia was known as Iseul Sahn. That name apparently drew a lot of attention though so she often used aliases to mask her identity while traveling abroad. It just so happened that the name Ambrosia had stuck around.
"Not sure my ego is quite big enough to name my theoretical daughter after myself." She adds with a polite laugh. "As for 'wind', that would be 'balam'." Though she pronounces it like 'haram'. "Which isn't a bad name as it has many good connotations. It's... not quite what I'm looking for in a name however. I have a preference for unusual and even unique names. So the one I considered myself is 'Ugi', which means monsoon or 'rainy season'. It's hardly what people use as a name but I found it appropriate. It signals great change after all."
She turns to the others. "What do you think of that? I'm still trying it out in my head. But even if I would go with it I might also give him a human name so do feel free to come with more suggestions."
Re: Inside
[Planar Introductions]
"I would suggest that you follow your inclinations. It's your decision first and foremost. If a particular direction pulls at you, follow it." Utayo proposes.
[Hospital Waiting Room]
Kirk gives Ambrosia a displeased scowl, but decides to hold his tongue this time. He steps away from the group and goes to stand moodily by the door out of the room, eyes directed through the small window in the door.
"I would suggest that you follow your inclinations. It's your decision first and foremost. If a particular direction pulls at you, follow it." Utayo proposes.
[Hospital Waiting Room]
Kirk gives Ambrosia a displeased scowl, but decides to hold his tongue this time. He steps away from the group and goes to stand moodily by the door out of the room, eyes directed through the small window in the door.
~Images by Soushiyo
Re: Inside
[Planar Introductions]
"Ugi is short, but punchy. It could work. I knew a tank driver once whose name was Yul." A rib cracks in Tharia's jaws "Mono-syllabic names have a charm to them."
"Ugi is short, but punchy. It could work. I knew a tank driver once whose name was Yul." A rib cracks in Tharia's jaws "Mono-syllabic names have a charm to them."