"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
”Hansel and Gretel”
Obstacle 1) You are transported to the edge of a forest(feel free to describe your portal experience). There is a cleared path going into the darkness. You also notice a trail of something leading down the path. Follow the trail to find a shelter at the end where the pair are being kept in cages. End your post with finding them.
Trait options(choose one to use):
•A) Cat Eyes- Feline eyes, which also have low-light vision.
•B) Phasing- Ability to make one's own body immaterial to pass through objects.
Note:
*”Hansel and Gretel” can be whoever/whatever you want them to be(though it would benefit them to be self-animated).
*The trail you follow can be marked however you'd like. Get creative!
*The shelter and cages can be whatever you'd like. Go crazy!
**End your post finding them in cages, but do not release them(yet)!
“Billy Goats Gruff”
Obstacle 1) You are transported to an area near a very large, very deep river(feel free to describe your portal experience). You must cross the river so you must find a bridge to do so. Search for the bridge and end your post with finding it.
Trait options(choose one to use):
•A) Sound Mimicry- Ability to mimic any sound found in nature.
•B) Self-Shrinking- Ability to shrink body to bug size. Can only grow back to original height.
Note:
*Start your journey wherever you'd like and find the bridge however you'd like.
*Be descriptive in the area you are transported to and in your search!
**End your post finding it but do not cross it or describe it, yet.
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RULES
1)Remember you must choose one of your assigned fairytales traits and you MUST discover the trait in some way during your post.
2)End your post as instructed.
3)Word count: 300 word minimum
4)Deadline: May 2nd 11:59pm CDT
Any questions feel free to message me on Discord! Neo
The portal had not made itself directly known to Sophist, not before he had passed through it.
Upon quickening his pace toward the familiar river in his dark, forested home, he had slipped obliviously past its threshold.
Oblivious, that is, until the strange sensations overtook him.
The initial impression of having stepped through a gigantic spider’s web is purely unsettling. It tickles across his nose, sends shivers across his lithe neck and narrow torso. He flattens his ears against it in time for a heavier feeling to overtake him, as if the air were pressing close upon him. His next step pulled him through what felt like a heavy pressure, as if he were deep underwater or swaddled tightly in binding cloth.
It felt difficult to breathe in that moment – whether that was because there was no air around him or because his lungs were so restricted, he could not tell.
The initial tingling had not stopped, either, though the closeness made it impossible for him to shake it away. Sweat breaks out across his plum-colored body and mats his short star-white mane to his crest. Sight has been stolen from him by a pitch darkness the likes of which he has never experienced. He cannot even open his mouth to bleat in alarm at the odd, twisting sensation overtaking his skinny body.
Somehow, he manages another step forward through the squeezing of the portal, then another. Ever so slightly, the pressure eases. One final step frees him from the heavy netherworld and he takes a deep breath. The web-like feeling slips at last over his shoulders and then his haunches and he stamps upon the ground with an offended snort, tossing his head and huffing through his nose at the sheer inconvenience he’d experienced.
But then reality strikes him hard: he is no longer in the darkness, no longer surrounded by the dank earthen scent of the forest.
Rose-gold sunlight gilds the world around him. The trees have largely vanished and the sky seems level with the ground at his feet. He is standing out in the open and a hardy gust of wind tousles his dampened forelock upon his brow, his tail against his hocks. He is wracked by a full-body shudder, overwhelmed by the strangeness of the view around him and the anxiety of being thrust into clear view for anyone to behold. Except he is quite alone now.
The earth beneath his feet, woven with lush grass dyed a pinkish-blue hue by the sunset, seems solid enough except for the fact that, upon closer inspection, it appears to drop sheerly away from view when Sophist observes this new locale. Carefully, he wanders nearer to the edge of the visible ground and peers downward.
His stomach drops.
The ground does not continue – not with a sharp fissure-like cliff or even an unseen lower level. He is standing on the edge of an island suspended in the sky, many leagues above some distant land below. Whether or not that land is the Beqanna that he calls home is unclear; the view of it from this height is foggy and unclear, unrecognizable.
Sophist’s young heart leaps and he scrambles backward away from the edge, abruptly slammed with the realization that falling is a very real danger. He retreats toward the center of his small island where a meager cropping of trees sprouts heartily upward and plays host to a party of chattering songbirds much larger than seems usual. They leap from among the branches – each one sways softly beneath their abnormal weight – and consider the new arrival with bright, hungry eyes. Sophist pays them little heed for now, too enraptured by the way the clouds seem far too close, as does the open expanse of the sky, and he swallows thickly.
Nearby, in the not-so-far-distance, is a further sprawl of land. It is wider and more welcoming, though he can see that it retains the same major feature of being isolated as it floats just beyond his current habitation. Other islands of similar appearance accompany these initial two, suspended in the sky at varying heights.
Only now does he register a rushing sound generally associated with the movement of water. It is nearby but unseen at the moment, and Sophist smacks his lips at the memory of how parched he had been just a short while ago. So, after taking another few moments to steady his pounding pulse, the violet colt urges himself to move again.
Circling to the other side of the trees (the birds watch him with a mild rise in their chorus), he searches for the source of the familiar whooshing. Shakiness still pervades in his movements as he places one trembling foot in front of the other, his head held low as if frightened of being swept away from this relatively tiny piece of solid ground. He keeps his ears perked and his nostrils flared, focused in his pursuit. From the sound of it, he should be able to smell the water of the river he’s certain he hears, but only the scent of clear, fresh air greets him.
And soon enough he finds out why: the river is not one of water.
It is one of clouds.
Dense, gold-tinted and incredibly thick but very clearly intangible, they rush through the wide gap between Sophist’s island and the next. Originating from a ‘fall’ pouring off of another nearby island that floats higher than these two, stationary as it feeds its subordinates with this very curious feature, the river’s terminus is unknown as it falls somewhere further downstream into obscurity.
The neighboring plot of land at the same height as his own is much larger, as Sophist had already seen, and lies far out of his reach. Not even the spritely leap of a long-legged yearling like himself would clear the distance between the two levitating velds. Physical ability aside, the strange eddying and rippling and rapid movement of those condensed clouds (alongside his inability to see beneath them, whether they were cradled somehow or were open to the sky below) rather deterred Sophist from even contemplating such a jump.
But there, on the other island, sparkled a lovely lake of vivid blue water. Real water. The allure of it is more than the thirsty youth can resist, but the considerable challenge still looms: how would he reach it?
With a slightly defeated sigh, he lifts his head again and looks back toward the trees. A single bird has hopped to a lower tree branch so that it sags down closer to him. Finding no other option, Sophist indignantly asks aloud to the creature: “What do I do now?”
Except his voice is not his own, and his words are not words. Foreign to his own mouth but familiar to his ears, he ‘speaks’ in the same chirps as the birds had been using. A trill equally soft and sharp, his tongue flexes as if wholly familiar with the language; similarly, the bird tilts its head as if only slightly surprised while it considers its answer. With a song-like purr from its throat, it spreads its brilliant wings of green and silver and takes flight straight over his head. Sophist turns to follow its path, watching as it swoops a little low over the ‘river’ and flaps its wings with purpose.
Previously hidden by a foggy sort of mist above the surface of the clouds, a crossing to the other island is revealed. Perhaps not all hope is lost.
Sophist
if you take my nights will you leave me my days?
Knaught, the brave and adventurous creature, steps cautiously into the mysterious, glowing portal. He is filled with a sense of excitement and wonder, but also with a healthy dose of caution and apprehension. His senses are heightened as he takes in his surroundings, keenly aware of every sound and scent. The darkness envelops him like a thick blanket, and he lowers his head, his ears flicking back and forth, and his nostrils flaring as he sniffs at the strange portal.
With hesitant steps, he enters the portal, half-expecting to be immediately sucked into a void of darkness. The black coat of his body blends in with the surroundings, and only his purple spots are visible and have a glow to them, twinkling like stars around him. As he opens his eyes, he notices a small pond ahead of him. However, something seems different. His eyes are not the usual chocolate brown; they're cat-like eyes, and he jumps back, startled by the sudden change in his appearance.
He looks up at the forest, which has a dim glow around it, revealing a path leading ahead of him. When he looks back down, the pond is gone, as if it never existed.
He is now surrounded by trees, and there's no sign of the portal that brought him here. Confused, he looks around and calls out, "Is anyone here?Fairies?" A soft giggle echoes in the air, growing louder as it flies around him. He twists his head, trying to find the source of the laughter.
"I'm Knaught. Where am I?" he asks, his eyes scanning the area for any clues. A voice calls out in the distance, "Is someone there?" Knaught picks up the pace, his stride quicker. "Please help us!" The voice calls out again. A crow caws above him, and he jumps, looking upward, his ears perked towards the sound, but he doesn't see where it is coming from.
With every step, the voice becomes louder, repeating the same words in a robotic-like manner. The spotted stallion carefully navigates the path, cracking twigs and hitting rocks with each step. He pauses after every step, his ears spinning around, searching for any signs of life. As he approaches the end of the trail, he notices a mist up ahead. However, as he gets closer, the mist turns into darkness, a wall of blackness that not even his newfound cat eyes can penetrate.
He takes a deep breath, his body tense as he walks straight into the darkness. The voices stop as he walks into the darkness. "H-hello?" Knaught says, his voice echoing in the silence and shadows. Suddenly, the voices start again, repeating the same words as before, "Is someone there? Please help us."
"I'm Knaught. What are your names? I can't see you. Where are you?" he asks as he blindly walks towards a large prickle bush.
He bumps into the bush, shaking his head, wincing as the thorns pierce his flesh all around his body.
His eyes finally adjust to the dark veil surrounding him, and he sees two little fawns, curled up and shaking underneath an underhang of big, green leaves.
These fawns are not like any fawn he has ever seen. They have the body of a deer, but their antlers glow and flicker like fireflies. Their spotted fur is iridescent, glowing in unison with their antlers, and their eyes reflect like the moonlight above him. Small fireflies dance around their bodies, illuminating their path towards their host.
The fawns look up to him, their eyes wide with fear and uncertainty. "Once you come into the darkness, you can't leave," one of them says, voice trembling. The other shaking like the leaves above them. Knaught lowers his head and nudges both of them gently. "We'll find a way out," he says with a soft smile, his purple spots being illuminated by their iridescent glow.
As Sapere ventures through the alluring portal, he is greeted with a violent rushing noise in his ears. It seems to mimic the ocean he’d left behind, a cacophony of crashing waves and gusting winds, but it is accompanied by a needling sting like static upon his skin. It is not entirely unpleasant but certainly disconcerting with its confined suddenness, that prickle like nettles close against the backs of his ears and the tender flesh of his chest.
Around him whirl illustrious colors, dancing in ribbons and streaks of every shade imaginable and beyond. For the briefest moments he is certain he catches glimpses that resemble his own memories – golden sands towering in piles far taller than himself, familiar-but-forgotten faces of his gentle subjects, a vast meadow of over-vibrant green grass. None of these images linger for long, however, and he isn’t certain if they’d been there at all. Everything moves with such a rapid flicker before, all at once, it stops.
The stinging he’d felt throughout his body, behind his eyes and at the back of his throat, suddenly ceases. He exhales gratefully and continues to move forward, blinking rapidly before his walk slows to a stop.
Behind him, one of his former stone-soldier pillars (the one which had been traveling close at his flank and thus drawn through the portal with him) crumples into pieces with muffled thuds upon the ground.
Sapere looks around himself to find that the world has grown dark. The color, as if sapped away by the portal itself, has gone from it all. Or, he thinks it has – there is a strange greenish-gray light to the place. The trees that tower in a thick, impenetrable wall before him seem to slowly materialize as a formidable obstacle. At first, he is uncertain why his vision has shifted. Usually he can see fine enough in darkness like this (and it is indeed quite dark – one glance toward the visible sky tells him it is now a still, moonless night), but now his vision is even deeper.
The blackish trunks of the trees seem pale now; their leaves are a dark shroud far, far above his head. At their massive bases, lofty fences of underbrush seem even clearer than usual in that he perceives the gaps within it. Everything is pristinely sharp and clear to him. Particularly, a narrow trail becomes quite evident after the briefest observation.
Before, he had had no intention of tackling the giant fortress of trees, but the opening of the pathway is enticing.
It is made even more so by the gentle twinkling he can see lingering around the ground.
From this distance, it appears as a mere dusting of glitter, but as he draws nearer, the dunskin can see that the shimmer is ever-so-slightly moving. A tilt of his head brings a clearer view of the little insects that hover languidly in the dark, flashing their lanterns in lazy, repetitive patterns. They, unlike the surrounding forest, appear only slightly larger than usual, but an even more remarkable difference from the fireflies Sapere would normally recognize is the fact that their bodies, even their wings, appear to be far more angular and sharp. They are, in fact, crystalline in composition.
They glint from the light within their own bodies as they gently strobe and wade through the pressing night air on unseen and unpredictable paths. One peculiar thing about them, aside from their appearance, does stand out to the stallion’s now-slitted copper eyes: they are all facing the same direction, toward the opening of the trail and the broad flatlands beyond the forest. All strung along the right side of the path, they hover and flutter like a glimmering row of guiding lights.
After a pause to observe this odd phenomenon, Sapere continues further down the path at a quieted, stolid pace. The trail is largely clear of bramble and is carpeted by thick purplish moss that is clearly discernible from the blackish earth of the shadowed forest floor. As he travels deeper into the woods, the oversized flora of the place becomes even more apparent and Sapere begins to feel strangely intimidated. He is no small horse, typically taller than many he encounters, but among these titans of ferns and trees tall as mountains, he finds himself entirely humbled and insignificant.
But he had been raised to shrug off such feelings of inconsequence. Groomed as a prince and future-king, his parents had instilled a bountiful well of confidence within him and he is reminded of that now. Whatever forces had brought him to this place would not deter the stately manner in which he had been crafted.
So he pushes onward, following the trail (and, subsequently, the large crystal fireflies which continue to look back toward the freedom he’d forfeited) until a clearing opens up ahead. The darkness pervades, pressing upon him like a smothering cowl, but his newfound night vision allows him to see it quite obviously.
The trees that had flanked him on both sides suddenly falter in their march and give way to a circular sort of glen. In the center looms a solitary tree that dominates the scene; even more gigantic than its surrounding kin, the veritable colossus stands with menacing pride above the glade. Branches arch outward like protective arms, blotting much of the night sky from view while at its base gather various overgrown plants that look familiar except for their expansive size. Taller groups of laurels, ninebark bushes, and various other such dense flowering greenery pervade the area with their nearly-noxious aromas.
The central base of the tree is notably hollow. A massive split several dozens of feet tall opens the trunk into an angular concourse wherein a multitude of creatures could gather for shelter or any other such convention. Within the tree-cavern float more of the crystalline fireflies, hovering like luminescent guardians most closely around an oddly-shaped cage of thorny roots. These climb from the earth and knit themselves upward in a web-like pattern with many gaps and windows. Some of the openings appear large enough for Sapere himself to pass through, but not for the creatures trapped inside of the spiny prison.
There sit two giant hares, their ears pinned low to avoid the dagger-like spikes of their cell. Their fur shimmers in the light of the fireflies, but Sapere can tell that they would sparkle of their own accord without the added light source. Spots and streaks of luminescence mark their silky coats in beautifully unnatural patterns, pulsing ever so slightly with their every breath. Their eyes, wide and oversized, are notably unique: angular, gleaming, multi-faceted and appearing strangely ‘placed’ rather than naturally housed within the animals’ faces.
These eyes, like the fireflies, are made of jewels far larger than one of Sapere’s own hooves.
Clear, unblinking, they stare into the darkness directly at (and, it feels to him, through) the stallion that has arrived upon the fantastical forest dale. Sapere lingers in the shadows of the trail, silent and still covered in the darkness save for the occasional spots of light from the trail of insects at his side. He is too uncertain of what he beholds to venture further forward at the moment.
"I don't want my life to imitate art, I want my life to be art." -Carrie Fisher
A soothing heat, reminiscent of the kind she’d found while basking in the summer sun just a few months ago, spreads from the tips of her ears down to the very bottoms of her hooves. It is not unpleasant in the least, and she would not mind if it lasted forever, as she’s not overly fond of the colder months. Alas, it disappears all too quickly and is replaced by a milder warmth perfumed by rich, earthy scents—really, not much different than place where the light had appeared to her. Her storm-colored eyes, which had closed upon entering the portal, flutter open and take in the scene that has been laid before her.
Gnarled trunks crowd the soft, leaf-cushioned ground and the quiet chatter of woodland creatures drifts through the breezeless air. A slight finger of disappointment presses at her chest as she wonders if she has left Beqanna at all; it certainly does not feel or look any different than the Forest (although she has only been there a few times, otherwise she might notice the subtle differences in foliage). With a heavy sigh, she looks deeper into the woods, looking for areas of brighter light and thinning trees, the telltale signs of the forest’s edge. But there is nothing to visually lead her to an open area where she could resume her flight.
As she stands there, frustration blooming in her core, she realizes that a new sound has filtered through the typical forest-y noises. Her ears swivel, trying to determine the direction the sound is coming from and she slowly recognizes the sound; running water, likely a creek or stream cutting through the wooded ground. Even if it lies at the heart of the forest, she knows that it must eventually drain into a larger body of water, thus she could follow it to a place that would permit takeoff.
She moves forward with a weak semblance of the energy she’d built up just before passing through the glittering light, but a small flicker of hope still burns quietly within, hoping that something exciting still lies in wait for her. It does not take nearly as long as she expected to find the creek, so she opts for a long drink before continuing along, following the water’s natural flow. As she walks along in search of an exit, she thinks of Myrna and the seemingly unending depths of her abilities. In comparison, she feels so plain and boring, so small and weak, next to the pale mare.
She pauses for a moment, though she can see a broad expanse of light peeking through the widened gaps between the trees. Her grey eyes close once more as she attempts to swallow down the lump that has formed in her throat. She wants to attribute the longing to her fascination with the magical women she’d met on her arrival, but she’s not so sure that this is a harmless child’s yearning to fit in. A shiver licks its way slowly along her spine as she wrestles with her emotions and the tingle spreads through the rest of her body, creating an entirely different kind of warmth that creeps beneath her skin. The sensation does not last long though and she sighs once more. She really needs to get a grip.
When her eyes open again, she immediately knows that something is wrong. She is acutely aware of the missing weight of her wings on her back (which she might have noticed earlier, had she been paying more attention), but that is not the worst of it. She is not sure how, but the forest looms around her in an entirely different way now. The trees remain, but they seem far larger than they’d been just a few minutes ago. Looking down, she notices that what looks like the leaves that had crunched beneath her feet now threaten to swallow her into the dark gaps that stretch endlessly between them. A loud rustle, with an accompanying physical rumble, comes from her right and she spins quickly to find the source.
A rabbit, not unlike those she’d chased through the Gates, hops demurely along, snuffling through the litter occasionally. If she’d only been suspicious before, the rabbit’s appearance confirms the rapidly growing fear that had settled over her. The rabbit stands taller than she, as though she is standing at the base of a miles-high cliff. Terror seizes her limbs, temporarily locking them into place as she considers the very real possibility of being stepped on by a rabbit. But it does not take long to recover and before she knows what she is doing, she launches into a sprint and somehow manages to continue following the creek until she bursts into the bright light of the open area she’d been looking for.
The sound of rushing water is louder here and at first, she assumes it is because of her newfound tininess, but a fierce glint of sunlight tells her otherwise. Indeed, the creek feeds into a wide river that now sprawls before her. She looks up and down the length of the river as best she can, but there is not much to see past the short grasses that are still taller than she. Annoyance quickly replaces her fear and she fights her way through the blades; she is not too keen on getting closer to the water, but surely there is something she could scale to get a better look at her surroundings.
She’s not wrong. A large, rough rock lies among several smaller ones, providing a perfect vantage point (if she can reach the top, that is). Determined, she bounds over to the outcropping. It takes some time and skill, but after accumulating a series of scrapes and cuts, she manages to find her way to the apex of the largest rock and, sides heaving with exertion, she takes another look around. Ah, what is that in the distance? A dark brown structure stretches across the river, but she cannot discern any other features. A frown tugs at the corners of her lips as she realizes it is quite far away and it might take days, weeks even, to reach the structure. She stomps a hoof to underline her frustration at being such a wretchedly small size.
Without warning, that warm tingle returns, and she is frozen in shock as she abruptly shoots up to her normal height. The rock, mountainous just a minute ago, now prods painfully at the bottom of one of her feet and she moves away from it. What on earth is going on here? Perhaps it is a bit reckless of her, but she bolts for the structure she’d spotted earlier and finds that the distance is not nearly as daunting now. In fact, she covers the ground quickly and easily. She pulls up just short of the structure and begins to inspect it, though from a healthy distance…
skywalker @Sophist 
