(dream o3) and all the roads that lead you there were winding (week 24, day 6 into 7)
The beach again.
Juudai’s had a dream that took place on Mizusato’s beaches once before, in his first week in Kannagara - now that he’s been living here for a while, the scene takes on more colors and shades of familiarity, a sense of comfort in a known place rather than anxiety in an unknown one. ( But this dream is different - muted, as if Juudai isn’t really having it, or the viewer isn’t really experiencing it. Even touching the Hitomi will only result in faint feelings coming from the dreamer, and Juudai can be seen as if being watched by an outside perspective at all times. The net result is that this dream feels more detached, less person-to-person than usual.)
The sky above is shot with grays and dark blues. He runs a sneaker through the sand, tracing a pattern that vanishes with the next wave. Dawn is beginning to break on the sea’s horizon.
But the sun doesn’t just rise - it grows, swelling slowly larger in sight. No! -it’s getting closer, not larger, approaching like a... well, like something that approaches the way a sun crossing the sea does. It’s pretty singular, really. Juudai shields his eyes as it gets closer, until the light flares up once and then vanishes, leaving a brightly glowing woman standing atop the water. Strangely, the way Juudai averts his eyes, it looks like it doesn’t hurt any less to look at her.
Uh, he says, hi?
She shakes out a sheet of long black hair. Golden highlights gleam off its surface as if from a mirror. Any other details of her appearance other than a general sense of her beauty are impossible to pin down; she seems to shimmer like a heat mirage. The woman looks down at him and cocks a single eyebrow, and her intent is perfectly understood: to whom, exactly, do you think you are speaking?
Juudai’s got an idea. Not that he goes in much for religion himself, but he’s put enough pieces together from living in Kannagara and interacting with the locals to have a general idea of what gods he’s actually dealing with here. Slightly wary, but slightly curious-
-Amaterasu-Omikami-sama... right?
The goddess doesn’t smile, exactly, but she looks less stern. I am glad to be recognized by even one so untaught in the old ways, she says. It’s the sort of sentence that should, by all rights and context clues, be sarcastic, but somehow it just sounds faintly amused. Upon seeing Juudai’s expression-probably about to comment on the “old ways,” and how would she know his education status in his world anyway?-she adds, with no little satisfaction, You and your past are known to us... Ha-ou Juudai.
Ha-ou - “Supreme King.” Something like a shiver runs down Juudai’s spine, before his face settles into a carefully calculated non-expression.
-Just Juudai’s fine, he says, his feet shifting slightly beneath him. Like he’s preparing for a fight.
As you like, Amaterasu concedes, with a graceful wave of the hand. You know that the gods are responsible for your presence in this world. I imagine you must be curious about the reasons.
...Just a little, he admits. Some of the momentary tension runs out of his shoulders as it becomes apparent she’s not here for a confrontation.
The sea beneath the goddess’s feet turns to a sheet of glass. Behind her, it seems as though a bridge has risen, shining in the colors of the rainbow-the bridge to the heavens. I would like to have a conversation with you, she says. The bridge on which she stands ends a few meters from Juudai’s feet. It seems to be waiting for him to cross it. Would you do me the honor?
Juudai’s read enough stories in his youth to know turning down requests from gods tends to not work out so great. On the other hand, he’s also read enough to know that not turning down requests from gods can tend to work out even less great than refusing.
But she appears to be offering some kind of answers... and in the end, Juudai’s always been the type to leap even after looking. He steps forward-
{ and suddenly, this dream does have a perspective; there is suddenly a sense of space and time and placement, a sense of you in this dream-and the first thing “you” know is that there should not be. A wall slammed down between “you” in this dream and the already-faint and muted sense of Juudai’s presence at the moment his feet touched the bridge.
Confusion. Fear. This shouldn’t be happening! What’s going on? Where is he going? You both have to wake up - ! }
-and the dream ends.
[ On the Hitomi’s video, Juudai slams bolt-upright in his bed. ]
- What’s - ?
[ He fumbles with the single blanket he has thrown over himself, tosses it aside and stares down at his own legs. Thinks for a moment. Stares at his own hands. Flexes them - once, twice.
In a quiet and - fearful? - voice, he asks: ]
...Juudai?
[ No answer to the (admittedly odd) question.
He finally seems to notice the Hitomi. Grabs it. Brings it close.
And suddenly, the first obvious indicator that something isn’t right is made apparent to the network.
Juudai’s eyes, normally a warm brown, have turned colors-one an eerie green, and one a fiery orange.
He snarls - snarls! - into the camera. ]
Where is he? What have you done with him?
[ End feed. ]
[[ooc: Plot time! Juudai's been taken to the Celestial Plains for three in-game days. His body has been unwillingly left to the care of his crazy duel monster waifu, who is currently Unhappy with this state of affairs. Your characters won't know this, though, so have fun trying to figure out what the hell happened to him! :DDDD ]]
Juudai’s had a dream that took place on Mizusato’s beaches once before, in his first week in Kannagara - now that he’s been living here for a while, the scene takes on more colors and shades of familiarity, a sense of comfort in a known place rather than anxiety in an unknown one. ( But this dream is different - muted, as if Juudai isn’t really having it, or the viewer isn’t really experiencing it. Even touching the Hitomi will only result in faint feelings coming from the dreamer, and Juudai can be seen as if being watched by an outside perspective at all times. The net result is that this dream feels more detached, less person-to-person than usual.)
The sky above is shot with grays and dark blues. He runs a sneaker through the sand, tracing a pattern that vanishes with the next wave. Dawn is beginning to break on the sea’s horizon.
But the sun doesn’t just rise - it grows, swelling slowly larger in sight. No! -it’s getting closer, not larger, approaching like a... well, like something that approaches the way a sun crossing the sea does. It’s pretty singular, really. Juudai shields his eyes as it gets closer, until the light flares up once and then vanishes, leaving a brightly glowing woman standing atop the water. Strangely, the way Juudai averts his eyes, it looks like it doesn’t hurt any less to look at her.
Uh, he says, hi?
She shakes out a sheet of long black hair. Golden highlights gleam off its surface as if from a mirror. Any other details of her appearance other than a general sense of her beauty are impossible to pin down; she seems to shimmer like a heat mirage. The woman looks down at him and cocks a single eyebrow, and her intent is perfectly understood: to whom, exactly, do you think you are speaking?
Juudai’s got an idea. Not that he goes in much for religion himself, but he’s put enough pieces together from living in Kannagara and interacting with the locals to have a general idea of what gods he’s actually dealing with here. Slightly wary, but slightly curious-
-Amaterasu-Omikami-sama... right?
The goddess doesn’t smile, exactly, but she looks less stern. I am glad to be recognized by even one so untaught in the old ways, she says. It’s the sort of sentence that should, by all rights and context clues, be sarcastic, but somehow it just sounds faintly amused. Upon seeing Juudai’s expression-probably about to comment on the “old ways,” and how would she know his education status in his world anyway?-she adds, with no little satisfaction, You and your past are known to us... Ha-ou Juudai.
Ha-ou - “Supreme King.” Something like a shiver runs down Juudai’s spine, before his face settles into a carefully calculated non-expression.
-Just Juudai’s fine, he says, his feet shifting slightly beneath him. Like he’s preparing for a fight.
As you like, Amaterasu concedes, with a graceful wave of the hand. You know that the gods are responsible for your presence in this world. I imagine you must be curious about the reasons.
...Just a little, he admits. Some of the momentary tension runs out of his shoulders as it becomes apparent she’s not here for a confrontation.
The sea beneath the goddess’s feet turns to a sheet of glass. Behind her, it seems as though a bridge has risen, shining in the colors of the rainbow-the bridge to the heavens. I would like to have a conversation with you, she says. The bridge on which she stands ends a few meters from Juudai’s feet. It seems to be waiting for him to cross it. Would you do me the honor?
Juudai’s read enough stories in his youth to know turning down requests from gods tends to not work out so great. On the other hand, he’s also read enough to know that not turning down requests from gods can tend to work out even less great than refusing.
But she appears to be offering some kind of answers... and in the end, Juudai’s always been the type to leap even after looking. He steps forward-
{ and suddenly, this dream does have a perspective; there is suddenly a sense of space and time and placement, a sense of you in this dream-and the first thing “you” know is that there should not be. A wall slammed down between “you” in this dream and the already-faint and muted sense of Juudai’s presence at the moment his feet touched the bridge.
Confusion. Fear. This shouldn’t be happening! What’s going on? Where is he going? You both have to wake up - ! }
-and the dream ends.
[ On the Hitomi’s video, Juudai slams bolt-upright in his bed. ]
- What’s - ?
[ He fumbles with the single blanket he has thrown over himself, tosses it aside and stares down at his own legs. Thinks for a moment. Stares at his own hands. Flexes them - once, twice.
In a quiet and - fearful? - voice, he asks: ]
...Juudai?
[ No answer to the (admittedly odd) question.
He finally seems to notice the Hitomi. Grabs it. Brings it close.
And suddenly, the first obvious indicator that something isn’t right is made apparent to the network.
Juudai’s eyes, normally a warm brown, have turned colors-one an eerie green, and one a fiery orange.
He snarls - snarls! - into the camera. ]
Where is he? What have you done with him?
[ End feed. ]
[[ooc: Plot time! Juudai's been taken to the Celestial Plains for three in-game days. His body has been unwillingly left to the care of his crazy duel monster waifu, who is currently Unhappy with this state of affairs. Your characters won't know this, though, so have fun trying to figure out what the hell happened to him! :DDDD ]]