Mountain Lakes Camp - Strange things happen at night

by **Victoria Valentine** » Tue May 08, 2012 11:51 pm

Victoria nodded without speaking. "Mother Gaia," she said, "We come respectfully, we come reverently, we come as daughters to this place, made sacred and untouched by man." She stroked the deer's head, which the deer, seeming unnaturally docile, seemed to like. "We come to honor the spirit of this daughter of the woods."

by **Brigid Plunder** » Tue May 08, 2012 11:58 pm

Brigid was bewildered, but she'd seen enough primitive cultures in the Savage Land to know this was a solemn occasion, She nodded and bowed her head.

by **Kay Haddock** » Sat May 19, 2012 12:49 pm

Kay blinks, not exactly looking like she's agreeing with what Victoria seems to be saying on her behalf.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat May 19, 2012 1:40 pm

Victoria glanced up at the ghost, hesitantly, only to get an impassive nod back from the spectral woman. "She who has been daughter, sister and mother, comes to she who has, and will be, neither but in spirit, as she passes into your embrace, asking only that her spirit may serve as a guide in this land." She swallowed, passing her hand over the deer's eyes as she leaned forward, whispering quietly into the doe's ear. The deer seemed to shiver a little, then relaxed in her lap. Victoria looked up at Brigid and Kay. "Will you walk the ages with me, and see what the spirits have to show this night?"

by **Kay Haddock** » Sat May 19, 2012 1:49 pm

"W-walk with who's sister to where?" Kay stammers out, hopelessly confused and intimidated.

by **Brigid Plunder** » Sat May 19, 2012 2:01 pm

"I think she'll keep us safe, Kay."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat May 19, 2012 2:03 pm

Victoria smiled faintly, and reached out, placing a reassuringly solid hand on Kay's. "Shh," she said quietly. "Kay, close your eyes. Don't think, don't react... just feel and relax," she said, putting just enough magic in her voice and touch to help that goal actually be possible.

by **Kay Haddock** » Sat May 19, 2012 2:10 pm

She nods and even seems to smile faintly. "O-okay."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat May 19, 2012 2:18 pm

And with her eyes closed, it was just a quiet night. The grass was cool beneath her, there was a breeze blowing through their hair. The trees rustled around them, and in the distance there were the faint calls of birds and other animals.

It seemed like... more, though. Like she could literally feel the forest pressing against her, hear it calling to her. Something made her tingle along her spine, calling to her, calling to something inside her, however small that something was, that was aching to respond. She could feel Victoria's hand on hers still, sitting in such a way that Victoria obviously hadn't gotten up, but oddly she could hear Victoria's voice as if it were whispering very close to her ear. "There are many mysteries in the world... wonders we can only dream of understanding... You're afraid, because you are smart enough to be afraid in the face of things that are strange and old." The hand squeezed hers. "Now trust me that you can stop being afraid, and just see the wonder of things tonight. We are all daughters of this Earth, and tonight she will let no harm come to us."

by **Kay Haddock** » Sat May 19, 2012 2:28 pm

"But where are we?" she asks, not daring to open her eyes. "It... it's like the forest is inside of me..."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat May 19, 2012 2:31 pm

"You are a part of the earth, and the earth is a part of you. We've stepped into a timeless place, where it is easier to feel that connection, to feel the part of you that always remembers the touch of the Earth. What that means for you is yours to decide... but it is not something to fear."

by **Brigid Plunder** » Sat May 19, 2012 2:32 pm

"It's going to be alright, Kay." She said softly.

by **Kay Haddock** » Sat May 19, 2012 2:36 pm

That did seem to calm her down. Whatever 'that' might be.

"I... I don't know. Does it have to? Mean anything?"

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat May 19, 2012 2:44 pm

"That's for you to decide, too," Victoria told her.

by **Kay Haddock** » Sat May 19, 2012 2:47 pm

"Okay..." she says, sounding calm. Though a small part of her is still pointing out that this is what it must be like to be on drugs or something.

by **Brigid Plunder** » Sat May 19, 2012 3:06 pm

"...better than being here alone, huh?"

by **Kay Haddock** » Sat May 19, 2012 3:11 pm

"Like I'd run off into the woods at night alone." she chuckles nervously. Though it doesn't seem to be the woods she's nervous about. That'd be hard to do right now anyway.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Thu May 24, 2012 2:33 pm

Victoria smiled. "Now open your eyes, Kay," she said.

The ghost was now standing, with another ghost... the deer's body was no longer in evidence (when had that happened? Even Brigid must have missed that). Victoria held her hands out to the girls as she stood to help them both out. "Come and see what the spirits have to show me tonight," she said, as the two ghosts began slowly pacing deeper into the woods.

by **Kay Haddock** » Thu May 24, 2012 2:36 pm

"It's not gonna be scary ghost stuff, right?" she asks as she takes Vickie's hand.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Thu May 24, 2012 2:49 pm

"Think of it as kind of spooky television," Victoria murmured back. "Just, you know, without a screen."

by **Brigid Plunder** » Thu May 24, 2012 3:00 pm

"Can't get much weirder, huh?"

by **Kay Haddock** » Thu May 24, 2012 3:11 pm

"Sure hope so." she musters a smile.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat May 26, 2012 2:33 am

Ahead of the three girls was a pale light, and the sound of ritual drums. Sihlouetted in the light (which didn't seem to have a source) stood a young woman, not much older than Victoria, clad only in tattoos that wound up her body, most of the way toward her neck. Victoria frowned quietly, her mind racing as she studied the patterns of the tattoos, the woman not noticing them yet as she slowly walked amongst the trees.

by **Kay Haddock** » Sat May 26, 2012 2:41 am

Kay just looked increasingly awkward, trying to look anywhere but.

Ghosts. Fine. Now it's naked ghosts. This night was becoming weirder and weirder.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat May 26, 2012 2:52 am

The ghost, it turned out, looked just as solid as they were as they got closer. She walked among the trees, looking utterly bored and uninterested. Her eyes, when she turned toward the girls, were neither kind nor cruel, utterly lacking any empathy toward the girls. "What do you bring me this night, travelers?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," Victoria said as they came into view, "But who are you?"

"I am the Host. All pain, all burdens that any cannot bear are given to me, to hold for all eternity."

by **Kay Haddock** » Sat May 26, 2012 4:37 am

"You what...?" Kay blinks. This was all very confusing.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat May 26, 2012 5:09 am

Victoria, meanwhile, was looking over the tattoos, studying them very carfully. "Memories," she said, suddenly sounding worried. "Feelings. She... takes them."

"All suffering, all pain... I was the bearer for my people," the woman said, looking into the distance. "The greatest honor, they said, but I care not for that. And now they are gone... and the only new pain I bear is from those who know how to walk the hidden paths such as yourselves."

by **Brigid Plunder** » Sat May 26, 2012 8:31 am

"...but why would anyone want to do that?"

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat May 26, 2012 8:32 am

"And that question, my dears, is a sign of someone who's never had anything happen that's really hurt them," Victoria said, looking the woman over again, shivering a little. What would it be like...

by **Brigid Plunder** » Sat May 26, 2012 8:42 am

"...but they're still your memories. It'd be like losing part of yourself."

by **Kay Haddock** » Sat May 26, 2012 8:48 am

"Maybe if it's a part you don't want..."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat May 26, 2012 8:53 am

"Don't do it," sobbed another voice from the shadows. "Holes in your mind, always holes. All the sunshine turns to rain, never pleasure never pain..."

"Are you still alive, lunatic?" the tattooed woman sighed, looking over her shoulder.

Victoria turned warily on the spot, looking for the source of the voice.

by **Kay Haddock** » Sat May 26, 2012 9:10 am

To say that Kay jumped at the voice would be an exaggeration but that she clutched Brigid's arm wouldn't.

by **Brigid Plunder** » Sat May 26, 2012 9:58 am

"Just... stay close to Victoria," Brigid said as she slowly turned around.

by **Narrator** » Sun May 27, 2012 4:42 am

It wasn't as scary as they might expect. Behind them, hidden in the shadows, was another young woman, with a mad look in her eyes, dressed in rags and crouched, clutching herself and rocking back and forth. "Never die... never die, the host stays alive... pin her hands and stab her heart, but no more need with feelings 'part... always living, never dying, no more laughter always crying..."

"Ignore her," the tattooed woman said. "Time has driven her... well, you can see."

by **Kay Haddock** » Sun May 27, 2012 5:36 am

Whatever Kay might have expected this was still pretty damn unsettling.

"Wh-who is that? What happened to her?" she asks from behind Brigid.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sun May 27, 2012 6:29 am

Victoria, meanwhile, knelt next to the woman, looking her over. She started moving the woman's clothes to expose the edge of a tattoo at her neck, but the woman latched onto her, pulling her into a hug and sobbing uncontrollably as soon as Victoria so much as touched her.

It took Victoria a few moments to extricate herself, the sight obviously more awkward than threatening or terrifying. She finally stood back up, moving closer to the girls. "Take hold of my arm," she said, quietly. "And hold onto each other. I'm going to give us some thinking room."

by **Brigid Plunder** » Sun May 27, 2012 3:55 pm

"I feel... kind of sorry for her," Brigid said, though she did what Victoria instructed.

by **Kay Haddock** » Mon May 28, 2012 4:48 pm

Kay followed suit, holding on to Vickie with one hand and Brigid with the other.

by **Narrator** » Wed May 30, 2012 4:00 am

ANd then they all woke up and realized that none of it had happened.

Who is online