"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
From her safe spot outside the storm, the Cloud Fairy monitors their progress. Though she had told them the destination was what was important, was why they needed to endure what was coming their way - it is the journey itself that she needs from them. Part of her feels guilty for each flare-up of fear she feels. For the screams that she hears from them and around them. They had given up a nightmare to enter the storm but they may yet leave with more.
And she wishes it didn’t have to be this way, wishes she could spare them all - but it will be worth it in the end.
Perhaps not for them, these seven sacrifices with their seven rapidly beating hearts.
When they arrive at the eye of the storm - the nightmares cease. They are still there if any of them care to look around - but more than likely she expects they’ll be focused on their destination. Perhaps all their attention will be on the very clear lack of anything waiting for them in the center. Nothing more than a wisp of cloud that momentarily detaches itself from the surrounding storm. They are in a cavern amidst the chaos they survived to get here - a hollow place utterly devoid of everything except their seven bodies.
While they may begin to wonder about the point of this quest, the Cloud Fairy’s work has begun. She knew there would be nothing waiting for them, no secret or key to recover. It was their fear that she needed, and how better to harvest it than to toss them into a world of nightmares. It is a potent emotion and one so much easier to conjure out of strangers than love. Perhaps she could have found a pleasanter way but it would have taken time and she is tired of waiting to correct the balance.
Though there is no one else outside of the storm to observe, her eyes darken - matching the clouds she faces - and she wields the fear she had felt from all of them. The purple stallion seeing visions of lost parents; the young mare caught by tentacles; the glowing sabino watching as someone burns alive; the dual-halos of a stallion illuminating the lake of blood he drowns in; vines choking the little chestnut; a labyrinth of darkness so thick it chokes out the white and blue boy lost in it; fire-red eyes burning in empty sockets as it hunts the young night-adorned girl.
Each of their journeys pains her heart but the excitement has caught on too powerful for her to stop now.
The clouds begin to swirl around her seven heroes, faster and faster - orbiting that empty place where they either stand or hover with their wings. The nightmares blend together, bleeding and mixing until they are one giant organism.
It quickly becomes apparent, as vicious winds claw at the seven brave souls, that they are caught within a tornado. One that is so much more than just air and dust. The fairy has used their fears to ignite the storm of nightmares, to bring it to life. There have been many wondrous and terrifying things seen in Beqanna and this is something different, something new.
Something that will bring about the change she desperately craves.
No further instructions come from the Cloud Fairy but as this strange, twisted tornado begins to grow in intensity there is clearly only one thing to do - they need to escape. And they need to do it now.
Congratulations on making it to the final round!
Everyone is greeted by a big fat nothing waiting for them in the eye of the storm. Instead, the Cloud Fairy uses everyone's fear to turn the storm into a tornado. And now, after going all through that for nothing, you need to escape. It may just be wind inhibiting you as you try to get out, or there may be some remnants of the nightmares which all exist somewhere, blended into the tornado.
In your reply, if you'd like, you can choose 1 or more traits to be scrambled by the tornado. Like in the eclipse plot, they may go up or down a space, or mutate into something entirely different. Both expressed and carried traits may be scrambled, with carried also having a chance at becoming expressed. Please clearly list any traits you'd like scrambled at the bottom of your post.
If you don't have any traits or don't want any of your current ones scrambled, you may choose to scramble the wings that the Cloud Fairy granted for this quest (or choose not to have anything scrambled).
This round will end (approximately) July 9th at 11:59pm eastern and as with the last ones, you'll have until results are posted to get your replies up.
