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Post by Ashe on Apr 24, 2020 20:49:41 GMT -6
The world went black.
And then he woke up. Ashe was laying sprawled on his back in the woods in front of the Mansion. Sun was filtering in through the leaves above and he could see the blue sky. He was nervous to move, remembering vividly how he had split apart at the seams, like a wooden puppet toy. He tensed, bracing himself, and moved his arms. They both seemed there, his shoulders could shrug. He brought his right arm up and marveled at the fact that it was, one, attached and two, his hand was back. His arms were both in one piece, so to speak, and they moved freely without pain. He glanced around, seeking out his Sarane. Gremlin was right there next to him, the leash still wrapped around his wrist, keeping Grem from running away. He was seated, tail swishing lightly as he snapped his gummy jaws at a butterfly. Relief washed through Ashe with such a force it almost knocked him out again.
Gremlin: 3 1/5 Ashe: 0 16/20 [Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP] April Post 16
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Post by Ashe on Apr 24, 2020 21:12:19 GMT -6
Next he had to check his legs. He went through the same process basically, though he started at his toes and made sure they wiggled in a way that he could feel. Then he bent his knees, then pulled them to his chest to make sure his hips worked. Yep. Every appendage was accounte- wait. He reached down and checked everything. Yep, every appendage was accounted for. Nothing was amiss, and he didn’t even feel bad. Maybe a little bit winded, from the shock and perhaps when he fell from the standing position, but other than that… It had been a dream. No, not a dream, a nightmare. With a groan, he realized what that cloudy thing was. It was a nightmare. He hauled himself to a sitting position, then climbed to his feet. Grem was right there with him, eagerly greeting him, making him worry he’d been passed out for a long time. Surely it couldn’t be more than a few minutes!
Gremlin: 3 2/5 Ashe: 0 17/20 [Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP] April Post 17
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Post by Ashe on Apr 24, 2020 21:17:32 GMT -6
Ashe sighed and stretched his back out, arching and waving his arms slowly above his head. Various bones cracked through his body, each one making him groan softly in pleasure. It felt good to stand up and feel completely whole again. Falling for what seemed like an eternity was a weight he didn’t like to carry. He shook himself and decided to start moving again. He gave a tug on the leash to get Grem to return to him, which he did, but then they both stopped. A number of strange bottles sat in front of them. A couple in a bush, one under the bush, and one in the middle of the path in front of them. Various other things, dreamlike in appearance, were nearby as well. A mask. A mirror. A rubber snake - or at least Ashe hopped it was rubber and not poisonous, because Grem hurried over and grabbed it up in his mouth, shaking it. He decided to allow the hatchling to have his toy, but gathered up the rest.
Gremlin: 3 3/5 Ashe: 0 18/20 [Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP] April Post 18
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Post by Ashe on Apr 24, 2020 21:23:02 GMT -6
There was a lovely dragonfly buzzing around the final bottle that Ashe gathered up. It landed on his head, right smack dab on his nose, and fluttered its wings there. It seemed content to just settle and wait, but then its wings started vibrating against Ashe’s cheeks. He almost felt that same weightlessness that he’d felt when going into the nightmare and he started, jerking. The dragonfly dislodged and fluttered off, but it stayed nearby. Ashe was cautious; if a nightmare gave him that kind of dream, what would a dragonfly give? Perhaps he would be eaten in that one, and Ashe didn’t have time to deal with that right now. He started on ahead, Grem walking along with him. Ashe was surprised when he spotted daylight ahead of him, not just above him. Were they getting out of the forest at last? Dare he hope? He found that he was picking up the pace, his legs stretching out to take longer strides.
Gremlin: 3 4/5 Ashe: 0 19/20 [Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP] April Post 19
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Post by Ashe on Apr 24, 2020 21:28:21 GMT -6
And then - they were free of the forest! It was grassland between him and the mansion now. He hurried out, hoping to leave the trippy dreams behind him. It took a few moments before he glanced down at Gremlin, but then when he did, he was shocked to find out that he was no longer the gooey dragon. He didn’t know where the gunk had gone, but Gremlin was himself again, sharp teeth and claws included! Ashe could have cheered, but he held it in, controlling himself. He did, however, dip down to give his buddy a pat on the back, happy to be able to touch the scaley skin again. ”If that was just the forest.. Imagine what the mansion will be like!” Ashe told Gremlin conversationally. The hatchling didn’t seem bothered at all and hurried forward, to the end of his leash, and Ashe allowed himself to be dragged behind.
But what he didn’t see was that a night terror and a dragonfly were following him.
Gremlin: 4 0/5 Ashe: 1 0/20 [Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP] April Post 20
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Post by Renathan on Apr 24, 2020 21:32:21 GMT -6
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Post by Ashe on Apr 26, 2020 15:36:20 GMT -6
Suddenly in front of them, the ground split open. It wasn’t a loud roar, it didn’t come with a pop, it was just suddenly opening in a spiral pattern and Ashe found himself stumbling backward so fast he tripped on his own feet and sat down hard on his rear. Gremlin almost fell in when the hole stopped inches in front of them, and let out a shrill cry as his claws struggled to find purchase on the soft grassy ground. He scurried back to Ashe and hid behind him, seeing the human as safe if nothing else. ”Well, shit, that was close!” Ashe gasped, watching the hole closely to make sure it didn’t get any bigger on his watch. It seemed to stay there, still and pristine. Now, this was a real hole, right? Not just some fancy imagery? He reached around, trying to find something to grab hold of, something he could throw into the hole for an experiment.
Gremlin: 4 1/5 Ashe: 1 1/20 [Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP] April Post 21
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Post by Ashe on Apr 26, 2020 15:36:33 GMT -6
Ashe’s questing hand found a stick. It wasn’t very large, and looked like it belonged to a bush rather than a tree, but it was what he needed so he grabbed it and tossed it into the hole. Like he suspected, it fell down the hole. So the hole was real. He put a hand on his Sarane to encourage him to stay back and not fall in himself, then Ashe pulled himself to his hands and knees and crawled over to the hole, peeking down into it. He could see the branch still falling. How comical - it looked like it was simply hanging in midair right there, not falling any further. He watched it, trying to dispel the illusion, but… It really seemed stuck right there, hovering about twenty feet down. It never got smaller. And then, in a sudden flash that wasn’t exactly light, the stick fell past Ashe’s head from above and continued to fall down the hole again.
Gremlin: 4 2/5 Ashe: 1 2/20 [Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP] April Post 22
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Post by Ashe on Apr 26, 2020 15:36:44 GMT -6
Startled, Ashe recoiled and landed back on his ass again. What the hell? He watched a while longer, and in three minutes, the stick fell from the sky again! What was going on here? Ashe decided he didn’t, in fact, want to find out, so he grabbed his Sarane hatchling, much to Grem’s displeasure, and booked it around the hole, keeping a healthy distance between himself and it. This would take longer to get to the mansion this way, but maybe, just maybe, he might actually make it to the mansion instead of being swallowed up again. Gremlin continued to squirm and protest, but Ashe had a firm grip behind his arms, where only the tail was battering him, and that he could handle. It didn’t take as long as Ashe thought, to make his way around and past the sinkhole, and soon he was in sight of the mansion ahead. What he didn’t see was the dragonfly flying up to him, or the (spent) nightmares floating behind.
Gremlin: 4 3/5 Ashe: 1 3/20 [Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP] April Post 23
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Post by Ashe on Apr 26, 2020 15:36:57 GMT -6
Ashe could see the door now! He wanted to hurry over to it, to sprint, to run right up and disappear inside! But he knew better by now that anything could happen between him and his destination, so he tread carefully across the dangerous ground. One foot in front of the other, on solid ground, was all he cared about at the moment. He kept his eyes mostly cast downward, guardingly, watching for holes and shifts in the dirt. Grem had given up for now and watched the world flash by as the human carried him. Then he saw something shiny and squirmed anew. This alerted Ashe to a change and, as the man cast about for what might have caused it, Grem flipped himself around and managed to break free from his grasp, dropping to the ground. Ashe swatted for him, but caught only the leash. At least he had that! He gave a tug just as Grem lunged forward- then he saw what the hatchling wanted, and he wanted it too.
Gremlin: 4 4/5 Ashe: 1 4/20 [Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP] April Post 24
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Post by Ashe on Apr 26, 2020 15:37:08 GMT -6
As it would turn out, there were two bottles of...something, sitting there off to the side. They seemed to be the common collector’s item here during this celebration, Ashe thought. Like the shells he found all over in the later months, or the coins or other such things he tossed into the wishing well at the end. He picked up the pace to beat Gremlin there, before he could destroy these items, and scooped them up from right under the baby’s nose. He pocketed them, where they would sit and clink with the other bottles he’d already collected. ”Great find, big guy!” Ashe said to his little Sarane. Grem snapped at his fingers, upset Ashe had stolen his toys, but the man repented, handing over a meaty treat for the Sarane to enjoy. While this would never compare to the wonderment and fun he might have had with the bottles, Gremlin was happy to receive the treat.
Gremlin: 5 0/5 Ashe: 1 5/20 [Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP] April Post 25
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Post by Ashe on Apr 26, 2020 15:37:31 GMT -6
The young sarane munched on the strip of meat Ashe’d given him, now oblivious for all intents and purposes to the goings on around him. It wouldn’t last long, but the jerky was harder to chew and would distract him for a minute at least. Ashe used his time wisely to look around for other goodies that might be hiding. Where one item might be, there could always be another! And no sooner had he thought this, then his eyes landed upon a deck of cards. It looked like a deck of cards, anyway. He scooped the box up and opened it, curious to see what kind of cards they were. As he pulled them out and fanned them, looking over the pretty pictures on them. Wait a minute… These looked like the cards Jinx had and used to predict the future. Would these work, he wondered? If he were to try? Or did you have to be a psychic like her?
Gremlin: 5 1/5 Ashe: 1 6/20 [Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP] April Post 26
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Post by Ashe on Apr 26, 2020 15:37:42 GMT -6
It would be worth a shot to try, Ashe figured. What was the worst that could happen? The cards be wrong? He chuckled to himself, knowing that wasn’t near enough of a reason to keep him from doing anything. He could either see what was coming, or disprove these things once and for all. He shuffled the deck and picked a card at random, holding it up as if letting the universe see. The card he chose was… The Fool. Ashe realized two things in this moment; One, that he didn’t know what the cards meant anyway, so he couldn’t even begin to figure out what they were saying to him, and two, he did not like being called a fool by these silly cards! He scowled and replaced the deck, then pocketed it. A gift for Jinx, then! He gave a tug on the leash and Gremlin let out a hiss of protest. ”I don’t wanna hear it, let’s go.”
Gremlin: 5 2/5 Ashe: 1 7/20 [Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP] April Post 27
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Post by Ashe on Apr 26, 2020 15:37:53 GMT -6
He didn’t get too far before something else came to his attention. But this was a more welcome feeling, a thrill of excitement sparking through his bones, a feeling of longing and a pull toward something. This feeling might have freaked out someone lesser than Ashe, but the man knew this feeling well. Magic was nearby. Probably a crystal of some sort, probably one of those remnants that made hollow nodes considering he’d never seen an elemental one in the Mansion before. Now where… He scanned the area, trying to feel where it was coming from. ”Come on, Grem, help me. Do you feel it? Can you feel the magic?” He soon found the direction to go, like a compass honing in on a location, and he tugged the Sarane after him. Grem walked along, not protesting too much. At least they were moving! He sniffled around in the grass, looking for something interesting. He found a bug and ate it, crunching happily.
Gremlin: 5 3/5 Ashe: 1 8/20 [Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP] April Post 28
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Post by Ashe on Apr 26, 2020 15:38:11 GMT -6
The feeling was getting stronger and stronger the closer Ashe got. Finally, he felt like he was going to burn up or pass out, which was a dramatic way of explaining the feeling that was the magical tug of a crystal. Ashe looked up, looked down, looking for where it could be, and there seemed to be one solution… There was an odd series of plants in front of him, sort of like large flowers. Flytraps maybe? But they were closed, their petals shut like mouths. They had huge heads…What if the crystal was inside one of these? Without much hesitation, Ashe reached out and touched one of them. At his touch, the flower opened up, revealing some sharp fangs. It lunged forward to attack him, and Ashe barely pulled his hand away in time. Gremlin let out a shriek, startled and shocked, but this time he hissed and lunged back, not giving into terror. ”Sorry, Mr. Flower, but I’m looking for something.”
Gremlin: 5 4/5 Ashe: 1 9/20 [Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP] April Post 29
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