StrangeSpeeder
New member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2022
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 7
Meave sighed, as she stood in line, among a weary crowd of grey cloaked figures. The line moved, nearly in unison, she herself jolted as another bumped into her from behind, grumbling as she stepped forward into place. Then, she glared behind her, only to frown as it wasn't a face she saw. Wrapped in the strange, grey cloak, where a face might have otherwise have rested, was a theater mask. One that sported an exaggerated frown.
"W-what?" She stumbled backwards- into another member of the line. Meave watched the two- bewildered and nervous. But neither seemed to react, not to her sudden 'absence' nor her jostling of the other. She glanced back and forth along the entire line- each figure equidistant from another, no distinguishing features. Beyond their masks, which were all slightly different, in spite of typically sporting a... less than enthused expression.
It was only then, that she stood up, she dimly recalled the events preceding this, even in only the vaugest of reccolections. That she had expressed concern over Tatt's confusion of the fireflie's existance, shortly after deer girl had volunteered to be first. That Tatts, and a few others, had joined in shortly after. She didn't quite recall the act of actually imbibing the blood of the witch.
"Ahh.. haha, right, this is all just... Right, not real." She took a breath, and brought her hand up to her chin as she looked around, curious as to what this was all supposed to mean... only to feel something cold and hard where her face ought to have been. Perhaps, later, she would regret her impulse to lower her hand and ignore it, to never check what her own mask was. But she really didn't feel she was prepared for that sort of introspection at the moment, rather than the more immediate issue of reaffirming her purpose, and lighting her fire.
She took stock of the surrounding environment- the line she was in seemed to be for a building that, its output line of people carried out of some sort of bundles... rations, maybe? Maybe it didn't matter. It wasn't the only one, either. A street, stretching into a thick fog in both directions. The fog gave her something of an ominious feeling. The only sources of light, were lanterns, rather haphazardly distributed throughout the area, in opposition to the very samey looking buildings and figures.
She watched further, curious, as she stalked what space there was available, observing as the figured... people? Went about their business, with grim expressions all. "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to know where I'd, light a fire would you?" She stopped infront of one- only for it to bowl her over, in seemingly complete ignorance of her existance, as it quickly stormed off to another workshop of some sort.
"Right then. Thought not." She complained from her position on the ground, in the middle of the street. She was forced to get back up in short order, as others strode on heedless of her presence. With a frown, she followed them, and looked on the town a bit closer as she did so. All concrete grey, glass, and metal- there wouldn't be any wood to burn here. And although the people annoyed her with how they ignored her so thoroughly- she surely wouldn't be burning them, either.
Each building seemed alarmingly similar- brutal functionality in every one. Which was what caused a mild suprise and alarm as she slammed into the back of the bundle carrying figure she had been following as they abruptly turned and entered a building on the left. In her efforts to follow however, out of nowhere a stern, larger figure with an angry mask appeared and barred her way. As she leaned from side to side- yes, its gaze was most certainly on her. It was only when she took a step back did it too, return to ignoring her- but it did not leave its post in guarding the door.
With a bitter frown, a complaint came to her lips unprompted "Right, only pay attention to me when i'm doing something wrong." She blinked, and shook her head after the fact, although the intrusive thought remained. As a distraction, she watched the unmarked building with the guard for some time longer- the bundle carrying figures entering, but none left. Rather frustrated, she turned about just intime to see the fog encroaching on the street from a dark alley- and subsume an unfortunate pedestrian on its way to her.
It happened in moments- a terrified backpedeling, right into the arms of another figure, a bright light casting a shadow of herself into the fog- which stopped like it hit a wall. She gulped, and looked up to see a wide brim hat, and another stern, yet sad theater mask. Around her waist- one of the hands around her protectively carried a lantern- much brighter, fresher than the rest on the streets.
It was only moments later it, like everyone else, went back to ignoring her after it repositioned to be between the fog and herself. She glanced around- to see similar scenes elsewhere. And occasionally, flickering, discarded lanterns that were only barely holding it back elsewhere, with no one watching over them. It was... functioning, whatever it was. It kept the fog back... but it was depressing, ugly, and no one enjoyed this.
It was a distressingly familiar scene, overall, as difficult as it was for her to put it into coherent thoughts. But, with the neurons making a distant connection, why not follow through, on those vague feelings, and repeat history as it were?
"Excuse me, sir or madam- would you like to pick a card?" She stopped a slightly less busy figure, a grin under her mask. Who said the fire had to be literal? It was something of a blur, after that, but as she continued, she slowly gathered a crowd- not a large one, but an interested one, no longer sporting the overly sad theater masks- instead, alternatively focused, intrigued, or a few even happy ones.
But she was careful to not stop too many- they had jobs to do, and she couldn't bring everyone's spirits up at once- nor did she want attention so badly as to compromise an entire society for the sake of such a selfish desire- but feeling good from lifting some spirits, displaying her skills, and receiving temporary undivided attention from a small crowd? With each, she felt a warmth grow in her chest. Although some would leave to continue their duties- their masks didn't change, most sporting a smile... and the warm- bordering on hot feeling in her chest did not abate.
Perhaps, it was just her imagination as she bowed out, but those she had touched with her performance, seemed to move just a bit faster than their counterparts. As the world faded around her, she reveled in the feeling of... warmth in her chest- which made it all the most startling as the cold struck her like an angry matron.
~ ~ ~
Like a startled, wet cat she clawed and hopped her way out of the pond as soon as she could.
"Oh- by the wyrd- that's cold... at least we finally got something like a bath- ahem." She glanced over at Tatts, who apparently had felt similarly... and looked the part of a wet cat as well, for that matter.
"Heh- ah- well! I suppose, given that we're going to be working together for the rest of our lives I expect, those of us that have passed this and those to come... We may as well share our names, rather than fear to get attached to those liable to disappear as soon as we look away... I'm Meave. A pleasure!" Her confident smirk was somewhat undercut by her wobbly knees as she shivered against the cold water soaked deep into her clothes.
"... that was why we never shared any of our names with eachother and just called eachother nicknames or 'hey you' right?"
"W-what?" She stumbled backwards- into another member of the line. Meave watched the two- bewildered and nervous. But neither seemed to react, not to her sudden 'absence' nor her jostling of the other. She glanced back and forth along the entire line- each figure equidistant from another, no distinguishing features. Beyond their masks, which were all slightly different, in spite of typically sporting a... less than enthused expression.
It was only then, that she stood up, she dimly recalled the events preceding this, even in only the vaugest of reccolections. That she had expressed concern over Tatt's confusion of the fireflie's existance, shortly after deer girl had volunteered to be first. That Tatts, and a few others, had joined in shortly after. She didn't quite recall the act of actually imbibing the blood of the witch.
"Ahh.. haha, right, this is all just... Right, not real." She took a breath, and brought her hand up to her chin as she looked around, curious as to what this was all supposed to mean... only to feel something cold and hard where her face ought to have been. Perhaps, later, she would regret her impulse to lower her hand and ignore it, to never check what her own mask was. But she really didn't feel she was prepared for that sort of introspection at the moment, rather than the more immediate issue of reaffirming her purpose, and lighting her fire.
She took stock of the surrounding environment- the line she was in seemed to be for a building that, its output line of people carried out of some sort of bundles... rations, maybe? Maybe it didn't matter. It wasn't the only one, either. A street, stretching into a thick fog in both directions. The fog gave her something of an ominious feeling. The only sources of light, were lanterns, rather haphazardly distributed throughout the area, in opposition to the very samey looking buildings and figures.
She watched further, curious, as she stalked what space there was available, observing as the figured... people? Went about their business, with grim expressions all. "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to know where I'd, light a fire would you?" She stopped infront of one- only for it to bowl her over, in seemingly complete ignorance of her existance, as it quickly stormed off to another workshop of some sort.
"Right then. Thought not." She complained from her position on the ground, in the middle of the street. She was forced to get back up in short order, as others strode on heedless of her presence. With a frown, she followed them, and looked on the town a bit closer as she did so. All concrete grey, glass, and metal- there wouldn't be any wood to burn here. And although the people annoyed her with how they ignored her so thoroughly- she surely wouldn't be burning them, either.
Each building seemed alarmingly similar- brutal functionality in every one. Which was what caused a mild suprise and alarm as she slammed into the back of the bundle carrying figure she had been following as they abruptly turned and entered a building on the left. In her efforts to follow however, out of nowhere a stern, larger figure with an angry mask appeared and barred her way. As she leaned from side to side- yes, its gaze was most certainly on her. It was only when she took a step back did it too, return to ignoring her- but it did not leave its post in guarding the door.
With a bitter frown, a complaint came to her lips unprompted "Right, only pay attention to me when i'm doing something wrong." She blinked, and shook her head after the fact, although the intrusive thought remained. As a distraction, she watched the unmarked building with the guard for some time longer- the bundle carrying figures entering, but none left. Rather frustrated, she turned about just intime to see the fog encroaching on the street from a dark alley- and subsume an unfortunate pedestrian on its way to her.
It happened in moments- a terrified backpedeling, right into the arms of another figure, a bright light casting a shadow of herself into the fog- which stopped like it hit a wall. She gulped, and looked up to see a wide brim hat, and another stern, yet sad theater mask. Around her waist- one of the hands around her protectively carried a lantern- much brighter, fresher than the rest on the streets.
It was only moments later it, like everyone else, went back to ignoring her after it repositioned to be between the fog and herself. She glanced around- to see similar scenes elsewhere. And occasionally, flickering, discarded lanterns that were only barely holding it back elsewhere, with no one watching over them. It was... functioning, whatever it was. It kept the fog back... but it was depressing, ugly, and no one enjoyed this.
It was a distressingly familiar scene, overall, as difficult as it was for her to put it into coherent thoughts. But, with the neurons making a distant connection, why not follow through, on those vague feelings, and repeat history as it were?
"Excuse me, sir or madam- would you like to pick a card?" She stopped a slightly less busy figure, a grin under her mask. Who said the fire had to be literal? It was something of a blur, after that, but as she continued, she slowly gathered a crowd- not a large one, but an interested one, no longer sporting the overly sad theater masks- instead, alternatively focused, intrigued, or a few even happy ones.
But she was careful to not stop too many- they had jobs to do, and she couldn't bring everyone's spirits up at once- nor did she want attention so badly as to compromise an entire society for the sake of such a selfish desire- but feeling good from lifting some spirits, displaying her skills, and receiving temporary undivided attention from a small crowd? With each, she felt a warmth grow in her chest. Although some would leave to continue their duties- their masks didn't change, most sporting a smile... and the warm- bordering on hot feeling in her chest did not abate.
Perhaps, it was just her imagination as she bowed out, but those she had touched with her performance, seemed to move just a bit faster than their counterparts. As the world faded around her, she reveled in the feeling of... warmth in her chest- which made it all the most startling as the cold struck her like an angry matron.
~ ~ ~
Like a startled, wet cat she clawed and hopped her way out of the pond as soon as she could.
"Oh- by the wyrd- that's cold... at least we finally got something like a bath- ahem." She glanced over at Tatts, who apparently had felt similarly... and looked the part of a wet cat as well, for that matter.
"Heh- ah- well! I suppose, given that we're going to be working together for the rest of our lives I expect, those of us that have passed this and those to come... We may as well share our names, rather than fear to get attached to those liable to disappear as soon as we look away... I'm Meave. A pleasure!" Her confident smirk was somewhat undercut by her wobbly knees as she shivered against the cold water soaked deep into her clothes.
"... that was why we never shared any of our names with eachother and just called eachother nicknames or 'hey you' right?"