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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 9:57:02 GMT -5
β the world is quiet here. β
- lemony snicket
Β» to lose a friend is a terrible ordeal, and even more so to be convinced that they're still alive. throwing their life away is not what muse a is doing, but rather - they're looking for the opportunity to find their friend, and find their own path. they're a lost soul, unsure of what they're supposed to do; logically, they know that they're wandering down a dangerous path, know that what they do, morally, is not right - but it's just one of those things. sometimes, a sacrifice has to be made and innocence has to be lost. that is how the world goes.
intrigued by a little town with potential, muse b isn't quite sure what to think of the strange occurrences that appear here. from missing people and bodies found in the forest, they know that something isn't right about it. in the middle of nowhere with what seems like little outside connections, the town of mirage has an oddly fitting name - as if it were planned, as if the founders knew that something was not quite right about the place/«» the two meet within the forest that seems to spirit people away; one, searching for a lost friend, and the other searching for answers. such a small town with no real connections to anything shouldn't be so interesting, and yet...it is. mirage seems to know that it's interesting, offering up a forest maze that changes every few hours, a strange checkered pattern in a blank grotto, and an odd sense of being watched. curiosity beats sense, and the two decide to uncover the mysteries of mirage.it's possible that they've bitten off more than they can chew.- α - muse athe lost soul Ori Landvik - - 20 years old -faceclaim 5'6'', mixed blond&brown hair that's tousled and somewhat curly, blue-grey eyes & fair skin with freckles. originally from kirkenes, norway. he moved to mirage as a teenager.muse bthe seekerclaimed by @sappho- α -
aw yeah, copy & pasting is my biggest talent and actually i spent all of this time thinking of a title so. genius material over here
if there's any else u wanna add h m u |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 10:05:42 GMT -5
the seeker
Fia Kalahea -- 19 years old -
Faceclaim
5'5", short curly brown hair and heterochromia (one dark brown eye, one grey). biracial; Hawaiian and Irish. adventurous, hard-headed, and clever. a ruthless investigator. fascinated by the paranormal and pagan beliefs, particularly tarot cards.
always ready to chase that sweet sweet alien ass
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 10:11:15 GMT -5
im...extraordinarily later so it's a 50/50 chance on if i'll update the front page
if there were a finger guns emote that looked good i'd put it here
they seem cool as hell!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 11:29:00 GMT -5
ππ»ππ»ππ»ππ»ππ»
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 11:43:28 GMT -5
ive never been more blessed in my Life
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 12:28:30 GMT -5
π π π π π π π π π π π
truly
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 12:34:55 GMT -5
thank u....truly i am blessed and warmed on this day
oh shite uh YEAH do you want me to start eventually because that is probably a thing i should do once im done w like. everything else (one thing, it's one thing)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 12:45:33 GMT -5
yeah, if u could start, that'd be great c:
but there's no rush or anything ~ see you when i see you
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 12:55:48 GMT -5
i absolutely will!
i'll probably poke around 2 chat if u wanna but otherwise
i am writing forever
and ever
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 13:52:40 GMT -5
A couple of missing posters sat on his desk, helping nobody in his search. From time to time, he'd glance at them and frown, brows pulling down as he tried to poke around the internet for...anything, really. He wasn't sure what he was looking for - a footprint, maybe, something he could utilise in his search. As it was, it had been a few months now, and nothing had come up. Naturally, the thought had occurred to him that maybe he'd been left behind, that his friend had left Mirage in the search of something else instead of poking at the forest a little more. Ori exhaled slowly, and glanced to the poster once more.
Missing
Carey Isaac
19 years old
5'10'', black hair & brown eyes.
If found, please call Maya Isaac or Don Isaac at ...
Last seen at his home.
The poster was worn down - probably from the times he'd taken it out to show people. But as it was, Mirage was a small town and everybody knew everybody, and everyone knew everything. It wasn't a matter of them not knowing, it was a matter of them not caring. Giving up. Even Carey's parents had given up, had accepted that their son was dead. It didn't make sense to Ori, he didn't understand why a few months would make them accept something that was so clearly false. With any sort of luck, his friend was just...on an adventure. Maybe he'd taken the next train out of town and had gone on to bigger and better things.
Ori was gonna kick Carey's a** when he was found, and that was a promise.
He'd been putting off the forest. It was quiet and unnerving, it seemed to change daily. Something was...wrong about it, it didn't quite make sense. In an absent motion, he chewed the end of his pen and squinted at his laptop's screen. There was nothing to help, and he couldn't just sit here and do nothing. He tapped his pen absently before he pushed himself up, nodded quietly, and moved away to get dressed. Once that was done, he grabbed his scarf and beanie (it was cold outside, he had an excuse) and grabbed his keys. The poster stayed behind, because the forest didn't have people to talk to. What was the point?
His apartment building wasn't too far from the forest, which made the walk a little more bearable. He kept his hands shoved into the pockets of his coat and walked briskly. Someone greeted him as he passed (it looked like the butcher), and he smiled distantly but didn't reply. This seemed to stop any possible conversations, and he continued onward.
Maybe he'd overestimated how close he was? Ori squinted at the forest, which seemed a little further than he'd thought it would be. He'd been fairly confident that it had been closer, but...well, it didn't matter. He was already on the outskirts by now, hesitating only momentarily before he decided to go in.
It was pretty, but he'd already known that. The cover from the trees blocked out a lot of light, but the sunlight that trickled through dappled the dark ground, covered with pine needles. There was, however, an underlying feeling of pure dread. Like something was wrong, like this forest had secrets and knew something that he didn't. The leaves of the trees, blown by the wind, seemed to whisper to each-other. Despite the danger that the place seemed to promise, Ori found himself strangely curious, now that he was making a little progress. He and Carey had always just...wandered near the outskirts, where it felt more deadly and quiet, where they could see the rest of the town, but couldn't interact with it. It was like Mirage's forest was a different world entirely, and that was oddly inviting.
A bird of some description chirped overhead, but when he glanced in the direction it had come from, there was nothing. The chirp had been cut off short, which...didn't ode well. Dangerous, he thought, but continued on nonetheless.
He came to a little clearing circled by apple trees and blackberry bushes, which seemed strange, to him. The rest of the forest didn't seem to have fruits at all, maybe a couple of smaller berries but nothing like this. It made sense because wild animals ate berries, so the fact that these ones were completely untouched was strange. Ori paused in this little clearing and poked around a little, tried to find any possible sign of his friend. It was a long shot, but it was the attempt that mattered, in his opinion.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 14:57:12 GMT -5
She'd been all over. That's what it felt like. She hadn't been to every corner of the continent, she hadn't walked the streets of every city but she'd been to places where time didn't play by the same rules and the folk there didn't like strangers. There were little pockets like that all over America - towns that wanted to stay forgotten. And although Fia hadn't been to them all, she'd gotten a sense for them by now. Each town had it's own rules, but a good rule of thumb to have around these places were to ask a lot of questions. Some folk may not like it, but dig enough and you get what you're looking for.
Fia Kalahea had left school nearly two years ago and just started wandering. She was smart enough, but the academic route was never for her. Her brain wasn't hardwired for essays and deadlines, it had other plans for her. She was always chasing the unanswered and questioning whatever she'd been told as 'facts'. This world was too big, too old, and too angry to host only humans and animals. If other creatures or energies hadn't been here before, they'd been breathed into existence through stories, and she was going to see them. She didn't know what she was going to do when she found something, but she knew it was important, at least to her, that she tried.
Her 19 month sojourn had lead her to Mirage. It was an odd little town, brimming with that old American nostalgia for the fifties and busting at the seams with missing person cases. Fia wasn't the most compassionate of explorers - one family's mourning period was another girl's chance to strike key information. Besides, people didn't just vanish. Either they leave (which would be voluntary) or they are taken (which would be the opposite), so if anything those families that have chased her out of funeral homes and graveyards should be thanking her. But whatever. It was a new town, new start.
One of her rules was that if the town has a B&B, stay there. Skip the motel. Motel workers are by-the-hour drones who just wanted you to pay and leave, B&B owners are far more likely talk, if they have anything worth saying is to be discovered. So she'd taken up stay in The Tawny Owl, a quaint enough little establishment with a musty smell and very firm mattresses. She'd slept in worse. As suspected, the host and hostess were very hospitable, until Fia brought up the recent, and not so recent, vanishings or out-and-out deaths.
"Up to at least fifty five people since the sixties," She sipped her tea, "That's what I heard."
They clammed almost immediately and she knew she'd have to try elsewhere. The creepy forest on the edge of town, for example.
She wasn't used to forests. She'd grown up on the beach, or occasional trips to the mountains, and though she'd traipsed through a fair enough share of wooded areas over the last year, they were still foreign territory to her. The forest here however, had a presence, and that was exciting. A dark fringe, looming over the town, tugging her feet towards it's roots.
All over town there were old 'Missing' posters. The faded, sun bleached kind most people would look over, that Fia had gotten excellent at spotting. Any time she passed one, she snapped it with her phone. Didn't matter if she'd seen the same poster twice, the Devil's in the details. The most recent ones were for a 'Carey Isaac', a boy about her age. Couldn't have been missing for any more than a few months. And it looked like whoever was searching for him was really searching, because every lamppost and pillar box had the flier stapled to it, in some cases new ones stapled over ones. A determinedness to find someone special.
A more emotional girl who've felt a pang of sympathy. Fia just got eager. People on the hunt were far more likely to talk.
She entered form the far side of the forest without hesitation. Yes, she felt it's aura, it's general air, but she didn't stop to drink it in. He who wavers, falters. And she who enters a forest without knowing anything about it, ends up walking for hours and starving. And wishing she'd brought a thicker coat.
The pine gave way to fruit, and the shift wasn't gradual. One seconds she was drowning in the scent of the dark woods, and the next she was surrounded by colour. She paused only for a second, blinked, looked behind her and noted the dramatic cut with the pine ended, and then immediately crouched down, taking a million photos and then putting her phone away, getting in closer to the berries.
They looked... pretty ordinary. Oh crap, had she wandered onto someone's farm? (Wouldn't be the first time.) She glanced around, almost (almost) guiltily, and then saw someone she hadn't notice before, by an apple tree. A boy with curly flaxen hair poking out from under his beanie, who wasn't behaving too differently from she herself. Fia grinned to herself, Bingo.
Like the forest, and the towns, strange people have an air about them too. Two people looking for the same thing often find each other first.
She knew enough about towns like this to know that whoever lived here was sure to spot an outsider, if her accent didn't give her away first. Best to seem friendly, relatable. She could do that. Fia changed her grin from feline to warm as she got ready to speak. Being caught crouching in the thicket was no way to introduction herself however, and she stood quickly, and as dignified as she could, "Hey." Better to announce yourself before you get spotted, "This is a freaky forest, right?"
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2018 0:23:54 GMT -5
This was a forest of secrets in every sense of the word. Mysterious and oddly calm, silent and...deadly, perhaps. Ori studied the berries with a small frown, teeth worrying at his lower lip. In any other situation, he might've brought out his sketchbook. As it was, he hadn't even bothered to bring much with him, and so he wasn't with that option. Besides - he was here to find Carey, not poke around at some random (and mildly unnerving) fruit in the middle of the forest. A forest that could barely grow fresh grass, let alone fruits. He shifted his weight and found that if he inhaled, he could detect something sweet. It was probably water that had no running source, so he wasn't too worried about it.
If this were a movie, he'd come to the instant conclusion that something mystical was happening in the forest. As it was, his superstitions didn't go very far - black cats were lucky, walking under a ladder was unlucky. Don't open an umbrella indoors, don't shatter a mirror. Basic things that could be justified in various ways.
However, he was not in a movie and so he doubted that it was anything mystical.
Maybe they had a mass murderer on the loose. An old mass murderer. Or multiple. The thought tightened his chest and he inhaled deeply (wrinkling his nose as at the sickly sweetness of the smell), taking a moment to count to ten. As he was reaching the tenth number, a voice sounded behind him and he tensed, exhaling quickly before he whipped around, clearly startled. Now - Ori was not an easy person to startle, but he'd been so caught up in his own thoughts, and convinced that nobody would be around. Nobody dared let their friends and family into the forest, whispers of the missing people sometimes arising. In recent years, the worry had dissipated about Ori entering the forest. He knew it (aside from when it seemed to change), he was used to it. But this was not a section he'd been in - it was like the entire thing had changed since he'd last been here, like it had changed after Carey had disappeared. Before, it had been a little thicker and louder, with low howls and birds chattering. Right now? Deathly silence, aside from the stranger.
His gaze flicked over their face, first, and then he glanced away, brows pulling down. Though he was no longer facing her, he watched her cautiously from the corner of his eye. Not local, he thought. It was a surprise he could even think that - he supposed that Mirage was a town so small that it only took a few years to memorise most of the people within it. Besides; her accent was distinct, it wasn't one that was easily missed.
"Hei," his own accent was a softer one, not as identifiable - though certainly not local. It had just toned down in recent years as he'd picked up on English sounds, as he'd figured out how to pronounce most things. "It's not usually like this. It changes," he made a little gesture to the fruits around them. "These? They are not safe."
I would not recommend eating them went unsaid, as he supposed it was obvious in the way he spoke. After deeming his scrutiny of the berries a lost cause, he turned around again to face the stranger and angled his head to the side with a faint smile, softer in its way. Not quite reaching his eyes, the sort that was out of politeness.
Not many people came to Mirage. Even less stayed, and less still managed to come to the forest without being talked out of it - or intimidated out of it. He wasn't sure the intentions that sat with the woman, but he hoped that it wasn't anything ominous. Though he doubted she was here to kill him, he watched her movements cautiously. Maybe she was made up by the forest - don't think that, it's just a forest. Though it shifted often, perhaps it was a geographical phenomenon.
Or maybe I'm in denial, the thought passed his mind briefly, but he could certainly take note of it. And then dismiss it, because logical thoughts were stupid and he'd rather not pay attention to them.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2018 14:44:03 GMT -5
He wasnβt much of a talker. Yet.
His accent did surprise her, guess they were both odd balls in this little town. Unless of course, sheβd been walking so long through this forest that sheβd ended up in Europe (her knowledge of the supernatural was not matched by her knowledge of Europe and she had no idea where he was from. Not France, she was pretty sure he wasnβt Irish either because sheβd grown up hearing that accent. .... what other countries were even IN Europe?)
He really didnβt say much, turning back to whatever heβd been doing beforehand as quickly and politely as he could. She nodded as he spoke, and then they both stood in prolonged awkward silence. Fia bounced up and down on her heels once or twice and swung her arms out, only to let them fall again and pat her sides.
βWhaddya mean it changes?β She pried, doing her best to just sound like a regular tourist and not an aspiring agent on the X File.
βIβve been in my fair share of forests over the years, and they tend to be quite, you know, stationary. Do you mean like, it changes with the seasons?β She prompted to the back of his head, rolling her hand on her wrist to try and win more information out of him.
Oh please donβt let him mean it changes with the seasons. Please let it be a mystery murder wood.
βIβm kind of new in town, and I was just poking about in here, but I feel like Iβve been walking around forever, yβknow?β Sheβd found this helpful in the past, establishing herself as nonthreatening as possible by playing the hapless tourist. If he too could feel the pull of the forest however, he may not believe her. This place was screaming with every inch of its being that something was strange here. Unnatural, even.
Where were all the animals, for instance? She hadnβt expected to be greeted like a Disney princess when she walked in, but at least birdsong wouldβve been nice. The silence of this place was deafening, making her own voice echo unhelpfully.
She took a closer look at the boy while she was this close to him.
Boy was the wrong term, young man was far more fitting. They were about the same height, but Fia had her heels on and was confident sheβd drop below him if they were removed. He looked more prepared for the cold weather than she did, with his hat and coat on. Fia had grown up in Hawaii for peteβs sake, it was no coincidence that most of the places sheβd been too were warm all year round. She had her black peacoat on, but also her iridescent glasses, blocking out her eyes, even in the lack of sun. Her head was hatless, allowing her hair to stick up with its usual flamboyance and the unbuttoned coat revealed her white shirt and high wasted trousers. Smart enough, sort of retro, but not much good against the cold. Her breath made tiny clouds when she spoke, but she ignored it. This was her On The Case outfit and some things just cannot he compromised.
She made a point of huffing her breath out heavily to make the clouds, βItβs pretty cold out today. Do you make a habit of haunting strange haunts in the freezing cold?β
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2018 7:43:42 GMT -5
It was likely that if he continued his train of thought out loud, he'd be seen as crazy. That said, she certainly wasn't a local - so what did it matter if she thought he was crazy? He gave a little lift of his shoulders as he shrugged, adjusting his scarf in an absent-minded manner. He picked at a few loose threads, flicking his gaze down to watch bitten-down nails. If he hadn't been in someone's company, he probably would've started biting his nails, by now. As it was...it was probably better not to.
"All forests change with the season." Ori said patiently. "This one is a maze that changes its course. Sometimes it changes multiple times in a day, sometimes it only changes once or twice. Nothing is definite."
Maybe he didn't need to be so cryptic, but it was a habit he'd fallen into. Carey had liked it, and whereas it had previously been an error in how he'd spoken English, it was just...natural. He could not do it, but where was the fun in that? It was easier to cling onto habits that his friend had liked, easier to tell himself that Carey was coming home and they'd laugh about this, one day - and yet the longer the time dragged on, the harder it got to believe that. He shifted his weight between his feet and listened to the quiet crack of twigs and fallen leaves, but heard no fleeing animals. Not even birds. He didn't like this clearing, didn't like the ominous feeling that crept up on him. Ori felt like if he focused too much, he'd see something from the corner of his eye - there was just that feeling of being watched, and it certainly wasn't from the woman in front of him.
"Most people tell newcomers to stay way. Most locals can't navigate here, and compasses don't work very well," his brows pulled down only momentarily, and then he shook his head. "I can walk you back, if you need."
It was clear, upon watching her for a moment or two longer, that she wasn't dressed for the mild weather. Then again - who was he to judge? He was prone to still wearing his beanie and his scarf on warm days. Sometimes it was just easier to sacrifice heat (or being cooler) for looking good, and he could respect that. Probably. Admittedly, it was more concerning when it came to the cold; if it was this cool nearing midday, he had no doubt that it was going to drop from there.
"Not always," he tilted his head to the side a little and flicked his gaze away. "I'm looking for someone, that's all. I certainly don't think that I'm haunting this place."
Maybe it was haunted without his presence, though. That would make a lot of sense.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2018 12:23:15 GMT -5
Ah-ha. So he speaks. Excellent.
He certainly had plenty to say about the forest, which was good. It'd be no help to her if he only had extensive knowledge on how to work a dishwasher. She didn't believe in coincidences. He was searching here like she was, even if he didn't really want to be here. Who could blame him? The trees didn't have eyes but they seemed to be glaring a hole in the back of her head. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, but she didn't bother turning around. These things rarely liked being looked at.
"Compasses, huh?" She didn't sound as surprised as maybe she should've. Although compasses had helped her a great deal when modern technology had failed her in the past, this wouldn't be the first or only place they got a little screwy. "That's never a good sign, you know. The Bermuda Triangle, the North Pole, Aokigahara, this one Walmart in Vegas..." She listed them off on her fingers and slowly moved towards the bushes again, taking another look at the berries. They sure did look rather ordinary. It was simply their surroundings that were so unfortunate. "There could be reasons though. A great magnetic pulse is one. There are other unexplained reasons." She kept her tone as light as possible, like she was just joking around, but behind her glasses her eyes were constantly flicking back to the young man, waiting for any kind of reaction.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'll be OK." She promised with a smile, that was unfriendly, per say, but was too sharp to be taken as trustworthy, "I've walked my way out of stranger parks than this." Not necessarily true, most of her great exists involved a lot of running and fear induced panting. But the cool-as-a-cucumber facade was handy to have.
She walked a few steps back from the berries, turning in a slow circle to look at the trees now instead. Definitely no birds. Or even bird nests. The leaves were in perfect condition too, which was pretty to look at, but suggested that there weren't even any bugs here. Fia wasn't the world's biggest fan of creepy crawlies, but they were about as natural as you could get, and also essential to any half decent ecosystem. How did a place like this get so lush without any animals or insects to keep that good ol' circle of life going. She got out her phone again and snapped a few pictures of the perfect leaves, careful to not actually touch them.
"Well whoever you're looking for, I don't think they're here, if I'm honest. Just me n' you." There wasn't much space around here to hide, and the silence didn't just give away a lack of birds. "And I only popped out for a bit of fresh air. Just ended up in here somehow."
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