Shrike's Heart (#1)

[idolpro]

The woman before you is beautiful—fair of features, with lovely golden skin and luxurious long black hair, petite. You have the immediate and distinct impression that she's just let go of your hand, and she steps back, and smiles.

It's not quite a happy smile.

"I'm sorry," she says. "There's just nothing I can do, as things are. But the way is there; it just needs to be lit."

You open your mouth—maybe to say something, or to express confusion—but you have to cough, and taste something metallic, spattering black blood onto the ground in front of you. Then you realize—blood seeps from opening wounds in your arms, your chest, your stomach, your face. It rims your eyes and trails from your nose and you feel like you're dissolving—

—and you fall through the ground like it's the surface of a lake, and go down, down, down.

> Wake Up

Comments

Re: THE BATTLEFIELD

[jokesaboutrighthands]

[im dying]

Uncle. If you call me any variety of grandfather again I'm leaving you here.

[he can't actually do that but don't call him old!!

anyway it looks like they are going to be carrying this shit for a while so with a sigh he sets down the items and starts to make a sack by folding his jacket cleverly and putting the stuff in there]

Re: THE BATTLEFIELD

[claestrophe]

No way! Your eyes and hair are both going white; how can you not be a Peepaw?

[ BY DEFINITION that makes him OLD

she's almost sure.

similarly, she is undoing her cape and using it to nestle stuff inside for safe keeping ]

Re: THE BATTLEFIELD

[jokesaboutrighthands]

I don't have a single white hair! And white eyes doesn't mean old. Have you ever even seen an old man?

[gesturing at the bag of seed]

Grab that, too.

Re: THE BATTLEFIELD

[handpuppets]

[ you acquire a BAG OF SEEDS. ]

Re: THE BATTLEFIELD

[claestrophe]

[ SHIT i am so sorry.

grabbing these seeds and I guess heading with him toward the city??/ maybe? is that where we're going? ]

Are we going to plant a garden?

Re: THE BATTLEFIELD

[jokesaboutrighthands]

Yeah, making something grow is on the to-do list.

Re: THE BATTLEFIELD

[claestrophe]

That's true....

[ SHE LIKES THAT PARTICULAR GOAL. yeah!!! she can do that one!! ]

LET'S GO BUILD A HOUSE AND PLANT SOME TREES!

[ TO--THE CITY!!! ]

Re: THE BATTLEFIELD

[handpuppets]

[ This is more of a city—some kind of border trade town, though maybe a less-prosperous one. On one side of the town is the prefect's mansion, whose doors have been whacked open with an axe??? Also people are generally fleeing in fear from that direction

this is also happening now ]