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[npc-excolo.livejournal.com]

Dream.

There is a great sea. The sky is grey, the water green, and the seafoam is the flecked white of milk on the turn. The shore is stone and shingle, and the cliffs are bone-shades. Will you wake on the little fishing boat that rides the waves, wary of great beasts that lurk beneath the surface, or on the cold and stony shore? Or perhaps as some watery thing yourself, breathing in water as cold as ice and with a salt-iron taste like blood?

[OPEN TO ALL]

Comments

[pollyladon.livejournal.com]

Why I am here I do not know. Did we travel here? And where are my people? I don't know. Sit here I do on the shore and look at the sea, smell the salt air, and what I do know is this is a place of power. "Beware of serpents," said a man who walked past me not so long ago, but I have never had cause to fear them. If there are dragons in the water, let them come. For now I have nets to mend. I do not remember starting them, but they are in my hands and I somehow know the craft of it, and so I set to mending.

[marbasthefallen.livejournal.com]

I was singing to CeeCee to get her to sleep, and she was babbling on about falling stars that were uncles, and we should go check to make sure they were alright and not hurt---

and now I am walking up a barren beach, sky slaten above me. I may be cast in a human body, but I still retain my Self. I know I was not on a shore a moment ago, so I must be dreaming. But it's so startling, the transition. I worry that I am not here due to just dozing off, but because I was put here.

Damnation.

I walk briskly up the shoreline, passing bones of great monstrosites washed up from decades ago... or days. I cast my gaze about, looking for My Lady or our daughter, wondering if they are here as well.

Presently, I find a woman of middling years, picking away at a net. I have seen her in town, but do not know her name... or if I am merely dreaming her or if she is here.

"Excuse me ma'am?" I call out pleasantly enough. "You have not seen a little red-haired girl and her mother, have you?"

[pollyladon.livejournal.com]

A good looking sort of man, if you like that sort, comes strolling up the beach. He doesn't look like he's ever mended a net.

"Good day to you," I say. "No one I've seen, not for hours, save a little old man walking by. I hope you find them soon," I say. "A storm coming, I think there is," I say, nodding at the clouds.

[jaeresteade.livejournal.com]

I know how to swim, and I’m usually pretty good at not panicking, but ice water pushing at my nose and mouth and turning me this way and that has me scrabbling for any kind of purchase. Something smooth and slick and a hundred times larger than my body brushes against me, shoving me out of the way as it slides past. I can’t see what it is, and I can’t go still in hopes that it won’t notice me. Can’t even make a sound.

The thing that could swallow me whole, that I can’t even open my eyes to see, moves on. I fight my way towards what feels like up, and my head breaks the surface at last. I raise one hand to clear my eyes, trying to get a look around me as they sting. There are cliffs in the distance. This is not the open sea, thank God. And I do know how to swim.

When my arms feel like they cannot possibly keep moving for one more stroke, the beach is there, all small, sharp stones. I lie gasping on them, the wind around me pulling at my clothes. It’s cold, but it’s not water. I push myself up to my knees, then my feet, which are bare, of course, my boots kicked off in the water long ago.

There are people in the distance, I can see. Here, someone must be better than no one. I push my hair out of my eyes and begin picking my way toward them.

[sapphira-ststep.livejournal.com]

He is picking himself up ragged and dripping, and he gets to his feet as I approach, closing the distance between us. So he is on his feet, which cannot be pleasant.

"Good day," I say politely. I wonder for a moment if he is a fish, but a fish could swim better, I think. Although he is walking across the beach as if it were knives under his feet... I hope he can talk.

"Have you come far? Here," and I take off my jacket and hold it out to him. It will not quite fit him, I think, but he should at least shield him a little from the wind, and perhaps he can shed some of his dripping clothes.

[marbasthefallen.livejournal.com]

"Is that a prophecy, or an observation on the weather?" It is tempting, to switch into my demon form and tell her prophecy, but I need to find Lilith and CeeCee, and then Lucien.

"Merely a feeling deep in my bones." I shrug, and keep listening as the woman and the china doll speak of fishing and serpents. Something at thye edge of the surf catches out eyes, and it looks like a ragged man is dragging himself from the depths of the ocean. China doll goes down to check on him, and I turn to the woman. "Wonder if he's the sort that grants wishes?" I ask, smiling slightly.

[leah-pontarlier.livejournal.com]

I am back in Pontarlier and yet and yet I am not. I flow along with the water as we rush down to the the other river and then I am flowing into it, along with it, down to the next river where I can touch the boats. I think of Harman and his family. People with the River in their blood.

I follow the boats down to the sea. It feels different, tastes different. I struggle to follow the boats. There is only one now. I move closer to it realizing that I am swimming now, like I did in the River with Karina. I can feel my arms and legs but also the water. It is as if I am more water than flesh. That my shape is only that. A shape to contain me because my water is not the same as the sea for all that it too flows in me. Through me.

[tereixa-zann.livejournal.com]

And my coracle has come through the waves, down the swells of the sea, and I see a shore aside me but I am not going there yet, not yet. The lacquer and gears have stood up well to the salt, and I do not wish to run aground, I should not stop, I must not stop. But I see another woman, paler even than I am dark, and with her in the water and myself on it, we are keeping pace a moment.

"Lady!" I say, because it never hurts be polite, and I am hardly going to call her hey you. "Are you alright? Would you like to come aboard?"

[leah-pontarlier.livejournal.com]

I swim beside the boat, one hand reaching to brush its shining side. A voice calls out from above, "Lady! I raise my head to look up and see a girl on the boat, her dark hair is very short. Are you alright? Would you like to come aboard?

I have never seen her before, and she has questions! I smile happily up at her before answering," Yes, I am well. And I would very much like to come aboard your boat? or is it a ship?"

[tess-thiess.livejournal.com]

I am a witch, dark-eyed, afire.

I am salt, brittle, purifying.

I am water, protean, cleansing.

I am a sea, tempestuous, life-giving.

I am a fish, cold-eyed, wisdom-granting.

I am a serpent, sharp toothed, wise.

(I am really a witch)

[pirate-mystic.livejournal.com]

Yemaya Ibu Agana has come up from the bottom of the ocean. She has risen, the furious one, and the sky has become dark.

The downpour is coming.

I watch the slip an sheen of scales. "They gonna try an catch you," I whisper to the serpent, out beyond the rocks. Yemaya Okute, Queen of Witches, rocks that break the water.

A woman up the beach's wearin' a mask, or her face's one. Put my own hand up and my own face's still porcelain-smooth. Point came where I couldn't peel it off, an I don' know what to do no more.

[tess-thiess.livejournal.com]

I am a serpent, thin-bodied, flashing scaled.

"They gonna try an catch you," she says.

She is a dupe, driven, mask-faced.

"I am in the sea, salt-safe and wet."

[celeste-excolo.livejournal.com]

Dancing. I'm dancing in the sky! I wish Daddy was here, I know Mommy is cos we're flying and I can't fly by myself. Look! There's lots of water and its green, and there's a boat like in a picture! There's big snakes and other things in the water too, but I'm not afraid of them. I've seen lots, even a fire one who got mad at me cos I asked if he was my pony. There's people down there too! "Ohh! Can I go down?" I ask Mommy. She'll probably say "No, not yet." like she always does.

Wait.. I'm floating down! She's not here! I hope she doesn't catch me.

The rocks are cold but the water is colder and it fizzes! Jumping up and down in it makes it warmer though. No more yelling when it touches my feet. The wind hits my face and I can smell ... Daddy?!

"Daddy!" I laugh and yell, running in the not too high water, spinning like Mommy does so he knows I'm ok.

[marbasthefallen.livejournal.com]

This is all well and good, but dreams can be tedious when they are not yours. All symbols and half formed ideas. I turn a deaf ear to fishing as I look up the beach towards the cliffs. I can forget this being human thing and fly up there---

Daddy! My head whips around at the sound of CeeCEe's voice. She is a whiry-gig at the edge of the water, spinning and splashing and laughing. My smile spreads to match hers, and I run down to the water and scoop her up, spinning her about above my head.

"That's one mystery solved!" I laugh, kissing her forehead. "Where is your mother, kitling?" I ask, nuzzling her hair with my face as I walk back from the water. Since this is dxream, I warm up and dry our clothes as we walk.

[celeste-excolo.livejournal.com]

Daddy picks me up and I'm laughing and flying again! Its better than climbing trees.

"Where is your mother, kitling?"

I rub my face against his, I growl a little and hug him and kiss his cheek. "We were taking a nap. Oh! maybe she's playing hide and seek!" I giggle and look around, wiggling to get down. "Where are we? Is this a new garden? Who are they?" I've never been this close to people before! "Daddy, are there monkeys here too?"

[npc-excolo.livejournal.com]

Swimming swimming water coiling all things serve turning turning smell of meat in the water smell of meat but not yet glide and glide and glide

[syl-thorn.livejournal.com]

'm at th'edge'a th'sea, close 'nough't I c'n smell't, c'n feel't in m'bones. Know'm dreamin'. I know'm dreamin'. Been dreamin' a long time...since't happened. Since I mixed'is blood an' th'bits'a meat inta th'paint, since I drank m'self inta blackness. Been dreamin' a long time...but't don't feel th'same now. Feels bigger, somehow.

Smell'a salt's in th'air, an'ere's wet sand under m'feet. Somethin's wrong'ere. Somethin's so badly goddamned wrong.

Dark heart beatin'n m'chest, pulsin' cold blood through m'veins. Air's dry, too dry, even wit' th'smell'a th'sea rushin' through't. Teeth're blunt 'n useless. I see I smell I hear I hurt -

Step forward, feel th'water lap't's way up m'ankles, m'calves, m'thighs, settle cold 'round m'cunt. I see I smell I heart I hurt -

Th'split's up m'back, stripin' down t'th'crack'a m'ass. Pain causes me t'double up, m'blood swirlin' th'water. M'skin comes away 'n strips, annit's only when I try t'stand't I re'lize m'legs've fuzed t'gether. Hair's floatin' away, sun's too bright, but under th'water th'grains'a sand 're clear's th'moon.

Can't scream underwater, even when m'teeth break free and sharp iv'ry pushes through m'gums.

[kateohara.livejournal.com]

I see the gleam of sea as I clear the forest, and then the wind's gone and I'm falling, falling. The water's so cold it feels like a knife to the breast, and my red cloak which saved me is now dragging me down into the dark. I manage to tear the strings open, and kick my way to the surface. I cough hard. There's things swimming in the water under me, but I can't panic. I won't. I didn't come this far just to die now. And so I push hard for the shore.

[syl-thorn.livejournal.com]

New eyes see through water clear's air, through blue'n sparkin' sunlight from above, an'I move through't like flyin'. Don't feel th'cold through a new coat'a fur, an'I c'n hear th'songs an' calls'a th'creatures b'low. But ain't nonna'em fast 'nough t'catch me, azzi turn quick 'n sweet, silver shadow'n th'deep.

Hear't too when somethin' breaks th'surface hard, somethin'at don't b'long'ere. Somethin'at struggles'n thrashes'n th'water like a wounded animal. See th'bloomin' red ovva cloak 'round't an' don't smell no blood but'at's still two outta three. Twist again an' beat m'way t'th'surface.

Girl, blonde'air, familiar...but't's hard t'think wittis new mind, new mind't's all water'n salt an' th'deep. Unseal m'nostrils azzi break th'surface, take deep gulp'a th'air. Sun's too bright up'ere, an'I can't see's clear azzi did b'low...but I see'er, an'I curve 'round'er, an'I hope she understands 'nough t'grab hold.

[kateohara.livejournal.com]

I have to choke back a scream when something surfaces. But it's a seal, and I don't think they eat people. Do they? This one brushes round me, and looks at me enquiringly, as if it wants me to do something. I remember old stories of sailors saved by dolphins, and so I take a deep breath and hook my arm around it.

[sapphira-ststep.livejournal.com]

"I don't know you (http://community.livejournal.com/estdeus_innobis/405311.html?thread=10273087#t10273087)," I say, "nor anyone here. But I meant no harm, and hope I have caused none." And my companion asks where they have come from, and that is a good question, but I add my own. "And why? This is a place to travel to or through, but so many at once--nine of us at once--seems unlikely to happen by pure chance."

[kateohara.livejournal.com]

"Reckon we all three ovvus knew each other, somehow."

I look at Syl thoughtfully, and then down at Tess.

"Are you cold?" I ask her. I wish I remember how I knew her. "I remember your laugh," I say. She looks so serious now.

The older woman asks me where I'm from, and the girl with a blank face adds another question.

"I was blown here," I say. "It sounds strange, I know. I live - lived - in the forest, and a girl came. She had a wolf hidden inside her, and she blew my house down, and I was blown here..." I push back my wet hair. "And Syl saved me," I say, nodding to her. I don't mention that she was a seal then. "I'm Kate," I add. I've never kept my name hidden; I don't think it's got any secret power.

[marbasthefallen.livejournal.com]

I can hear CeeCee being entertained with the story, so I stay with the women at shore. I recognize the one, Kate she is called. I recognize her well. Faith enough to defy my Lord and break his enchantment that trapped me within Lucien. This just keeps getting more interesting.

Kate steps forward and claims to know the sea creatures name. She kneels down and whispers it, and the creature goes still, true named and knows it.

They untagle her from the nets, and the stories start, of who they are and how they got here. Some start to puzzle together that they know each other, and that our meeting is no strange trick of dream.

"I'm Arik." I say, stuffing my hands in my pockets. A lie, for that is not my true name, but a name I am called none the less. "I came looking for my daughter and my Lady, but until I was on the beach, I was not aware that I needed to search for them. Does anyone know the name of the place we are, or it's ruler?" I look to the serpent woman, thinking she is more in the waking world than just a woman. Maybe she has an inkling of an idea of what the fuck is happening.

[tereixa-zann.livejournal.com]

"I'm glad you're alright (http://community.livejournal.com/estdeus_innobis/405311.html?thread=10294335#t10294335)," I say, touching her arm lightly. "And it's beautiful, it's like a heterodyne chime." It's a sunlight disc under a cloudy sky, warm and bright in my fingers, and when I hold it up I can see what it could fit into, the bright lines of gears and springs that could be.

[sapphira-ststep.livejournal.com]

The blond man is shifting through his masks, but that is of less matter, I think, than what he says. "Let me as all of you a question; Does the word Excolo mean anything to anyone here?" and it's strangest thing, word that means something to me and yet reaches beyond, speech and soliloquy at once.

"I know the word," I say. "It's where we need to be going; we should be there, in truth. Standing here, so far from it--the lynchpin of it must have been damaged in some way." I pause a moment, looking at him. "How did you know to speak it?"