Communion is a holy thing.
From now, until you sate the Dream and fulfill its purpose, You, The Dreamer, and You, The Neophyte, will be as one.
Praise be to the All-Seer, and [[awaken.]]
(set: $Sheriff to false,
$Zephyr to false,
$Joy to false,
$Spiritual to false)"Well, howdy there, Dreamer," the Sheriff says. "We've got a real gatherin' here, now."
You're in a forest, lying on your back. A river roars nearby. Birds are chirping. You stand up.
The Sheriff is sitting on a rock, and for some reason he has a shotgun slung across his back.
The Joy is standing nearby, looking mildly uncomfortable at the setting. "Oh, Dreamer," she greets warmly.
The Spiritual is crouching off to the side, apparently interested in nature. Idly, she waves towards you.
[[You greet your fellows.]]"Hey
there, everyone," you say. The group is bigger than average for the
Dream, and you wonder the reason for that. "Have any particular issues
cropped up?"
"None at all," the Sheriff said. "It's been real nice, honestly."
"Yes, nice," the Joy said. She grimaced. "There's a path up ahead. We're
not sure where it leads. Hopefully back to the waking world."
"Our Joy doesn't like nature," the Spiritual says, straining your ears
slightly. "So I suppose we should hurry through this, for her sake."
You can't help but agree. You're not sure how well the Dream will take
you, considering... [[the last Communion]].So,
you agree to finish this as quickly as you can. The Sheriff seems a bit
put out at the idea, and the Joy seems to find the idea unusual, but
neither of them say anything. The four of you set off down the path.
The forest is nice and calm, and that makes you suspicious. Honestly,
you can realize that this was probably just intended to be a pleasant
nature walk, but you can't get //snakes// off your mind, and your
wariness infects the others.
You reach a cottage, and by that point the Sheriff and the Joy are
noticeably on edge.
Their worry is nothing compared to the Zephyr, who you see at the
cottage, [[panicking.]]"Y'alright
there, kid?" the Sheriff calls, and Zephyr stops in his tracks. He
looks scared, for a moment, but relaxes when he recognizes the group.
"Oh, yeah, sure," the Zephyr says. "I didn't realize... well, it's
fine."
The Sheriff narrows his eyes, but the Zephyr turns and resumes his
pacing around the building. The rest of your group spreads out and
begins to look over [[the cottage]].The
cottage is squat and aged. The stone that makes up the building is
chipped, and moss grows off of the roof. The windows are small, and
there's no glass, simply empty holes with shutters.
The inside is sparse. There's a bed, with a handful of ratty blankets
clustered into a ball. There's an old stove shoved into one corner.
Overall, it's not very impressive.
[[The Zephyr]] is pacing around the cottage perimeter. [[The Sheriff]]
leans against the cottage, next to the door, and watches the forest.
[[The Spiritual]] seems content resting against a tree. [[The Joy]] has
sequestered herself inside the cottage.
(if: $Sheriff is true and $Zephyr is true and $Joy is true and
$Spiritual is true)[[Time to move on.]]You
head out to the Zephyr.
He's pacing around the cottage at a frantic pace, and when he glances up
to see you he pales. You hadn't been able to continue that conversation
from the last Communion, and he's been acting even odder around you
ever since.
"What's the problem, Zephyr?" you say, and before he can respond you
add, "I know there is one, so don't try and play it off."
Zephyr frowns momentarily. "...Alright, so this might sound crazy," he
says. "But... there was someone else here, before you showed up."
"Oh? The owner of the cottage, I presume?"
"No," the Zephyr said, surprising you. "I mean, maybe? But he didn't
seem like... a fake Dream person. He seemed //real.// But now he's...
gone, and I feel like I [[imagined him]]."
(set: $Zephyr to true)You
approach the Sheriff. His casual mood from earlier seems to have
evaporated, and you feel some regret over that.
He tips his hat towards you and says, "Howdy, Dreamer. I gather you're
not overly pleased with this Dream?"
"That's true," you say. "Sorry to rain on your parade. Recent events
have made the Dream... more difficult."
"I reckon," the Sheriff says. "If you're gonna have to be dealin' with
this more often... why, I'm real sorry about that, Dreamer. But I hope
you know that any of us would be willin' to help you out, if you needed
anything."
You smile. "Thanks, Sheriff, but there's no need for that. I'll manage."
He makes as if to respond, but something [[flies by.]]
(set: $Sheriff to true)The
Spiritual seems comfortable where she is, resting underneath a tree.
She almost looks like she's asleep, and briefly you wonder if you
//can// fall asleep in the Dream.
But the Spiritual crooks open an eye and smiles at you. "Dreamer," she
says. "Join me for a moment, why don't you?"
"Sure," you say, and you sit at the base of a nearby tree. "It's been a
while since any of us have seen you. A few people thought you had left
us."
"Oh? I wasn't aware that there are attendance rules." The Spiritual
smiles, slightly. "Has that changed?"
"No," you say, annoyed. "There aren't any formal rules, but you are
supposed to attend the conferences, if you can. The last of which was
yesterday," you add pointedly.
"My apologies," the Spiritual says, not sound apologetic at all. "I'll
strive to be better. I'll be staying here for some time, anyways, so
you'll likely see me at the [[next conference]]."
(set: $Spiritual to true)The
Joy doesn't seem any more comfortable in the cottage. She glances at
you as you enter, but seems to be lost in thought.
You employ your favorite conversation strategy: letting the other person
take the lead. It takes a minute, but Joy sighs and breaks the silence.
"Zephyr seems rather upset."
She's avoiding the main issue. Your conversation strategy has failed.
It's time to cut to the chase. "Alright, Joy, what's the problem? I know
it's not Zephyr, and I know nature doesn't scare you //that// much."
The Joy sighs. "Alright, Dreamer," she says. "I have some...
reservations about recent events."
"Alright then," you say. You lean against the wall and cross your arms.
"Pretend I'm the Therapist and [[tell me all about it]]."
(set: $Joy to true)After
spending some time here, you've concluded that the cottage is simply a
resting point -- or, less charitably, a distraction. You gather your
group and lead them onwards.
You're not sure how long it takes you to notice, but you spot something
looming over the trees. It's a tower. It's //the// Tower.
You're not sure if you should aim for the Tower. You're not sure if you
//could.//
The rest of your group doesn't seem to notice the Tower.
You force your gaze lower and spot (link-reveal: "a
snake")[(link-reveal: " a ~~Viperidae~~")[(link-reveal: " a
~~Pythonidae~~")[ [[an Elapidae.]]]]]"That's...
strange," you say. Zephyr nods rapidly, nearly stumbling as he paces.
"So you're looking for him?"
"Just something to prove he was here," the Zephyr says. "But finding him
would be fine, too."
So you spend some time helping the Zephyr search. Neither of you are
trackers, really, but collectively the two of you have read Multiple
Novels, so you try to apply that knowledge. You look for grass that
couldn't have been flattened by your group, or broken tree branches, or
just a man hiding in the bushes.
Honestly, you're not overly surprised when the search turns up nothing.
You'd mostly hoped to help the Zephyr out, but by the end of it he just
seems more stressed out.
Eventually he throws his hands out. "Screw it," he says. "I... must have
imagined it. Thanks for the help, Dreamer."
You want to say something, to help cheer him up. But you never really
know what to say around the Zephyr, and so you only mutter something and
head back to [[the cottage]].It's
up in the air, high enough that the two of you only barely see it in
the tries, and it's //bright.// It hurts your eyes, and you flinch as
you see it -- but by the time you realize what had happened, it's gone.
The Sheriff is slightly faster on the draw, and by the time your vision
clears he's got his gun pointed to the sky, where the... //thing// was.
"The hell was that?" the Sheriff asks. He's blinking his eyes, too, and
his hat has nearly fallen off his head from how he had snapped his gaze
up.
"I don't know," you say. No one else had seemed to notice it.
The two of you watch the sky for a few minutes, but nothing more seems
forthcoming. Hesitantly, the Sheriff slings his shotgun across his back
again.
"As I was saying," the Sheriff says, though it's rather weak now. "God,
y'all are right, we gotta get outta here."
You bid the Sheriff your farewell and step back from [[the cottage]].The
Joy takes some time to think.
"Our most recent conference was out of the ordinary," she says, and you
nod in agreement. "Our Administrators barely appeared. The Doctor
//didn't// appear, which is, as far as I know, a first."
The Doctor was one of the earliest members of Apotheosis, and as far as
you know he'd never missed a conference. He was always ready to warn
about a second incursion, or push forward his ideas. You were honestly
worried when he hadn't shown up yesterday, and the only reason you're
still not is because the Fool had used some of her limited time to
reassure you.
So you nod and say, "Yeah, it's... out of the ordinary."
"Yes," Joy says. "And... I know I'm not the only one worried about what
happened with... [[The Courier]]."Suddenly,
you're glad you're leaning against the wall. "The Courier?" you say,
slowly. "Have you been... talking to the Doctor?"
"The Doctor?" Joy raises an eyebrow. "No, of course not. Does he think
something was... off?"
"He had some concerns," you say. "But if you haven't... what are your
worries?"
Joy grimaces. "I hope this doesn't seem disrespectful, but everything
about his death... felt odd. It's just a feeling, but... I'm not the
only one who has thought so."
"Who else?"
"I've been asked not to say," she says. "They don't want to... make any
enemies."
The conversation trails off.
So. The Doctor isn't the only one with a bad feeling about the Courier,
and... after the last Communion, you don't disregard the idea as easily.
You nod to Joy and take your leave of [[the cottage]]."I'm
sure we'll all benefit from your input," you say, struggling to keep
the derision from your voice. The Spiritual's smile widens. "What brings
you back? Why, the Fool thought you decided you were too good for us."
"Oh, no need to worry about that yet," the Spiritual says. Her smile
falls, and she grows serious. "The Courier's unfortunate passing brought
me back. I have the troubling feeling that things around here may be...
dangerous."
The last word is hesitant, and it's so unlike the Spiritual that it
takes you aback. "Dangerous?" you say, and you can't work up the usual
disdain you feel for her.
The Spiritual nods. "Yes. It's just a feeling, but be careful, Dreamer.
It would be a shame for something to happen to any of us."
You nod carefully, and she stares at you for a moment, her gaze
shockingly intense. Finally, her demeanor relaxes, and she leans back
against the tree.
"Now leave me be," she says, smiling again. You roll your eyes and head
back to [[the cottage]].The snake (text-style: "shadow")[rears up at you [[and--]]]
(text-style: "blur")[The Sheriff shouts something. There's a [[g-]]](text-style: "blurrier")[[The Tower looms.]]"Odd
Dream, I think," the Sheriff says, as night falls. "We just supposed to
wait here?"
Night has fallen, and the Sheriff and the Spiritual had teamed up to
make a campfire. Your group had decided that camping out would be
smarter than trying to fit five people into the cottage.
The Zephyr has calmed down, and now he seems like he's having a decent
time. The Joy's mood has also improved, now that she's engaging in
conversation with the others.
Staying at the cottage had been an odd decision, you had thought, but
the others had convinced you. Even if there's some grand plan by the
Dream that you're missing, the pleasant mood affecting your more
stressed out colleagues is worth it.
Still, you can't help but wonder about what [[the Dream's plans may have
been.]]The Dream's purpose has been fulfilled, as it always does, and as it always will be, and thus it comes to an end.
↶↷Communion is a holy thing.
From now, until you sate the Dream and fulfill its purpose, You, The Dreamer, and You, The Neophyte, will be as one.
Praise be to the All-Seer, and awaken.