forum || After the Sun Sets | apocalyptic-y horror roleplay | private and closed, unless we want to let you ||

Started October 05, 2020 by @PrettyLittlePyro

tune

(Thanks XD)
Mia glanced around when she heard voices, her eyebrows raised. "Oh hey, looks like the last two are awake. Hi guys, I'm Mia. And sadly, no, I don't know where we are or what exactly's going on. None of us do. But it's fine, an adventure's always more fun with some buddies." She was vaguely aware that she wasn't being very clear or very comforting, but this wasn't really her strong suit. She spent too much time alone or hanging out with random strangers, and had lost the ability to hold a serious, sympathetic conversation with someone. Hopefully Arabelle would be able to keep these two from freaking out, she thought.
"So what are your names?" she added, sticking her hands in her pockets.

”His name is Cassius,” Arabelle gestured to the man. “The question now is what her name is.”
Said the person who forgot to introduce herself. She found herself staring at the man’s watch and his yellow eyes. Then she took note of the blood on the girl’s forehead. Together, they almost looked like opposites, as if he was the sun and she the moon, added with their height difference.
She went silent, a faint lethargy being the main reason.

Cassius cleared his throat "yes…very comforting" he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
The girl looked around, a panicked feeling overwhelming her as she looked to the different beings. Were they human? She couldnt tell quite yet. It wasnt every day something like this happened to her.
Looking to the two girls, she cleared her throat "Vienna Springs. You can call me Vi if youd like…." she says still confused.

Cass's golden gaze locked onto the gate and the words above.
"Demise" he mouthed quietly, thinking to himself what this could be.
Seeing as all of these people were ladies…this was going to be quite the awkward adventure.
Of course he wasnt one to take advantage of the opposite gender, or any gender for that matter. He was a gentleman to the tippy top.
But that somehow made him feel more awkward.

"Nice to meet you both," Mia replied, watching them get their bearings. "Vi and Cassius, huh? Cool names. Now, me'n Arabelle and the lovely Ariel over here were just talking about going through the gate to catch up with the last member of our little group. She went in ahead of us and I think we should make sure she's still okay. Also, as I was saying earlier, I don't really think we have another choice." She stepped aside and waved at the gate. "What do you say? Sound good to everyone?"

Arabelle nodded to Vienna. “Nice to meet you.”
Then she sighed at Mia’s last few words. “Might as well.”
Her thoughts returned to what might be beyond the open gate. Well, it said Ravenmire Gardens… so maybe it’s a magical garden?
Which is definitely likely, but she also entertained the thought of a magical beast as well. She wasn’t as much of an expert in telling the difference between different animals’ magic though. If she had to guess, she’d say either some kind of dragon, a really powerful unicorn, or even some sort of intelligent cephalopod with magic in its blood.
Then again, Mia had said it was a someone, not a something. So why didn’t it seem like a witch‘s magic?
She rubbed her temple. She would really like a cup of coffee right about now.

Ariel sat down, and considered the message on the gate. Should she enter? Was there danger? She didn’t know, and was too scared to find out.

“Hey, what do you all think of going through the gate? I mean… it seems like it could be unsafe.” she said, looking down.

Cass sighed "like you all said. Do we have a choice? And hey, surely it wont all be that bad. Read the first half of the gate. I dont know about you but id like my greatest desire." He shrugged, stepping towards it and running a cold finger along the smooth black iron, thankful it wasnt pure silver.
He was trying to keep everyone in a postive state of mind so they didnt freak out.
But….If this was true and their greatest desire would be granted. There had to be a secret lying within this blanket of silk. Something as good as this had to have a dark side. And he was going to find out what it was.

Vienna stiffened up at the words. Her greatest desire? It wasnt possible anyway. So she wasnt phased by it.
But being the idiot she was, she strarted towards the gate, going through them and walking the path to….well wherever the hell itd take her without a care in the world.

Arabelle’s flicked to the gate’s words again. She supposed Cassius’ words did hold some truth. When she thought of her greatest desire, her mind immediately went back to that secret project of hers. She’d tried to suppress that silent mission for a long time since, in a way, it already caused her great ruin. But curiosity rose in her stomach, bright and burning. Maybe she could at least get some sort of information, and hopefully, maybe, she just might find the answer without hurting anyone else.
She watched Vienna walk towards the gate, a tired acceptance coming over her. “Shall we?” She turned to Mia.

Mia chewed her lip. What the heck was her greatest desire? She'd always thought she was content with her unpredictable, solitary life. Did the owner of the garden know something she didn't? Or were they merely bluffing to make her drop her guard?
There was that one wish…..the one she still wasn't sure how to vocalize…Mia shook herself. Forget about it. No point putting herself in a bad mood or getting distracted.
Well, she wasn't going to find out the truth by standing around out here. And she figured she could handle whatever the garden threw at her, after all these years.
Casting Arabelle a grin, she shrugged and nodded. "Why not? Who knows, maybe this'll be fun."

Those who entered would find that the path, paved in what seemed to be gold, looked like it went on forever. This was not the case, though, as they would suddely find that they had been on a hill. At the bottom of the hill, which seemed more like a mini mountain than anything else, was a smooth grass plain and… a fairground?
This fairground seemed slightly eerie, with no children playing there, although there were a few people wandering around, looking lost. The golden path (yellow brick road lol) continued on through the fairground, out of sight.

(gotcha)
"Oh heck naw," Mia muttered. Miles of deserted wilderness, she could handle. Bustling cities, she could tolerate for a while. But fairgrounds? Every time she made the mistake of visiting one, she ended up regretting it, either for the bad food or the sketchy characters or the overall depressing atmosphere. And this one didn't look like it was going to break the trend. In fact, to her, it felt even more ominous than the creepy abandoned fairground she'd found in the desert once. Maybe because this one was obviously drenched in unfamiliar magic.
"I guess we'd better take a look around," she reluctantly said aloud. "Just in case Azami's still here somewhere."

(Gonna put up a form, then a reply. Thanks for letting me join! ^^)

Name: Joshua Wynd
Age: 9
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Unknown
Shipping?: Probably not, considering he's nine
Basic Appearance: Joshua has soft, light brown hair, fair skin, and green eyes. He wears a blue hoodie over a yellow-and-white striped tee-shirt, jeans, and well-worn yellow sneakers. Joshua always has a green bandanna, and it's clear it holds a lot of sentimental value.

Basic Personality: Joshua is shy, but ultimately very sweet. He tends to physically and metaphorically latch onto people that he feels safe around. Being as young as he is, he doesn't really know much about the world at all.
Greatest Desire: To see his mom again
Other: Joshua can turn into different types of birds. He hails from a country that sees any magical or supernatural abilities as a threat and ships them off to a deserted island to separate them from the people without. It's seen as ethical by many people without powers, but in reality it's a cruel separation from their family and friends into the dangerous unknown. Joshua was headed there before waking up at the gates

Joshua was cold and tired. The soldier men had put something on his wrists that crackled with electricity and rubbed against his skin in a way that really hurt. He didn't know what was going on, only that he'd been eating breakfast with Mama and then the soldiers had kicked down the door and grabbed him. Sitting here, in the back of a strange truck without a seatbelt, he felt like he could still hear her screaming and crying for him.

"Please!! Don't take him, please!! He's just a boy!! Joshua!!"

He sniffled and put his head in his arms. The truck hit a bump, which caused him to almost fall over into the man next to him. "S-sorry," Joshua stammered, looking up at the stranger. He was huge and looked like a superhero. Was he a superhero? The man turned his head to look at Joshua. No, he couldn't be a superhero…superheroes' eyes were never that tired and sad.

"'S okay, kid," the man said. He had a deep, rumbly voice that reminded Joshua of a dump truck. "Those bastards really went and did this to a kid, huh," he muttered to himself. Joshua's eyes widened.

"Mister, that's not a nice word!"

The man laughed, but it sounded empty. Sad. "Kid, right now, it doesn't matter what kinda words you're usin'. Doesn't change the fact that we're screwed." His face softened a little when Joshua felt tears start coming again. "…Forget that last part, alright? We're gonna make it out of here."

Joshua nodded and leaned on the man and felt every last sob tear itself out of him. The man didn't move away, just made quiet "shh" ing noises. At some point, he must have fallen asleep against the stranger's side, whimpering.

~~~

When Joshua woke up, he was in an even stranger place. The man that he'd fallen asleep on was nowhere to be seen. He did, however, see a bunch of other strangers heading through a gate to somewhere. Joshua didn't want to be alone, not here. Wherever here was, it was new and different and he didn't know what was going on. "W-wait!" he called out, getting up off of the ground and running to the group of people. "Please… please don't leave me!" He wanted his Mama, she would know what to do. She always knew what to do.

(protecc this boi)

Arabelle stared at the fairground, really not feeling the vibes. Yeah it was creepy, and she wasn’t eager to go down there, but the sickly sweet sense of magic was not doing her any favors this shortly after waking up. She almost just wanted to pass the fairground by. Maybe Azami wasn’t here anyway.
Then Mia suggested that they go down there. She internally groaned.
If this is really coming from an intelligent, maniacal, magical cephalopod, this might all be worth it.
It was almost funny, since she had never really been to a fairground before. But then again, what was a fairground? The place she remembered going to called itself a theme park. The place down there looked like that, only smaller and with fewer…stuff. After she went there, she vowed never to go again.
She sighed. “Maybe,” she replied to Mia.
Then a high-pitched call jolted her out of thoughts. When she saw the young boy coming towards them, rush of adrenaline went through her, causing her eyes to go wet. An almost fearful repulsion slid out of her brain, closing up her throat.
Oh no… why was a child here?
Why the f**k was a child here?
He looked so out of place, running towards them in distraught, despite (or maybe because of) the blooming flowers, the golden path, and the fairground before them. And of course, because he was youngest of them all by such a large margin.
Her breathing quickened. If Mia was right about this…
“I’m sorry,” she said shakily, surprising herself. “We won’t leave you.”

Mia turned around at the sound of the kid's voice, her eyebrows lifted. "Oh. Uh…..hey, didn't see ya there, kiddo." She noticed Arabelle's reaction, but didn't comment. "What's the matter, champ? Are you lost?" She knew the kid could have been brought here, like the others, but there was also a chance he was some kind of illusion who lived here in the garden. Despite how cute and harmless he looked, she didn't quite let herself trust him yet.

Azami grinned as she ran back up to the group. The woman had been running around the fairground, gawking at everything she saw. "This place is cool!" As a child approached, her eyes widened momentarily. "Is this anyone's kid? It isn't mine." Azami had a confused expression on her face, but shrugged. "Have you guys seen the ferris wheel? It's huge!"

Joshua shook his head. "I-I don't know, I was in a truck and it was scary but there was this nice man and then I think I fell asleep and then I woke up here," he rambled. His hands started to fidget with his bandanna. "I wanna go home…" Joshua whimpered.

"Aw…." Mia crouched down to get level with the boy, putting a friendly hand on his shoulder. She wasn't the best with kids, but her older brother was, so she tried to do what he'd do. "It's okay, kiddo, we want to go home too. We'll help you find your way back, okay? We just have to get through this place first." She offered him a smile. "So what's your name? I'm Mia."