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Aureate Hollow



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Wed Jan 20, 2021 5:34 pm
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keystrings says...



Vee toppled over, startled by the ground shaking. They couldn't be too surprised by that as they never had great balance on a good day that didn't involve walking into a forest and being surrounded by nice, yet weird people.

"That can't mean anything good."

Scrambling to stand back up, Vee grasped a nearby tree branch to hold their weight. Even when the tremors ceased, they still felt a bit off.

"What should we do? We all came from different directions, it seems. Did anyone see anything? 'Sides like being in this place and all."
name: key/string/perks
pronouns: she/her/hers and they/them/theirs


novel: the clocktower (camp nano apr 24)
poetry: the beauty of the untold (napo 2024)





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Wed Jan 20, 2021 7:02 pm
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Valkyria says...



Annabeth blinked as two other people showed up, introducing themselves.

"Nice to meet you all," she said, introducing herself as well. She brushed stray dirt off her jeans, accidentally staining them. She frowned.

Edward mentioned something pulling him toward somewhere, but Annabeth couldn't relate. She had just woken up in this forest, yet she didn't have that feeling.

Not yet, she supposed.

The ground started shaking, and Annabeth grabbed a tree to keep herself from falling. She grasped it tightly, feeling the rough bark cut into her fingers.

"What should we do? We all came from different directions, it seems. Did anyone see anything? 'Sides like being in this place and all," said Vee.

Annabeth shook her head. "I don't know!" she yelled above the tremors. "I saw nothing but trees."
There is always something left to love.
- One Hundred Years of Solitude





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Thu Jan 21, 2021 3:11 pm
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Mageheart says...



The tremors left for a moment, only to return seconds later. Edward followed Vee's example and grabbed onto the nearest tree. He could feel the ground shaking beneath his feet - it didn't feel stable in the slightest.

"I don't know, either!" Edward shouted. He wasn't really trying to shout over the tremors; it was more of a panicked exclamation. "New York and Connecticut never get earthquakes-"

There was a cracking noise from underneath them.

Edward slowly looked down.

He couldn't see anything off just yet, but the noise had definitely come from underneath the group.
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Thu Jan 21, 2021 7:10 pm
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Ljungtroll says...



"What was that?" Hester demanded, gripping a tree for balance. The pull was stronger than ever; she could barely concentrate on what was going on right now. Her worries about finding her way home had vanished, consumed only by the tugging and the shaking of the ground. It was all she could sense.
At the sound of the crack, Hester dropped to her knees and began to pray. To whom, she didn't know. She didn't follow the New God, and the Old Gods had fallen silent many years ago. The prayer was lost in the rumbling and roaring of the tumultuous earth, but Hester clung to it and the tree with everything she had.
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin

Formerly RavenLord, formerly GrandWild
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Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:57 am
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keystrings says...



Vee also stared down at the ground, struggling between wanting to cry or scream enough more. They looked at the rest of the people standing near, all grappling for some kind of support.

They didn't want to know what the noise was, and why they felt drawn in some way to the ground where the noise may be coming from. Maybe they had watched too many conspiracy videos about otherwordly ideas, as now, faced with what surely must be one, they were not happy.
name: key/string/perks
pronouns: she/her/hers and they/them/theirs


novel: the clocktower (camp nano apr 24)
poetry: the beauty of the untold (napo 2024)





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Sun Jan 24, 2021 3:38 pm
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Mageheart says...



As the world shook, the ground gave out beneath them.

Maybe Edward should have seen that coming. Maybe he should have assumed that holding onto the tree wasn't going to save him from tumbling down to whatever lay below the surface. But the ground very much did give out underneath his feet, and his grip on the tree - which had been questionable at best - broke.

And he fell.

He flailed around in a desperate attempt to grab onto something, but his hand just kept grasping dirt. By the time he could make out the seemingly hard ground below, he was sure he was going to be an Edward-sized pancake by the end of his fall.

He screwed his eyes shut.

But the pain never came.

Neither did the impact.

When he opened his eyes, he found that he was falling...slower? He was close to the ground now, but the fall had certainly slowed down. He hesitantly straightened himself and let his feet touch the ground. As soon as he made contact, the weightlessness was gone - he just stumbled and nearly faceplanted in the pile of dirt that had fallen with him.

He quickly caught himself.

And then he froze, catching a glimpse of the underground world that lay before him.

It was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

Image
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Mon Jan 25, 2021 5:47 pm
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Valkyria says...



Annabeth cried out in shock as she plummeted through the ground. The sky was growing smaller and smaller.

She attempted to grab onto something, but only air slipped through her fingers, and she shut her eyes. When she opened them a crack, Annabeth vaguely saw the others next to her, flailing their arms.

Annabeth covered her eyes and tensed, waiting for the impact...

Until she felt herself slowing down.

She cracked her eyes open and dared herself to look down.

The ground grew closer, but Annabeth didn't feel any fear of crashing into it.

Strangely, she felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. Except there were no objects floating in the air.

Imitating Edward, Annabeth straightened her legs, which suddenly felt very heavy and landed softly on the ground.

Her legs buckled under her sudden weight, and she collapsed onto the dirt.

She shakily stood back up, brushing the dirt off of herself.

"Is everyone all right?" she asked, and then she gasped.

A sparkling cave stretched out before her, sprouting plants she had never seen before.

It was beautiful.

"What is this place?" she asked. A feeling tugged her chest.
There is always something left to love.
- One Hundred Years of Solitude





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Thu Jan 28, 2021 2:02 pm
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Mageheart says...



"I'm okay," Edward said. He didn't feel like he was okay. He had been convinced he was just kidnapped, but now he was starting to think this was a strange dream. He had never seen something like this before. He didn't even know an underground place like this was possible. But he didn't wake up when he pinched himself, and everything about this felt so real. It couldn't just be a dream.

His breath caught in his throat.

...What did that mean, then?

He looked over at Annabeth, confusion and worry and panic all mixing together on his face.

"I don't know where we are," he whispered.
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Thu Jan 28, 2021 3:14 pm
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rida says...



Spoiler! :
Forest is an 11 year old and an orphan. She has forest green hair that has some vines creeping from it and a few flowers. Her hairs reach to her shoulders. Her cheeks are apple red and she has a slightly greenish skin which you would only realise if you look at it closely. She wears a turquoise shirt and dark green jeans which have an evil looking bird embroidered on it. Her shirt has the picture of a dagger enveloped with vines, roses and thorns. She has blue eyes which are usually narrowed. You can think of her a bit like the girl in my avatar.


Forest looked around. She let out a small gasp. It was beautiful, but where was she? Forest remembered how she had woken up in an unfamiliar forest and suddenly heard people. She had followed the sound but had fallen down into THIS place and was now lost. She had never seen a place like this before. It had massive, purple-ish trees and lights danced around her. Some plants looked more like humans, gossiping among themselves, some looked more like normal plants except for the strange light they seemed to give out. Was she in wonderland? It looked a lot like Lewis Carroll’s description, but it was a whole lot creepier. Her stomach growled. She was suddenly feeling very hungry. She looked around. She couldn’t decide wether to eat the fruits hanging there or not, so she searched around for something else. Maybe follow the strange pull she was feeling? “No. That’s not a wise decision.” She said firmly to herself. She wandered around, and after a few minutes, met... an Apple tree? She ran hungrily towards it, but the more she ran, the more farther it got. She stopped, angry tears blossoming from her eyes. “Why?!” She cried. Her voice fell on deaf ears. She sat down on the ground and felt the rough texture of the grass. She stopped crying, and decided to lie down and rest. The world seemed calmer. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep.
She woke up with a start. She looked around. The place was suddenly filled with a whole lot of lights than before. It was a lot harder to see anything else except the dancing lights. She squinted. The silhouette of a woman emerged. She backed away, but she was surrounded by the bark of trees. The woman slowly emerged. She had pink hairs that fell on the ground and were braided. They were decorated with butterflies. She even had butterfly wings. Slowly, she realised that the woman WAS a butterfly. The woman approached her slowly, then pressed her hand on forest’s cheek. She said nothing for a moment, then, she gave her a fruit. Forest took the fruit. The woman smiled, then vanished. Forest knew who she was. Of course she did! Orphan or not, she IS educated. It was the mimpholiys butterfly, one which SHOULD’VE been extinct. They usually meant no harm. Usually. They give safe gifts.
Forest looked at the fruit. An apple. She bit it carelessly. Almost as soon as she bit it, she fainted. It was not a mimpholiys, it was its dark twin.

“Where am I NOW?” Forest groaned. Her eyes adjusted to the sudden light. Fire. Everywhere. She gasped. A dagger suddenly pierced her heart. She was in a house. Fire played around it. A woman sat on the shelf of the kitchen. Right next to a window. She held a baby in her hands. The baby opened its mouth and started crying. The woman looked a lot like Forest. Except for the eyes. They were green. The woman started singing frantically in an effort to calm the baby. Forest moved closer. “Mom?” She asked, her voice heavy with sorrow. The woman didn’t seem to here her. The 11 year old Forest seemed to be invisible. The fire department truck’s voice floated from the window. The woman looked at it. A man’s voice shouted from the other room. “Take Forest and go! I won’t be able to come!” He shouted. The woman started crying. “No! I can’t leave you Mathew! I can’t!” The other side was silent. “Go. Please. Take Forest and go.” The woman knew she had no choice. A man suddenly appeared at the window. He was on a ladder attached to the truck. Relief washed over the woman’s face. She gave the baby to the man. He took her in one hand. The woman started to get up but the man shook his head. “No.” He said. “How can I let YOU come? After that, how can I?” He asked. “After all this time? After all this time you still hold a grudge against me?” The woman asked incredulously. The man shook his head. “I will never forgive you.” He said with a low growl. Without a second thought, he pushed the woman into the fire. “Mom!” The 11 year old Forest shouted. She started crying again. The man had turned paler. He looked at the baby Forest and wrinkled his nose. “Ugly. Just like your mother.” He said. He turned back. “It’s too late. The parents are dead.” He shouted. The baby Forest opened her mouth and let out a loud wail. The 11 year old Forest started searching around for her mother.
She woke up. She was sweating all over. She didn’t have any memory of this. But who knew if it was even the truth? Angry, Forest started running away. Where, she didn’t know. But she just ran. And ran. And ran. Until she heard voices.
And just like that, she met the group of people who had fallen with her.
Last edited by rida on Fri Feb 12, 2021 7:56 am, edited 4 times in total.





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Tue Feb 02, 2021 4:34 pm
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keystrings says...



Vee took one last breath before the floor gave out on them, leaving them and what they assumed were their new companions hurling straight down. It felt like they were suspended in the air for far longer than a few moments.

Once Vee touched onto solid ground once more, they couldn't stop themselves from digging their fingers into the dirt, trying to latch onto something physical they they could understand.

Electric blue plants were not something they understood, to be fair. But, they might as well reach out and touch one, right? It wasn't like touching something unfamiliar and alarmingly colored could do any lasting harm to their person?

Right. With that in mind, Vee poked a nearby plant. Curious.
name: key/string/perks
pronouns: she/her/hers and they/them/theirs


novel: the clocktower (camp nano apr 24)
poetry: the beauty of the untold (napo 2024)





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Sun Feb 07, 2021 4:02 am
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Ljungtroll says...



Hester landed hard on her back, hitting the back of her head on the ground. She cried out in pain and lay there for a moment, stunned and breathless. There was a faint blue glow coming from around her, but she was still processing what had just happened.

The ground had been there, and then it just...wasn't. Whatever was causing the earthquakes had dropped her and the others into this bizarre landscape and she had no idea why.
Hester sat up with a groan, rubbing the back of her head as she took in the strange trees and giant mushrooms. If she had been suspicious of faerie activity before, now she was certain that they were meddling with her.
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin

Formerly RavenLord, formerly GrandWild
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Sun Feb 07, 2021 12:39 pm
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Mageheart says...



When Vee poked the plant, Edward's breath caught in his throat. He was sure something horrible was going to happen. He didn't know a thing about this place, but he knew that the wilderness could be dangerous. That was why he always preferred to stay within the comfort of his home.

But then nothing happened.

Edward let out his breath as a tiny, relieved sigh.

Nearby, Hester was getting up. It looked like all of their group had fallen into the cavern together. It wasn't until Edward saw an unfamiliar person among the rubble that he finally was shaken out of his shock and horror.

She was young. Edward was sure she wasn't even a teenager yet. Her clothes reminded him of Annabeth's, but her hair was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was green - and seemed so alive. There were vines and flowers coming off of it. Edward's first thought was that she had put them in there herself, but they seemed so natural.

Like they were meant to be a part of her hair.

Edward shook the thought away. His brain was just playing tricks on him, even though he couldn't figure out how those tricks were happening in the first place.

He walked over to her.

"Hi," he awkwardly said.
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Sun Feb 07, 2021 3:30 pm
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rida says...



Forest looked in surprise at the strange people. She had not given a second thought about this. What if they were violent? What would she do then? She stared at the people, silent. Most of them were aliens. She had read about them, the lack of magic in them and the weird plain appearances. They seemed to be one of the, putting it politely, un-intelligent species. They were killing their own race. Imagine. A human man, who, for some reason looked really out of place, noticed her. “Hi.” He said awkwardly, walking over to her. She narrowed her eyes. She didn’t back away. It would give them the impression that she’s scared and weak. “Hi.” She replied, slowly and cautiously. She didn’t trust the man. She didn’t trust anyone. She suddenly noticed how everyone was getting up as if they had fallen down. She noticed their bewildered expressions. The small fire of doubt that had risen when she had first seen them, flickered. Maybe these people fell down with her. She shook the thought away. “Don’t underestimate me. I might be an 11 year old, but I’m skilled in fighting. You won’t want to cross me.” She said loudly, in the boldest voice she could muster. Her voice sounded childish. She hated it. She was old enough, why won’t her voice change into a more grown-up tone?





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Mon Feb 08, 2021 10:08 pm
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Ljungtroll says...



Hester had gotten to her feet at this point. The sight of a child in their midst surprised her. Where were this girl's parents? She took a hesitant step forward. She still barely knew anyone, but this child might need care.
"What's your name?" Hester asked with a small smile, holding out her hand for the little girl to shake. "I'm Hester."
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin

Formerly RavenLord, formerly GrandWild
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Tue Feb 09, 2021 10:05 am
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rida says...



Oh great. Forest thought, as the woman stuck out her hand, introducing herself. More people. The people here seemed..... non violent. Maybe she could fool them. She would stay with them for a night, in the early morning, she would steal their rations and run away. Forest liked the idea. She smiled a fake smile, “I’m Forest.” She said in a honeyed tone. The other man, the one who looked odd, opened his mouth, but closed it the moment Forest gave him her famous death stare.








cron
Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.
— Brené Brown