(no subject)

[indigo_events]

Who: Everyone who wandered into the nightmare forest!

Where: Inside the nightmare forest!

When: October 22nd-29th

Summary: The culmination of weeks of worsening bad dreams comes when all that accumulated power is enough for the Pokemon to sprout an entire forest meant to trap people and harvest even more power. Now people from all over are lost in the woods...with very little distinction between what's real and what's not.

Log:



Whether by being drawn in or by simple curiosity (or poor decision making skills), people and their Pokemon have wandered in amongst the trees that have sprouted overnight. Only to find that once inside? There doesn't seem to be any way back out. No sunlight can pierce through the dense foliage overhead, but there is an eerie sort of green-tinted light with no source that gives people enough light to see by. The thickness of the woods varies--in some points it’s practically easy to move forward, and in others the trees are so close together that your character might have to squeeze between them. Phantump flit through the air and Drowzee can be seen occasionally running along the ground.

And in the background, a Trevenant and a Hypno watch. And wait.

Wait for these lost souls to finally drift off into sleep.


Full event info and questions can be found here!

Comments

Envy | Open!

[exeggutorhead]

[The City Dream]

You're standing on a cobblestone street, lined with stone buildings that look like they're straight out of an old European town. It's almost unremarkable, except for how empty and dead the place is, and how dim, like a particularly overcast day. There is no wind or breeze at all. If you look up, you'll see that the reason for the gloom is the stone ceiling of an impossibly vast cavern. Really, there shouldn't be any light to see by at all, but somehow there is. All around you and even crawling up the sides, there is an old, dead city.

Ahead of you, the street leads to a building something like a cathedral, with the flickering glow of lanterns coming from somewhere within. It's the only building with any light or warmth at all, but listening to your gut might tell you that it may be less safe than it seems. Off to the left, a narrow street seems to lead to a large opening in the cave wall, through which the sound of a waterfall and what looks like sunlight can be seen. If you go to the right, there is the whole broken city. And behind you, the road leads to an elevator with an elaborate wire frame, the rail running up and up and up into the dark, impossible to see the top of.

There are racing footsteps nearby, echoing in the heavy silence, but it's hard to tell where exactly the sound is coming from...it could be from any of those directions.

So...where to?

[The Woods]

Envy can't seem to find his way out of the damn city anymore, not even waking. Among the trees, old grey stone walls rise from nowhere, with no rhyme or reason, and between the roots and in the windows, shadowy little figures with bright purple eyes and too white teeth stare and grin and watch. A Zoroark walks so close beside him that she's nearly stepping on him, her eyes darting around warily and her teeth bared.

And, for the record, Envy's teeth are all but bared too. All he wants in the world is out of this damned forest, away from the city and the dreams, back to where he knows what's even going on. Catching sight of the Trevenant again, the huge Pokemon watching from a distance that Envy knows by now he's not going to be able to cross, is the last damn straw.

"Hey! Hey, you bastard, I'm going to turn you into kindling if I catch you! Asshole!"

Not that pitching a violent tantrum will help in the slightest, but you know what? He's exhausted, he's angry, he doesn't care if it's going to help or not. Or that picking up a branch off the ground and flinging it as hard as he can in the Trevenant's direction isn't going to help either. It makes him feel better.

[Wildcard]

Envy has about four hundred years' worth of death, destruction, and all manner of horrors to have bad dreams about, and anybody who has something else in mind/has something pre-planned, this prompt is for you!

lets just get fucked up (city)

[pipers_son]

While things are still.... Joker can't say it's quiet and calm, not with how the silence is oppressive and those frantic footsteps set off alarm bells in his head. Yet for now, he's still on his own, and he'll take that for what it's worth as he takes in a deep breath.

He's getting sick of this... of being so exhausted no matter how much he sleeps, of his heart constantly in his throat.

Yet he knows if he stays here, whatever happens will come for him anyway. There's no choice here, not really, and all he can do is choose the way the poison will come for him. Or.... however that saying goes. His mind can't really put it together right in his head as things are. Reaching down, he adjusts his shoes and forces heavy lids to stay up before setting off. There's so much roads he could take, all of them bad ideas. Practical sense says light is safety, but with what he's seen... He's not sure he can trust that anymore. So he goes to the right, making his way around the cathedral and glancing out to the other streets.

[exeggutorhead]

The city sprawls out in front of him, empty and silent save for those running footsteps. The way the ground dips and curves, he can see more of it than he would usually be able to, like looking down into a valley.

As for those footsteps?

They're getting closer.

...really close in fact.

Until the source of them is revealed as Envy, dressed not as he usually does in Johto, but in the strange black leather outfit that he wore as a homunculus. He's practically bursting right out of an alleyway to Joker's side, running so fast that even as he sees he's not alone and that there's someone right in the way, he's probably not going to be able to stop himself in time not to run into him.

He's not even sure he wants to stop running regardless--his eyes are wild with panic.

[pipers_son]

It's quite an impressive sight, Joker has to admit, even if it's eerie as all hell. There's something not right about a city that's all empty, even in.... Well. He assumes it's daylight. Really, it's rather hard to tell in the underground.

What's a lot easier to pick up is the sound of footsteps, echoing throughout the cavern, and Joker's shoulders are tense as he tries to pick up where they're coming from. They're close, they have to be, but he's underestimating how much so when Envy suddenly bursts out from nowhere. Automatically, Joker's hands jerk upwards, grabbing at his shoulders as he stumbles back in an attempt to not be bowled over.

"Envy!"

[exeggutorhead]

Envy stops running as Joker grabs onto him, breathing hard--strangely enough, there doesn't appear to be anything actually chasing him.

"Joker! I haven't--you're the first person I've seen down here."

Is all he manages to get out before he has to duck his head and breathe some more. But he does lift one hand to sort of grip at Joker's arm, just to reassure himself that Joker is actually real.

[pipers_son]

"Could say the same for yerself," Joker says, tone absentminded even as he cranes to see over the disaster that is Envy's hair. He's expecting... He doesn't now. Ghosts, zombies, whatever late night ghoul that his own Pokemon will watch on television and then cry to him about later. When it doesn't seem like there's anything there, he looks down at Envy with a furrowed brow.

"Listen," he murmurs, trying to guide Envy to one of the multitude of empty houses, "why don't we duck inside for a bit, get our heads together, yeah?"

[armoredsoul]

Really, Al doesn't even realize he's wandered into another dream. It's an intensely familiar scene for him, and echoing armored clanks give way to the soft thunk of smaller boots. Alphonse pulls his jacket tighter around himself and looks around nervously, wondering if he'll even be able to find Edward, where Wrath might have gone.

He turns to the city, hurrying down the broken streets and hopping over bits of rubble left from the long ago burial. He chases the sound of those footsteps, breathing hard but afraid to call out, in case...something else comes chasing him instead. Surely, if he can find someone, then things will be alright, won't they?

[exeggutorhead]

Envy hears Al's footsteps too, as he runs.

And without knowing what exactly those steps are coming from? Yeah, this little chase is going to go on for a little while longer, because he's not in a hurry to run into more nightmarish anything.

But then again...this dream has been all about the isolation so far, the lack of people. It's one he's had before, and Envy's lucid enough to realize that much. What if the other footsteps are someone real?

He turns a corner, getting at least some distance away from the turn before he stops running and turns to wait and see just who it is who comes around. He's wearing his old clothes, the black outfit that was part of him for so long, and his whole frame is tense with high-alert wariness as he waits.

This may not be exactly who Al wanted to find down here.

[armoredsoul]

Not exactly, no.

Al isn't too far behind Envy, and comes around the corner in a blur of red and black--just like Edward wore, once upon a time. But seeing Envy brings him to a halt, confused and--afraid? This hasn't ever happened before, never in these dreams--

Wait, dreams?

The grip of subconscious reality loosens it's hold just slightly, and Al's brows draw together in a confused glare. "Why are you here?"

[exeggutorhead]

Yeah this isn't who Envy wanted to see down here, either.

But at least he doesn't...seem like he's part of the dream. Envy stays where he is, but his guard drops, just a little.

"What do you mean, why am I here? Why are you here?"

The retort comes automatically, but then, right after, in a voice that he's trying very hard not to let sound as desperate as he actually is:

"Are you real?"

[armoredsoul]

Something flitters past in Al's expression before he scowls and squares his shoulders. "Of course I'm real, why wouldn't I be?!"

[Dream]

[a_sin_for_him]

...Well. This is familiar enough. Lust feels as though she's been wandering through this phantasmic maze of horrors for an eternity, but time means nothing in this not-place. An hour, a week...Lust has no idea how long she's been stumbling from nightmare to nightmare, her own and those of others.

This one...it's familiar, but not intimately so. She knows this place but it doesn't haunt her dreams. Her flickering form, influenced by her surroundings, settles into the deathly pale and eerily beautiful face of her homunculus self.

A chill runs through her. Nothing good comes of this place. She hears the footsteps and is compelled to flee them, some animal instinct kicking in. She steadies herself, glancing around her. After a moment's thought, she moves toward the cathedral, drawn to the light. Among other things.

Her approach is cautious, hand resting on the door for a moment as though trying to sense if anything is within.

[Dream]

[exeggutorhead]

For now, there's nothing to sense besides that same general air of false safety, of unease surrounding the place.

If she remembers, it's a lot like the feeling she'd gotten a week ago, in the dream about the basement, looking at that bed.

A place that's lit and warm and should be a beacon, but offers no true shelter. It's not safe because nowhere is.

The running footsteps seem to have quieted, although whether that's because the person making them has gone or has simply stopped running so loudly is anyone's guess. The silence is so heavy that even if someone were to walk right up next to her it might not make much noise.

Which is basically what happens. Not right next to her, but a ways behind her, Envy's voice pipes up.

He sounds half-desperate--there's not as much need to hide in front of Lust.

"Is that you? Are you real?"

[a_sin_for_him]

She doesn't like the feel of this place. It makes her skin crawl, worse than the thought of this underground place normally does. Like a bad taste in the air, one that touches the heart.

She jumps at the voice, tensing then relaxing when she realizes it's only her brother.

"...that begs a great deal of philosophical debate, but yes, it's me."

Ah. This explains it. And perhaps more. The feeling she has here, it's one she's felt before, in a strange nightmare that had left her sweating and shaking.

[exeggutorhead]

"Ha, yeah it's definitely you."

There's not much question, if she's answering questions like that. And it's such a relief to see her, after wandering these streets alone for what felt like ages, that even if she is part of the dream that's better than nothing. He walks forward to meet her, only slowing down when he gets closer. Just in case.

But the relief on his face is unmistakable.

"I didn't think I was going to find someone else in here."

He looks around, shrugging and making an attempt to act...at least sort of normal. It falls a little flat, but the attempt is there.

"Brings back such great memories, doesn't it?"

[a_sin_for_him]

"Oh yes, a delightful little stroll into nostalgia." Lust's voice is dry, and she folds her arms around herself. This is a forgotten place, one she's been glad to leave behind and think on as little as possible.

She knows this is all some construct of the mind or magic, a personal sort of hell spawned by the forest, but it feels real. It's like being back there again in the flesh, the idea only strengthened by her own manifestation as a homunculus. The sounds, the taste of the air.... It all feels too real.

If it's unsettling her this much, she can only imagine how rattled Envy must be beneath his efforts at a casual front.

"I don't suppose you've any idea how to get out of here."

A TRIP TO THE CITY

[no_ufo_ending]

<sub>[This isn't the first time Henry's found himself in a gloomy empty underground structure...but it's the first time he's been in one that looks this old. He stands in the shadow of the cathedral, drawn to the dim windows like a moth to a flame. He doesn't move to enter, he only stands, dazed, one hand out as though he were resting it on someone's shoulder or on the back of a large creature. Nothing is there.]

[The footfalls shake him out of his stupor and he turns, imaginary hackles risen.]</sub>

Hello?

[exeggutorhead]

[The figure that emerges from the city is, at least, one that Henry might be glad to see.]

[Envy's certainly glad to see him, his wide-eyed, hunted expression falling into one of abject relief almost immediately.]

[He's had this dream so many times, but he's always alone in it...that must mean that Henry's really here, right?]

Henry!

[He starts towards him, and he also sure is wearing his weird skimpy homunculus outfit.]

[no_ufo_ending]

_{[Henry tenses up at first because it has been a long time since he's seen the skorts-clad swampthing. But when he recognizes his friend's voice he raises his other hand and breaks into a slow trot in his direction.]}

Envy! Where are we? What's happening?

[exeggutorhead]

We're...it's hard to explain. It's a place from where I'm from. This is where we used to live sometimes.

[Ah, yes, home sweet home. A dead, empty city collapsed inside a giant cave. Very homey.]

I haven't seen anyone else in...I don't know how long.

[no_ufo_ending]

_{[When Henry reaches Envy, he stoops where he stands, as though suddenly out of breath from such a short run.]}

This is the first place I've been in I don't know how long...up until a few seconds ago there was just. Nothing. Lust was there. She saved me from the sweater.

WILDCARD FOR ED

[exeggutorhead]

[There's warm sunlight streaming through the windows of a...pretty normal kitchen, actually. There's no horrible anything about it, except maybe if one were to look at the child's drawings pinned on the fridge. They're...a bit macabre.]

[There also seem to be a lot of posters and such on the walls that are jokes about drinking wine. And the area around the stove is a bit scorched. Some of the cabinets and under the sink are literally chained shut with strong padlocks.]

[But overall, it's just...lived in. It feels like a comforting to be.]

[Ed will find himself sitting at the table, and spread out before him are a number of sandwiches and supplies to make even more sandwiches.]

[Also Envy. Who is holding a butter knife and half a sandwich and also appears to be coming out of some kind of unaware daze, looking around himself with growing confusion and annoyance.]

[alltoblame]

[The setting is already weird for being a normal kitchen. He spent so much time on the go with Al it was mostly camping and hotels, Ed wouldn't even know the last time he saw a kitchen, nevermind one quite so .... personalized. The padlocks in particular get his attention, since nothing else seems too out of the ordinary ignoring the obvious accident that stove went through.

Only after he takes a moment to absorb his surroundings does he realize he appears to be sitting at a kitchen table making sandwiches and to make the situation all that much weirder it was Envy sitting across from him, doing the same. Yup, this was definitely awkward and at least slightly alarming. At least.]

Envy-?

[He probably doesn't want to know, in fact he pretty much expects this is going to end badly so he's just going to carefully set his own task down, mentally questioning if it might not be a good idea to leave the knife when the other is still holding one. Ed's just going to push his chair back and stand up, carefully - to avoid doing anything alarming - but also rather quickly.]

What the hell-? What's going on here..?

[No, he's not asking Envy. Ed assumes he also doesn't know if the look on his face is any indication of where he stands in this predicament. None of this made any sense, but it only made less sense the more he tried to think about it.]

[exeggutorhead]

[Whatever daze Envy was in, it fades quick as soon as Ed speaks, a scowl pulling at his mouth.]

[He does not put down his own knife, as useless as it would be except to maybe get jam all over Ed's shirt, and gets to his feet too.]

I could ask you that too, what the fuck are you doing in my kitchen making sandwiches? Why is this a dream we're having?

[Well he's...not leaping over the table to murder, so that might be a good sign. But seriously? Seriously? All kinds of horrible nightmares about the underground city and shadow monsters and rusty amusement parks, and now one about making sandwiches with Edward Elric??]

[It's just insulting. He waves the butterknife, more gesturing than actually threatening.]

This is your fault.

[alltoblame]

[Ed has faith in Envy's ability to turn anything into a weapon. Especially with it being a dream, where a butterknife could easily turn into a flamethrower when they're not looking.]

[This does answer a question though, it is Envy's kitchen. The weird thing is that it is Envy's kitchen, this doesn't look like the type of kitchen Envy would have. Not the point, he's being asked something, but before he can process an answer. Why was he here? Envy is helpfully pointing out that it's all his fault. Which, he could counter with the fact that it's Envy's kitchen so he couldn't possibly have dreamed it up on his own, but- considering the other wasn't leaping to murder him in that moment and he didn't want to risk changing anything on that front, he keeps it quiet. For now.]

Okay....

[Sure, it's his fault. Whatever you need to tell yourself to get through this, Envy. Honestly, he's pretty sure he already knows why this is happening, but he figures pointing out those little quips about picnics is probably biting them in the ass right now was hardly on Ed's to-do list.]

But if it's my fault, why are we in your kitchen?

[He's not saying it's Envy's fault, he's just giving him something to think about. Ed couldn't have dreamt this up on his own, he's never seen Envy's kitchen. It's totally Envy's fault.]