forum Look To The Rising Sun And Run, Run, Run | OxO | CLOSED

Started May 24, 2021 by Deleted user

tune

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As many a story starts, this one here began with a lie. A little lie, no doubt, first uttered as a warning to scare misbehaving children into listening to their parents. "If you don't get into bed, a witch will find you and gobble you up!" And the lie worked. The children listened, falling into place quietly with white knuckles curled tightly around blankets, ever watching the shadows for the signs of wickedness their parents assured them would appear if they disobeyed.

It didn't take long for one little lie to gather traction among the people. One little lie turned into many; baseless rumors of these creatures—these witches—turned into bedtime stories around the country. Until, suddenly, they weren't just stories. Perhaps it was merely someone in the wrong place at the wrong time, a glimpse of something magical misperceived by a child tainted with fear. Or maybe the people were always looking for someone to blame. No matter how it happened, people began matching the fearful name to faces.

"Did you hear? Old man Derrick killed Mary last night! They're saying he's a witch, that he cursed her!"

Things escalated quickly, and before long witches around the country were being gathered up and killed. Any who managed to escape were brutally hunted down and made examples for those still in hiding. And the wickedness non-magical children were taught to fear? It was within them all along.

We play two young witches, both being hunted, who happen to run into each other purely by luck. For better or worse the two decide to work together, at least for a while, as they try to come up with some sort of plan to survive.

OTHER:

• andrew (Our Supreme Lord and Overseer)'s rules apply.
• LGBTQ+ friendly.
• Cursing is fine, just don't overdo it.

CHARACTER CHART:

NAME -
AGE -
GENDER -
BACKSTORY -
APPEARANCE -
PERSONALITY -
FAMILIAR (OPTIONAL) -

Let me know if you have any questions. Also, just a heads up, my schedule is all over the place because of work. Don't freak out if it's been a couple of days and I haven't responded; just gently remind me if it's been a while!

May I?

NAME - Kamus, "Kam"
AGE - Fourteen
GENDER - Male
BACKSTORY - Whereas non-magical children were told scary bedtime stories about witches, Kamus was given bedtime stories of non-magical monsters. The terms his father used were "hive mind" and "pack mentality", but Kamus quickly learned who his father was really talking about. As the years went on and Kamus quietly learned magic in the safety of his village, chaos in the country grew and grew. A few weeks after his thirteenth birthday, his village was ransacked by pillagers looking for bounties from killing witches. Kamus' parents were caught in the casualties, leaving Kam to flee with only his familiar for company.
APPEARANCE - About 5'4" with a scrawny body and particularly thin limbs. Tanned skin from days spent in the sunlight, with dirty blonde hair lightened in some places to shine golden. Half his hair is partially stained indigo, although it's since grown out enough that his roots are visibly his natural hair color. The style is unkempt and longer than he'd prefer, with the tips of his hair falling to nearly his shoulders in some places. Perhaps the most glaring detail on his face is the shimmery scar spanning from the center of his forehead to halfway down his left cheek. The scar travels right over his eye, once a brilliant cerulean color that's been reduced to an unsettling milky film. More often than not he hides his scar behind his bangs—especially when he braves nearby villages.
PERSONALITY - Introverted and quiet, but loves to explore and tries very hard to be optimistic. Easily impressed and trusts just as easily, although he's terrified of non-witches.
FAMILIAR (OPTIONAL) - A little mouse he carries in a shirt pocket named Bean.
OTHER -
Theme Song: Sky's The Limit by American Authors
He can only see vague shadows out of his left eye.

@so-sleepy You may!

Thank you so much! I'll get my character up shortly!

No worries! I have tomorrow off so I should be able to have a starter up relatively soon :)

NAME - Aspen
AGE - Fifteen
GENDER - Male
BACKSTORY - Aspen's parents were intense witch hunters, much of the time leaving the house off to hunt for witches. Which… was a major problem because Aspen was gifted with magic. However, Aspen grew up around magic because of his nana that cared from him while his parents were gone. She was a powerful witch. However, his parents discovered what she was doing and came after her. She protected him before she died and he had to run from home. Now he's on the run and trying to keep his magic under control.
APPEARANCE - Aspen has soft raven black hair that has definitely gotten longer but it's not to his shoulders just yet. He has soft green eyes with flecks of gold in them. He has slightly tanned skin and has a bunch of freckles everywhere. He's going through a growth spurt currently.
PERSONALITY - Aspen is a sweet talker, very confident in himself. He is someone who gets along well socially and is very careful to make sure he keeps his emotions in control. He's very calm and extremely loyal.
FAMILIAR (OPTIONAL) - He has an owl, Nia

I love him! I look forward to seeing how his personality clashes with Kam's, since it seems like they may end up compensating for each other at points. I'll start working on a starter!

I did want to run an idea by you, though, which is: Perhaps they meet through Nia looking for a quick meal and snatching up Bean; without realizing he's a familiar, of course. What do you think?

That works!!

Awesome! I'll try to have it up here soon!

Will do!

The very forest seemed to hold its breath as the setting sun bled into the horizon. A young witch paused halfway across a fallen log, only his eyes moving as he scanned the trees for signs of danger. One hand clutched the strap of his satchel while the other steadied a small mouse on his shoulder; a mouse that seemed just as frozen as his companion.

The light continued to fade, then disappeared altogether as Kamus carefully bowed his head and touched his fingers to his lips and heart. In barely a whisper, he said, “Great Moon, Protector of the Darkness; please, extend your grace to me for the night.” The ritual was an old thing, a tradition passed on by his village before it’s untimely demise, but the familiar motions never failed to bring him comfort.

He gently stroked his familiar’s tiny head and stepped off the log, immediately dropping his satchel and sinking to the ground in relief. “We did good today, Bean,” he whispered with a small smile, setting the mouse on the ground and gathering a few sticks from his bag.

Kam took a deep breath, arranging the sticks as closely as possible before murmuring, “Fire.” Sparks sprang from his hands and nestled into the twigs, lighting them in a manner that was anything but natural. The witch was careful to keep the flames small, adding another spell to disperse the wafts of smoke as he retrieved a handful of walnuts and herbs.

While he focused his efforts on making an edible meal, Bean sniffed around the small clearing. The mouse scurried among the bushes, scouting for anything useful or interesting and slowly but surely straying further and further from Kam’s makeshift camp.

Kam, too preoccupied with trying to salvage the walnut he’d accidentally dropped into the fire, didn’t realize until a squeal of fright rocked him to the core. Abandoning all attempts to stay quiet, Kam threw himself to his feet with a panicked shout of, “Bean!”

He was only able to make out a swooping shadow and a flash of of his familiar’s fur as the mouse was carried off by something. The witch ran after him in a flash, crashing through the brush and desperately casting spells to help him navigate. His depth perception was hopeless at best, but he might as well be blind in the thick darkness currently smothering the forest.

Fear filled him to the brim, both his own and his familiar’s meshing into emotion strong enough to make him stumble and clutch at his frantically beating heart. “Come back!” he yelled, staggering into another tree and clinging to it to steady himself. As he began to push off again, he noticed a peculiarly-shaped shadow up ahead, almost like a—

Person!

Before Kam could fully process the information, he heard another squeal and looked up in time to see the thing—owl, his brain supplied, probably another familiar—still clutching Bean in its talons.

“Light,” Kam muttered, flexing his fingers as a small, bright orb exploded into existence above his palm. “Give him back,” he pleaded, the spell reflecting in his wild, mismatched eyes and bouncing off his scar in an unsettling manner.

Today had been a good day, that was for sure. Aspen had managed to swipe some bread and apples from a nearby village before anyone had seen anything. His magic was getting better, that was for sure. He had made a little camp for himself, which he had easily escaped to incase something happened, but he'd been doing well so far as to avoid getting caught. The forest had practically become home to him. It was easier and easier to navigate with each passing day, and it was great for cover so he wasn't necessarily worried. He'd been on the run for so long now that really… it just felt like a normal life now.

Nia was most likely off hunting for the night, like she always did. Whenever the sunset, off she went to go scout the area as well as find something to eat. She always returned with a creature to show him how proud she was for hunting it, offering a bit, which he always politely declined before killing the creature and eating it. She had been his companion for almost three years now.

Currently, he was happily munching on a little bit of bread, a small bit of light hovering in front of him as he sat comfortably under a little tent that he had made with leaves, sticks, branches, and various other things to keep him warm. He was writing in his notebook, both about spells and things that had happened throughout the day. The interesting bits at least. He hummed as he gently set the book down back in his bag and ate his bread quietly. He then pulled out a different notebook and sketched quietly, looking at the stars occasionally to chart where they were, as well as the time and the direction he was facing.

He was always on alert of course, but he had figured out how to do protective spells by digging through his nana's spell book, the last thing she had given him before he had witnessed her death. He set that notebook down and sighed deeply as he waited for his familiar to come back. What he did not expect for when she came back was to bring a child with her. He looked younger then Aspen, maybe like a year or something? And he looked very distressed about what was being held in his owls talons as she fluttered to her human's side.

"Give it here." He says gently, and she carefully set the rat in his open palm before landing on his shoulder and giving him an affectionate nudge. He rubbed the top of her head gently as he carefully looked at the still alive rat and the boy looking at him pleadingly and asking for the rat back. "You do know that practically the entire forest could hear you." The magic floating light had disappeared when the boy came crashing in, bathing them in moonlight. "Furthermore, using magic is dangerous out here. Put that away or you'll get us both killed if someone comes looking because of the ruckus you made." He sets the rat down and he could feel Nia's disappointment as the rat scurried back to the human. He sighed and looks at Nia. "Why don't you try finding something else." He murmurs gently. She gives his ear an affectionate nibble before flying off.

Kam hesitated, thrown off by the words of advice when he could still feel fear radiating from Bean. His hands fluttered uselessly for a moment, lost as to what he should be doing with them, until Aspen set the mouse down.

Immediately, Kam fell to his knees and threw his palms out, the spell flickering out as Bean scampered into them. Relief washed over the two as Kam rocked back, holding Bean protectively to his chest and just breathing.

After a moment he dared to glance up at the witch again, squinting to make him out in the darkness. The moon was brighter here, but not enough for his good eye to make out many defining details.

“Sorry if I panicked over thinking your owl was going to eat my familiar,” he responded heatedly, lifting his palms so Bean could crawl into his cloak pocket before standing and brushing his knees off. Now that his main focus wasn’t rescuing the mouse, he took a moment to really look at the witch in front of him.

The other boy couldn’t have been much older than he was, and judging by the energy Kam felt writhing around him, he was more experienced with magic than him. Which wasn’t a surprise, honestly—Kam had always been weaker than the other children in the magic department, and with only his father’s torn and muddied tome to learn from, his spells were somewhat limited.

“How…how long have you been out here?” he wondered, suddenly feeling a lot more unsure of himself.

Aspen rolled his eyes a bit before glancing off to where Nia had flown off. "Not my fault your familiar is a mouse." He huffed and glanced over the smaller male. Magic came naturally to him but he usually used spells to a, understand the old way, and b, control his magic. Despite his age, he seemed rather good at his magic, maybe it was the years of learning to control it so he didn't accidentally hurt someone or get caught. He sighed softly and stretched. "This specific forest? A month or so. Without a home? About…" He paused and counted his fingers quickly. "Three years, seven months, and ten days." He shrugged and settled back down at the mouth of his tent. He looked over the other boy before humming. "You really should be more careful around here in this forest. It's not just the villagers that you have to worry about. It's the magical beasts and the plants out here." He shrugged and lit another light in his palm, the ball of light settling in the middle of the camp and illuminating the both of them.

He could sense the younger's magic, it wasn't very strong, but it certainly had potential. He hummed and motioned for the younger to sit. "My name is Aspen." He hummed and dug through his bag and tossed a bread to the other. "Eat. It looks like you haven't had a decent meal in a while." He munched on an apple quietly as he waited for Nia to come back. Which she did fairly quickly. She landed, looking satisfied with her hunt as she perched on his shoulder. He hummed and pets her feathers gently.

(Apologies for the wait—my work schedule has been crazy.)

Kam's nose wrinkled at what he perceived to be an insult, but he held his tongue in favor of not upsetting the older witch. Besides, his thoughts were a little preoccupied with the thought of being homeless for three—going on four—years. Realistically, Kamus knew when he fled that his chances of settling down somewhere in the future were slim, if not impossible, but to hear it directly from the mouth of another witch was, well, defeating.

Bean squirmed in his pocket, cautiously peeking out for any sign of Nia before climbing to Kam's head. He nestled into his hair comfortingly, sensing the sudden somberness emanating from the younger boy who scritched beneath his chin affectionately.

Both turned at the light Aspen had summoned, following its brief movement and nearly missing the bread being thrown towards them. Kam caught it on reflex, surprise flooding his expression. For a moment he looked ready to protest, but then his thoughts flashed back to his burnt walnuts and herbs. His stomach growled and he flushed, giving in and stiffly sitting where the other witch had indicated.

"Thanks," he mumbled, voice muffled from the bread he was hiding behind. He ripped a large chunk off for himself and a smaller one for Bean, tearing into it with the vigor of someone who definitely hadn't had a decent meal in a while. Swallowing nervously, he brushed some bread crumbs from his lips. "My…my name is Kamus. I've been on the run for a year, maybe. I…haven't really kept track," he admitted.

(No worries. The Covid Vaccine reigned a nightmare on my body (I have no regrets getting it tho) so I was barely able to reply at all for the past day or so.)

Aspen could barely remember what it was like to have a physical home. It had been ages since he had stayed in one. He had no regrets about avoiding humanity, after all, they had been after witches for god knows how long. But he had fought hard to make sure that he could stand on his own two feet in the wilderness. All he needed was himself, Nia, and his magic. That's how he had survived for the past four years. He was used to being alone if he was completely honest. He didn't play with the children in the village, he didn't interact with the adults in the slightest. He just minded his own business. He watched as the mouse settled on top of the new boy's head and chuckles quietly as he looked back at the sky for Nia. She probably wouldn't be back for another few minutes so he would just have to be patient.

So he turned his attention back to the newcomer. Despite the boy being on his own for the past year… he didn't act like it. Then again, everyone was different. Aspen had been living in survival mode even before he had to go on his own. He let the boy eat, offering some water as well. He wasn't sure what the kid had gone through, but based off the magic radiating off the kid- it wasn't hard to guess. He nods a little at the thanks and watched as the boy ate for a moment. "I'll call you Kam. It's nice to meet you." He chuckles softly. "And don't worry about keeping track, I only keep track because of the moon phases." He shrugged a little bit. "It's not really a thing to be proud of, shouting "hey look at me, I've been homeless for however long" it's just something that most people don't really keep track of." He shrugged a bit as he watched over the camp before returning his attention to Kam. "So you have magic too, huh?" He tilts his head curiously, a small smile on his lips.

He looks up when he heard a familiar soft "whoosh" that really only he could hear. It was more of a feeling rather then a sound. Nia settled on his shoulder, holding a limp snake in her beak. He pets the top of her head. "Good job." He murmured softly. She nudged his hands before flying off to eat in private. He watched her go before returning his attention forward. "I have more food if you're still hungry." He offered quietly. The kid looked on the bring of skin and bones.

(Yikes, yeah, it seems to be pretty 50/50 on whether people feel sick from the vaccine or not. I still have to get vaccinated, but it'll have to be on one of my days off so I won't miss work if I do get sick.)

Kamus nodded in agreeance, his now empty hands lying flat on the ground behind him. He leaned back, tilting his head enough to look at the moon but not too far as to dislodge his familiar. "For me… Well, I guess it was just too painful to keep track at first. And when it wasn't as painful anymore, it was just depressing," he responded hesitantly.

The younger witch followed Aspen's wandering gaze, the sudden silence starting to make him uncomfortable. Just when he was about to break it, however, the other boy spoke up. Surprised, Kam merely blinked, then smiled a little in spite of himself.

"I guess so," he answered, shifting his weight and picking a piece of grass to fidget with. "It's one of the only things I have to be happy about nowadays. Like I might be homeless and living off of nuts and berries, but I'm also learning so many things about magic. I figured out how to make things grow," he added, letting the grass blade flutter to the ground and digging his fingers into the dirt where he'd originally plucked it from. He murmured a word and slowly raised his hand, demonstrating his point by guiding the blades several inches taller than the surrounding grass.

Almost instinctually he looked to Aspen for approval, but quickly caught himself and stared at his hands now in his lap. "So that's cool," he tried to finish energetically, though it came off lacking on that front.

He couldn't seem to keep his eyes in one place, unfortunately, and soon found himself looking at Aspen again. Bean had scampered back into his cloak pocket the moment Nia flew back into the clearing, but the mouse continued to peak out in interest.

"You, uh, must know a lot of spells," Kam offered rather awkwardly. "You feel pretty strong, and you made that light move without saying anything."

He nods a little bit at that. "That's understandable. Leaving home is hard… Well… for some people at least." He shrugged hopelessly. "I can't say I know what you're going through, but you're not alone out here. Lots of magic folk like us are out here trying to live somewhat normal lives." He grabs a piece of bread from his bag and snacks on it thoughtfully as he looked up at the moon. He glanced back at the boy and nods thoughtfully. "Growing things can be useful." He hummed quietly. "Magic is best learnt from nature, text books can teach you a lot, but nature can teach you more through focus." Aspen cracks his knuckles before looking Kam dead in the eyes.

"Nature makes us stronger, in order to understand magic fully, one must look to nature." He said it with such intensity and strength it was hard to ignore. "It's really cool that you were able to connect that." He smiled before relaxing again. He hummed and nods slowly. "My nana taught me magic." He tilts his head in thought. "She taught me a lot of things so that I could both use my magic and keep it under wraps. No need for a wand either." He chuckles a bit. "Though wands are good for beginners, allows them to filter their magic through something." He hummed a bit and glanced back at the new boy. "I can teach you if you'd like."

Aspen wasn't exactly sure why he was offering to help, it wasn't like he had done something like this before. He had lived on his own, that was how life out here worked, but something about this kid made him pause. Maybe it was the potential, maybe he saw himself in the kids shoes. He couldn't really tell, but he was willing to help somehow. And he had already offered and it would be a dick move to take it back now. so he stayed quiet and continued to listen.

Nia came back after a few minutes, landing on his shoulder and preening herself while he gazed at the tiny ball of light hovering between the two of them. He still wasn't clear to why he had offered to help, but here he was anyways. Offering to help.

Kamus smiled slightly at the other boy's face as he recalled obviously pleasant memories. His own thoughts drifted towards his upbringing and he leaned back, coaxing Bean out of his pocket to pet. "I… My village was full of magic folk. We were a community and we shared everything. And I do mean everything," he added with a fond smile and a slightly wrinkled nose. His expression eased after a moment, becoming softer somehow.

"My dad taught me the most about magic, though. We used to go on trips to gather herbs and ingredients for all kinds of potions and tonics. Once, he made a tonic that turned my hair blue," he added with a huff. Without really thinking about it, he brushed a strand of blue-tinted hair behind his ear, drawing attention to his scar. "This is just from berries," he admitted, the lock of hair lingering between his fingertips before fully pulling free.

"All I have left of them is my dad's…" he trailed off, paling quite suddenly. "Tome." The final word slipped between his lips involuntarily and he launched himself off the ground in a panic. "How could I forget?" he stressed, pacing several steps towards the treeline before looking back at Aspen. "I left it behind when I chased after Bean. I have to go get it." There was another brief moment of hesitation and a flicker of something like regret in his expression. "Maybe I'll see you again? If you're still here?" he offered hesitantly, hardly giving the other witch a moment to respond before taking off.

_{(I know I've been gone for a hot minute but bear with me, I have plot planned to spice things up a bit no matter how Aspen reacts to his sudden departure.)}