Riful's Heart.

[dramatispersonae]

[everything goes away.]

[sight, sound, taste, touch, smell - you lose yourself to the nothing that waits through the doorway. do you have a body? a mind? what is such a thing? for a dizzying moment, you might not even be sure you have a "you" to identify these concepts with.]

[then, wrenching and violent, the confusion of the senses pummels itself back inside you like seasoning pounded into raw meat, and you're left, painfully sensate, on an open plain.]

Comments

[madasahero]

[Points at the tower]

More importantly, who is this?

[He has a very good guess, though]

[oh_brother]

Onyx ... and these swords resemble something I saw in a memory once.

[very lightly reaching out to brush one with his hand]

[amivoringyou]

[the blade is warm to the touch. a faint twinge might pass between the metal and your skin? but maybe it's your imagination.]

[oh_brother]

[dlksfj; jerks his hand back instinctively]

[madasahero]

What was that?

[Looking for the most preserved sword he can find. One that might still be of some use. Maybe two.]

[amivoringyou]

[the blades are scratched from heavy use, scored on edge and flat alike by thin ribbon-scars. even a short glance at a single blade reveals its sharp edges are not very sharp at all where they haven't been eaten away by the thin cuts. the metal betrays only a hint of its former lustre, reflecting the sky with a dull sheen.]

[the runes at the blade base are no easier to make out this close than they were before. whatever left them so defaced, it was either very thorough or so carelessly over-destructive the difference is meaningless in the aftermath.]

[oh_brother]

I don't know. I felt something strange.

[resting his hand on the blade again, since there's no way he's strong enough to carry one himself]

[amivoringyou]

[the hilt thrums against your hand, a gentle sensation but obvious to the touch.]

[oh_brother]

[removes his hand once again]

In the memory I saw, she was in a cave of some kind. I think I will investigate that quickly and hope that will count as doing enough for Dream to let me out.

[madasahero]

Hmm, I'm not sure if that's how it works. Regardless, I'm walking towards the tower.

[Starts doing so.]

[oh_brother]

... I don't know what else to do. But good luck.

[annnd I'm off for the tombs]

[amivoringyou]

[the trees come no nearer than they were when you first took notice, but their features grow clearer, sharper: the top branches rustle, a loud and purposeful motion, and for a moment you feel something grow aware of you, the inhuman pressure immense enough to break through to even the least impressionable wills. the feeling passes as the trees grow still once more.]

[the mounds may seem to draw closer together, though the huddling does not seem overtly menacing ... if it's happening at all.]

[oh_brother]

[oohhhh shit. the pressure causes him to stop in his tracks for a moment, looking for any sign of what caused it.]

[amivoringyou]

[the swords stand vigil over your path, looming distance-markers as the ground passes under your feet. the hillside rumbles up from the ground before you, a defiant edifice against the ominous sky. Onyx's tower top slides behind the uppermost visible part of the "mountain"; as it disappears, a previously-unnoticed blotch of shadowy motion scuffles away from the edge, a scattering of loose pebbles falling down the mountainside the only sign it was ever there, ever real.]

[the stone-brick houses buried in the hills above you wear their decrepit state with grim fortitude, standing proud despite caved roofs and collapsed sides. there are no obvious paths to them or visible entrances save the small, dark slits that function for windows.]

[perhaps the builders expected all their visitors to be able to scale the rock?]

[madasahero]

[Paying attention to every movement, every change, arms poised just slightly away from his body, ready to strike in case of an attack. He is still looking for intact swords, and still climbing the rocks, towards where the tower once was.]

[amivoringyou]

[the mountainside is sharply inclined but craggy; with enough arm strength and/or careful footing, a half-hour's work will see you to the top ... or to one of the buildings and cave entrances that dot the landscape.]

[a lonely bush sticks out to the left, halfway up, in the direction of one of the caved-in houses.]

[identityformations]

Onyx. So...that young girl?

[madasahero]

[nods]

That's my best guess.

She is not a girl at all, though. So please be careful.

[identityformations]

[ps he is clearly a lot less happier than whenever you last saw him]

What, then?

[madasahero]

[notices]

Something else. We are her prey.

[identityformations]

[mrf]

Right then. So I suppose it's going to be dangerous in here.

[madasahero]

[nods]

Ah, most likely.

[identityformations]

[doesn't...particularly seem to be caring]

Any idea where we should go?

[madasahero]

[Shakes his head]

...I'm going to the tower

[identityformations]

Makes sense.

[is probably not following you though]