Riven Wight

Of Science and Magic

Happy Friday!

A Land of Wonder and Nightmare

At least it wasn’t a two month wait this time. xD Because of how I did the skip, let me know if you want/need me to change anything! Or have any suggestions. Or questions. ;-) Also, so you know, I added the tichari (including its pronunciation) under "Wonderland Terms," and linked the armor picture under Drust's profile.

Oh my. I’d say poor Care Bear, but I totally approve of your re-purposing plans.

Yay for YouTube! I have yet to get the links to the ones you were putting together, though.

“I believe Cheshire Cat would approve of our loyalty to him.” That kind of makes me think of one of the alternate endings of the game. Heh.

I imagine Ghent will probably have quite a bit of chip dust and smushed mush to munch on by now!

A Land of Wonder and Nightmare

Elayra could feel his disbelieving gaze as they switched off. It felt like more and more of her willpower went toward not punching him. Or worse. She satisfied herself with a heavy scowl, and got busy.
Adjusting the pack slightly, she bent and picked up Drust’s legs.
“Congratulations, Featherhead,” she grunted out to his comment as she draped one leg over each shoulder.
She definitely had the lighter side, but the man was still nearly seven feet tall, and far from being lightweight. She stood carefully with Ghent.
Gripping them just below the knee, she shifted the portion of his weight she bore as much to her left shoulder as she could. Though the right still throbbed slightly at the use, she was confident it would hold out until either they found a Safe Zone, or Drust woke up. She silently rooted for the former.
With Drust’s middle sinking toward the ground, she did her best to time her steps with Ghent’s. She looked to the canopy of leaves above. Deciding the sun would set roughly behind her, she set their pace.
She huffed a sigh through her nose as Ghent spoke again. She was not sure which was worse: the forest’s supernatural silence, or him talking.
Curse or no curse, Drust was their greatest chance at fending off any physical foes. Was. Because of Ghent. With their greatest fighter unconscious, the threat of the woods settled heavier over her.
She grit her teeth as Ghent rambled on. “Shut it, Featherhead. Focus on finding one of the tichari. They won’t be easy to spot. Especially in the daylight.”

Elayra’s words held true. The sun’s rays shone through the thick trees, turning the woods into a mottled patchwork of light and darkness. The vines choking the forest floor slithered about their feet. Flashes and swirls of inexplicable light bobbed and sailed through the shadows, there one second and winking out the next. Laughter and moans carried softly on the impossible breeze from voices that had long since lost their physical hosts.
But no ghostly foxes appeared.
As the day grew older, the phantom wind grew colder. Elayra became more and more on edge with each passing minute. The gentle throb of her shoulder slowly grew despite her efforts to keep most of Drust’s weight off it. But she had already given in to it once. She would not let it win a second time, could not afford to let it hinder her.
She refused to rest until Ghent absolutely needed it. Even then, she paced impatiently as well as the thickening forest allowed, clutching her saber's hilt like a lifeline.
As the sun slowly began to sink, a pressure seeped into the atmosphere of the forest. The sensation of not being alone intensified.
The dead were beginning to gather for the encroaching night.
At long last, Elayra called them to a halt. Nerves nearly at their wits end, she carefully sat Drust down on a patch of dormant vines. The moment she was free of his legs, she reached over and gripped her sword’s hilt.
The shadows beneath the trees rapidly grew darker, bleaching the lurid colors of the forest as if the spirits sucked the life out of the woods as they grew stronger. The faint whispers lurking just at the edge of consciousness rose in volume. The woods rustled around them with a new life, the flashes of light coming more frequently, yet still keeping their distance. For now, at least.
Elayra swallowed hard. She gripped the hilt of her sword tighter and her empty hand clenched, trying to scare off their slight, fearful tremor by force.
There was no way they could find a Safe Zone on their own before nightfall. Before the malevolent ghosts arrived. Before Drust woke up.
“Listen up.” Elayra began, her voice tense and gruff in an effort to keep her growing terror from breaking through. Despite her attempts, her eyes betrayed her, her emotions raging in their depths. “If we can’t find a tichari and get to a Safe Zone, we’re in for a rough night.”
Between them, Drust stirred, just visible in the crepuscular light creeping about the forest. His body stiffened, and his long fingers twitched into experimental fists, before relaxing again.
Elayra clenched her teeth and, in the blink of an eye, drew her sword, her gaze on him. He had been doing that a lot this past hour. He could not be far from waking. She raised her sword defensively in front of her, gesturing for Ghent to step away, just in case.
She snarled when that simple action made her overused shoulder pulsate angrily. The expression frozen on her face, she transferred the sword to her left hand. She bent down and swiftly drew her dagger from its hidden sheath in her boot. Swiveling it so its blade faced away from him, she stepped toward Ghent.
“Take this.” She reluctantly held out its handle to Ghent. “Just try not to hurt yourself with it, would you? And do not strike to kill if you have to use it against him.” She jerked her head toward Drust. “Am I clear?” she finished threateningly.
She would not release the dagger until she gained confirmation, her gray gaze boring into him with a silent, dangerous warning if he disobeyed.

Through the Doors of our hearts - Finished

Edited. Again, I'm really sorry about all that. Should have double checked.

Through the Doors of our hearts - Finished

Gotchya. I could always take it down and re-post at the proper time. Seems like that'd make life easier.

Through the Doors of our hearts - Finished

Oh! I'm so sorry. I misunderstood. It's been one of those days, I suppose. If everyone but Viola is inside, I edited near the end so they're just approaching the house. Does that work?

Through the Doors of our hearts - Finished

Woo! Let me know if I need to edit anything! Not that you lovelies are shy about that or anything. ;-) And thanks for the info!

Through the Doors of our hearts - Finished

“Turn left in four-hundred feet,” the electronic voice of the GPS intoned from the front dash of the Buick.
Ryker sighed. He stretched across the back seat as much as the cramped space allowed. With his back pressed against one door, he stared at his sneakers, one tapping against the opposite car door. He had to admit. He had forgotten how convenient shoes were. And they were not too uncomfortable once socks were taken out of the picture.
He longingly watched the world flashing by outside the window. The drive had been long and arduous. Though he spent most of it pretending to be asleep, every bit of him ached to be out there, wandering and, more importantly, searching. He had tried running off during their first rest stop, but, alas, his plan had failed quite utterly.
His fingers tapped at the seat beside him with his anxiousness to escape the confined car. His other hand toyed with the cord hanging around his neck. The only bit of what remained of his beloved jaguar pelt wrapped the pendant, hiding its abnormal appearance.
“Ryker?” Not receiving an immediate answer, his mother, Donna, turned to peer at him around the backrest. Noticing his bare chest, pity flashed over her face at the handful of scars marring his tanned torso, some more noticeable than others. But only for a moment. Her lips pulled instead into a frown. “We’re almost there. Put your shirt back on. First impressions are everything, and I won’t have my son running around like an uncivilized vagrant.”
Ryker groaned. He rolled his eyes, their irises darkening irritably to a shamrock green. Under his mother’s disapproving gaze, he made a show of groping around at the floor in a hunt for the garment he knew was not there.
“Musta left it at the last rest stop.” He shrugged animatedly, a corner of his lip quirking upward.
Donna shook her head, then glanced to the black hoodie shoved in the back window. She nodded to it. “Then at least put that on.”
“It’s too hot. I’d die of heatstroke.” He shrugged again, as if that should have been common knowledge.
“Ryker.” His father’s stern voice cut in as Karl Porter adjusted the rear view mirror.
Ryker scowled, wishing they would stop calling him that. All the same, he refrained from demanding they call him Jaguar. He already knew what would come of that. Instead, raised his eyebrows in answer as Karl’s green eyes and part of his dark, pyramidal mustache reflected in the mirror.
“Don’t argue. Do as your mom says.”
Ryker snorted softly, his eyes deepening another half a shade. He had heard that a lot since being forced from his true home in Neverland: ‘Just do as we say.’ As if their way was the only way. Was his way.
He leaned forward to grab his hoodie to get his parents off his back. He stole a quick glance at the GPS, wondering how far ‘almost there’ meant. The device told him they were still thirteen minutes out. Thirteen minutes until he could be out in the warm summer air. Thirteen minutes until he was passed on to what he was sure would only be his next prison cell.
Until he managed to slip away, that was.

Through the Doors of our hearts - Finished

Hey, shirts get caught in bushes and stuff! Not a good thing when you're in the forest and need to make a quick getaway! Or, you know, flying around the treetops. And other stuffs.

Working on a post! I have two questions, though:

> For clarification, are Eleanor and Alexander waiting outside, then, or still inside?

> You say "house/school," and I've read "quaint looking house... for a school." Does that mean it's a moderately sized, average house-turned-school, or more like a large complex/mansion type deal?

Through the Doors of our hearts - Finished

Eleanor is lenient on oddities like that.

@Kirah

Does that mean Ryker could walk around shirtless and not get reprimanded? xD He doesn't much like shirts.