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The Woods, Friday Afternoon and Onwards

The shadows did not come suddenly. But as the morning progressed, the leaves on the trees became a little darker, and then a little darker more, as if the sun had moved faster across the horizon than it usually did.

It was only by noon that the darkness became so obvious, so unnatural, that anyone might have noticed it. It played between the trees, it tangled itself in the branches.

And on the inside, created eternal night.

[[ ocd up! ]]

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The barrier into the forest was firm. Casting light on it would make only the smallest of holes in it.

Somewhere along the perimeter was a place where the shadows were thinnest. To there, the people would be called. Time... for reckoning.

Calling Jono was practically child's play, wasn't it? A being made almost purely of psionic energy, who had long ago stopped maintaining a mental shield a mile thick entirely to stifle back his own telepathic abilities? He was right there for the taking, feeling off almost immediately as the dark had started to settle in.

After his class for the morning, he'd dithered in the classroom for a bit, mostly just nerving himself to move around the headache that had been building all morning. But when that darkness insinuated itself properly, he stood, and in silence, without a thought, he made his way toward the woods.

It was calling him.

It was in his head.

Of course he came.

Edited 2018-08-10 10:05 (UTC)

Kaidan hadn't said a word to Kanan on the portal trip back to Fandom. There hadn't been anything to say. Stepping out of the portal office, a stray thought grabbed him. He hadn't had a good run in days. Why bother going home first? The pack wasn't all that heavy. Liam wouldn't care if he still had the gun on his belt. He was used to running in jump boots. The exercise would do him good, it would help ease the tension burning through his muscles.

Hiking the pack higher onto one shoulder, he headed toward the woods.

It never occurred to him that the stray thought wasn't his own.

He never saw the barrier until he ran right through it.

Cristina was going for a walk.

At least, that was what she told herself when she gave into the weird -- craving in the back of her head. She was going to go out for a walk, remind herself how much she hated nature, then go back to work. The plan was just to go to the park, but then she found herself on the edge of the preserve.

And then between the trees. . . .

Kitty tended to make herself do things like go for walks, even when she didn't feel like it. She'd feel better for it in the long run, she told herself.

And today's led her towards the woods, which never happened. She was a city girl, she didn't do things like head for the woods unless there was a good reason.

And yet there she went, like she had been planning on it all along.

It was after a round -- or two, or three, or, fine, more -- down at the bar that Constantine finally stumbled out to head home in the fucking inhumane hours of the morning.

Though he'd gotten turned the fuck around at some point, and had ended up along the edge of the woods. Was fine, whatever, it'd give him time to walk off the worst of this drunkeness, and then he'd be ready for round-- something. Whatever. Back at his apartment. Maybe wake Jon or Kanan or Hera or Peter or someone and see who wanted to kick back for a bit and enjoy the end of summer on the roof with more booze than god and maybe a recreational or two.

It was a bloody brilliant plan. Just needed a bit of a walk, first. Clear the brain to enjoy the next bit of fun.

And so John Fuck-Up Constantine walked right into the Woods, unable to hear that little voice in the back of his head screaming for him to stop, it was clearly a trap.

By the time Ino got rid of Hannibal, and his worries (which should have seemed rational and yet instead seemed... overbearing and alarmist), and had closed up the shop, Ino felt relieved to be free to go for a walk. Which, some part of her, knew was silly. She'd walked and run and leapt all over this island.

There was no need for her to be so antsy. So out of sorts. The walk would do her good.

But today, today only the woods held any interest for her. She drifted into them without any concern.

It is dark. Just enough light filters through the canopy to give you some sense that you are still in a place, the ability to see shapes, but it is very, very dark.

At least until the things that stirred in the woods intervened. They could bring light.

That should not be a welcome thing.

Jono shook out of his daze the moment he had passed through the barrier, stepping into the darkness. But doing so... it really only brought a new sort of daze, a crushing sense of disorientation as he looked around to see... trees? Darkness, as far as he could see, in front, behind. He wasn't even certain how he had gotten here, only that here was somewhere that he very much didn't want to be. He turned around, hoping to be able to leave the way he'd come in, but the first light besides his own that he could see had come to him in a shape that was long behind him and all too familiar.

Gayle...?

She was beautiful tonight, prepared for their night on the town. Winged eyeliner and deep red lipstick made it impossible for him to keep his eyes off of her, and on a whim he'd tipped the bloke in charge of the coatroom to give them some time alone, away from the pounding music and grinding bodies on the dance floor deeper in the building. She was reaching for him, playfully demurring, running her fingers over his jawline there among the coats, and Jonothon's breath caught.

... His...

No, that was wrong. This was wrong. He opened his mouth to speak, only he found he couldn't, that the jawline that Gayle was caressing was no more real than his words had been for years, and his words, even his telepathic ones, were gone. He staggered back, fell to the floor, and she moved after him, a look of concern on her face.

"Jon... you're burning up. What's hap--"

He knew the next words. He would tell her to get out. Smoke was rising from his chest, an incredible pain tearing through him as his eyes began to glow. She wouldn't leave.

They'd both get hurt that day. They'd both have to live with the scars. He remembered this story well. Still occasionally woke up from those nightmares, wracked with guilt. He pitched forward, not able to give voice to the agonized scream he'd made the first time the fire tore through him, tore around them both.

He wasn't even able to beg for help as he staggered from the burning wreckage, not noticing a glowing tube of lipstick sitting harmlessly nearby. He fell to the ground, one hand desperately grasping at a chest that wasn't there, the other clasping a shaking hand in the detritus of the forest floor.

A few more objects moved in to join the first. Jonothon was in no position to notice.

[OOC: CW/TW - contents contain child abuse, broken bones, NPC death, and a metric ton of angst. For those who know Mass Effect, this is the Vyrnus/Rahna thing.]

Four children sat on the floor..

"Right," Cristina said, as she came out of whatever fugue she'd been in since leaving the clinic. She spun in a slow circle, trying to swallow down the ball of bitter dread rising on the back of her tongue. (That was the adrenaline. It was what was causing her elevated heart rate, too, her adrenal gland working overtime in response to the fucking flashes of broken fuselage, dying campfires, and Meredith and Arizona screaming. This was all unfortunately very familiar territory for her.) "So this is the stupidest thing I have ever done."

"Oh honey," said the glowing native wood-cut print of an eagle that used to hang on the wall outside the Chief's office at Grey-Sloane Memorial. It sounded like a wry, tired old scrub nurse. "Not even close."

It wasn't till Kitty was inside that she thought to pay attention to where she was, and she slowed to a stop. In front of her, on the ground and bathed in light, was the teddy bear she'd had in her room at the mansion since she first got there.

Teddy bears were not supposed to be creepy.

And just beyond it, she noticed, was a mangled figure on the ground, surrounded by blood. Immediately she knew where she'd seen it before.

And Kitty, who'd been dealing with this sort of thing for half her life now, yelled at nothing, "Are you even kidding me right now?"

Constantine had meandered for a bit; sober enough to steer clear of the Weeping Angels, not sober enough to realize he'd just made a terrible, terrible mistake.

Until he came across a clearing, and there, bathed in light was a simple, wooden chair. With a white jacket draped over the back.

A jacket with extra-long sleeves, emblazoned with Ravenscar Psychiatric Hospital.

Constantine stopped up short, suddenly stone cold sober.

"Fuck. Me."

ABDUCTEES! This is your post. Today's set will be drawn towards the woods during the afternoon, and enter through the weak spot.

The second thread is for anything that takes place in the woods themselves (though please keep anything triggery or NSFW to your own journals. Link those posts from this OCD). It is mostly dark, but the objects come to life glow with their own light, and so do whatever illusions they conjure up.

Beyond that, have fun! And let us know down here if we can help you with anything - NPCs, narrative, questions, etc.

For radio purposes, what's the level of for-broadcast for this? Completely NFB? That there's a shadow present is broadcastable? What about who and what goes into it?

clearly, whatever goes inside is definitely NFB, right?

Thanks!

Inside the woods is NFB, yep. FB is that the forest went dark today for no apparent reason.

Cool, that's what I figured, but, well, you know what they say about assuming...

...you shouldn't do it.

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The Woods, Friday Afternoon and Onwards

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