Estylwen

Dark Beyond: Voices of the Past

@Days how is your post coming along? :)

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

@FernStone How thoughtful! xD

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Umbra: The Abyssal Connection

New post is up! I've puppeted Ivy and Bastian. Looking forward to everyone's posts! @Herald, feel free to lead the group to cover.

Umbra: The Abyssal Connection

Unknown Facility

---

He had once been a man. A young boy, with a mother. They lived in a scrap-tent in an open space within Ehlm, near a skyscraper with a blue tree curling out of it.

That was before the raid. His innocence was shattered when he saw his mother shot before his eyes, and he was taken. A rough hand, needles. Darkness covering him like a suffocating blanket.

Now?

He was a man no longer. A young boy, no longer. Yes, he knew. In the in-between phases when his sedation would wear off, he could see. The tubes sticking out of him, the clear fluid, the suspension, the glare of lights. Muffled voices through the liquid.

He was a man no longer.

And his rage, his unfettered grief lay like a festering wound, waiting.

Waiting…

---

Abandoned Facility, Five Hours South of Ehlm

@SporkoBug

---

"Those Umbra Bastards. Killing their own to attempt to harness our power."

Wendigo

Cercyes stood there for a moment, the spirits causing his robe to flutter in the breeze.

“Whatever pain they suffered, whatever harm came upon them in this space…” He turned to look up at Wren, looking through him, to the Wild within. “It's over now. Where I take them, only joy remains.”

"Does... Would mine look like that?"

Wren

Cercyes eyed the man for a moment before he hopped over to him, stepping up on the struts of his staff to gain a little more height. The staff, curiously, was perfectly balanced.

He pressed a tiny little hand into Wren's chest, where his heart would be. “You're so shy about your rights. Hm? What thumps in that chest of yours is a Wild, and we will claim it when your time comes.

“To doubt the nature of your own morphed soul…” Cercyes said, trailing off as he leaned back, and dismounted his staff.

Cercyes moved back, making space for Mimi to cuddle up to Wren. He took a breath, sniffing the air under his hood. “Velaé, enen yûra thielles amarillia. Êthél rithiel esla, Fethraes Bestía. Maeléra las'ta méri? (Indeed, the notes of sweetness are quite rare. You are fortunate today, Feathered Beast. Aren't you glad you came with me?)”

"Uh... Ivy? What were you once saying about what Wilds feed on?"

Wren

Ivy watched, scientific intrigue veiling her face. “Human emotion. They emit a sticky fourth dimensional substance that Wilds can smell and, in some cases, eat. It's similar to what traces we found, in old research on the Perishing Event. Similar to a type of Abyssal Energy, or a residue of it.”

The soldiers looked among themselves, one staring dejected at their protein bar, before they gave each other a subtle nod.

With Mimi distracted, one soldier approached from behind, taking a deep breath, and practically pouncing around the neck of the Wild, hands aiming to forcefully swipe the chip.

---

Northern Outskirts of the City of Ehlm

@rabidbacon, @Qia, @Herald

---

“Aargh!” Came Vin's cry through the dust. It was clear Val's shot aimed true. How true, though, remained to be seen.

It came low, rumbling. Before it peaked, and the wind began to whistle and howl. Winds at high speeds out of the blue weren't uncommon in the Dust. It was an all-too-common weather pattern, and the dust storms had taken lives before, the winds causing the dust to whip and bite, and suffocate.

The dust from Mercy's diversion was quickly blown away, though the men still struggled with their eyes, squinting and moaning. The cleared outskirts revealed cloudy, muted red skies, and tell-tale lightning bolts crackling the clouds’ underbelly.

The cleared air, whipping wildly, also revealed a scattered battlefield.

“Val, you bastard!” Vin yelled, snapping his rifle at the man, no dust to cover Val this time. He had blood dripping from his arm from an obvious gunshot wound, but gripped his gun anyway. Vin glanced at the bloody maw of the massive Wild, the tell-tale signs of blood on the ground. Putting two and two together, his finger squeezed a little on the trigger, a hair's breadth away.

But everyone knew what the darkening skies meant, what the wild winds meant. A deadly storm would be upon them in minutes, maybe. If they were lucky.

With a huff, Vin pulled his rifle up. “This ain't over, Val. Mark me.”

He circled his fist in the air, and his remaining men, and Bastian, gathered, leaving VV, D and A, and returning to the jeep. A rev of an engine, and Vin and the remaining Bears drove at top speed back into the city.

VV breathed a sigh of relief, before glancing up at the sky, then the horizon. Sheets of dust were beginning to roll in, appearing like rain, except far more dense.

VV widened her eyes in alarm. “Hey, guys? We're gonna get caught in a sandstorm if we don't do something.”

Before her eyes glanced warily at the massive Wild, then to Val. Strangers, but perhaps they could be trusted.

“We're in your debt…” She admitted to both.

Umbra: The Abyssal Connection

Apologies, I ended up being busier today, I'll aim to have it up tomorrow. ^^;

Backrooms: The Thing that Breathes

@Squirrel98 Give it your best shot. :)

Dark Beyond: Voices of the Past

It's a camera feed that Von Galloes added into the simulation as a file. ;)

Dark Beyond: Voices of the Past

Don't worry, I treat my toys with love and care~!

I'm very happy the twist was delivered and received well. :>

Dark Beyond: Voices of the Past

Now, now, I'm just an honest-working villainess. :>