Durandal 623 September 4, 2015 Share September 4, 2015 Metis snapped off a piece of crystal, watching its delicate glow rise and fall like his own breathing. He'd never seen anything like it. Of course, there were many things about this world that were radically new to him. Like himself. Typically that would have been an absurd proposition - how can one's self be new? Yet he couldn't escape the fact that he now knew nothing about himself, his abilities, or his past. All that remained are of his life after, and the hazy half-thoughts that slowly shifted his thinking. He lifted his hoof, analyzing it. Did he always refer to them that way? He couldn't have, before all this he didn't have hooves. So why did it feel so normal? And why had he referred to himself as Metis? Slowly he began to fear that his mind was not his own - that soon nothing would be left or the human that he was before as whatever this thing was began to reassert its control. Biting his lip, he turned to Aero. He still looked like he wanted to run away, but he was actively attempting to speak with him. A noble cause, and hopefully he could learn something from the experience. "Uh... Refer to me as Artful Campaign, please." He nodded, a grim smile on his face before nodding to himself. "But it's... I don't know how to describe it. Exhilarating, amazing, awesome. I'm doing and seeing things no human has probably experienced before, it's..." His mind scrambled for the right word, but soon came to the conclusion there was none. Simply put, his experience, their experience, defied definition. People simply didn't turn into sentient horses, griffin-dogs, and dog-humans. The idea was so ridiculous, so laughable... He chuckled softly, shaking his head. "This is all so silly. One minute we're at a fountain, next we're an entirely different species. I want this to be some bad LSD trip or dream so bad, but it feels so real. I should be panicking, we should all be panicking. We have no idea what is going on, who we are or if we even are ourselves anymore, and yet we're so calm. Speaks to the resilience of the human spirit, doesn't it?" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arylett Charnoa 4,919 September 5, 2015 Author Share September 5, 2015 @@Lunaris Adamantine, "That is a good idea," She nodded vaguely, once again feeling so distracted by everything that was going on. Anatase reached down once again and managed to pluck out three more crystals, noting that this felt like picking flowers. Breathing flowers. Flowers that rather disturbingly pulsated like human hearts. They pulsated even more vigorously in response to being bunched together in her hand. Were these alive or were they the organs of the cave? Her concerns were only increased as she heard a low-pitched humming rhythmic sound emitting from them. Beat beat. Beat beat. Beat beat... Uncomfortable contemplations continued on within her mind, she made to hand a crystal over to each of them. "Oh. You can't hold things. Except maybe you...?" She addressed Lunaris as she tried to hand him a particularly lustrous crystal, feeling agitated by how blindingly bright it was. And agitated by that annoying quiet hissing sound it started to make when she tried to give it to him. Hissing... The girl put her ear to the crystal, hoping that one of her "powers" was some kind of super hearing or something like a dog. But when she did this, the hissing ceased, and all she could hear was its heartlike pulsations. "Huh. I don't think it likes you." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klopp 2,050 September 9, 2015 Share September 9, 2015 @@Arylett Charnoa, Doesn't like him? How can a crystal not like him? He wasn't sure what she was basing this ridiculous assumption on, but she did seems quite certain about what she was saying. Looks like she could hear the crystal maybe? Why else would she put it up to her ear. "What do you mean it doesn't like me? How can a crystal not like someone? It's just... a stone. Or is it some kind of weird organism that just looks like a gem? I'm confused, but whatever. It's probably best you hold onto the crystals anyways... considering you're the only one who walks on two legs anymore." @@Durandal, Lunaris turned to the former Bug-Horse and took note of his request. Artful Campaign was much easier to say than that other thing anyways."Artful Campaign, huh? If that's what you want, then. Anyways, assuming this is all real, and not just some kind of delusion, then we really should get moving quickly. Even though this feels... weirdly natural, I still want to get my own body back. And if the rest of you feel the same, then we really should figure this whole mess out as quickly as possible. So, let's get moving then, shall we?"He motioned towards the passage they pointed out before, and started walking towards it. He was tired of waiting around and very determined to figure out exactly where they were. As well as what the hell was really going on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FortyTwo42 1,287 September 13, 2015 Share September 13, 2015 @@Durandal, What Aero was told by Metis—or rather, Artful Campaign, as he prefers to be called now—caused him to really start thinking about what the implications are of the four of them being transformed and teleported to what seems to be a whole new world. He never exactly gave it much thought before; the shock of being in a new body, being scared by Artful's original appearance, the exhilaration of finding out he can fly and the conversations he had with everyone else all kept him distracted and never gave him a moment with his own thoughts to think about things like this. But Artful's last remark about 'the resilience of the human spirit' has finally prompted him to give some thought to it. And now it's finally dawned on Aero just how much trouble he's in. He has so much; a great career, good friends, and a place to sleep at night. And now they're all gone, left behind in the world he was taken from. He could be trapped in this world forever, never to return to any of them again. Even if he could get back, spending just a few days without showing up at the university or seeing his friends could really damage his career and relationships. If he can't return home soon he's going to have all sorts of problems when he gets back. He doubted 'I fell into the fountain and got teleported to another world where I became a winged horse and had to search for a way back' would be a believable reason for his absence. It's funny, in a way. Aero's been taking this all in stride up until now, but Artful mentioning how they should all be panicking is exactly what got Aero to start panicking. But he can't just admit that now. Artful, and no doubt Anatase and Lunaris too, are keeping it together really well and probably expect Aero to keep it together too. Although so far they've seen Aero remain calm and confident about this whole situation, so it should be easy to put on a brave face to continue looking calm and confident to the rest of them. After an unnaturally long pause, Aero turned away from Artful to look forward where they were walking. 'Yeah, the human spirit really is resilient, isn't it?' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durandal 623 September 16, 2015 Share September 16, 2015 While Aero's silence concerned Metis, he became distracted with the light show that consumed the pegasus. Without reason, the flow around Aero became rapid and jerky. The auroras appeared to start and stop rapidly, surging in and out of his core. Oddly enough, the first thing that came to his mind was how the heartrate dramatically increased when panicking. Looking at Aero closer, he noticed the flurry of microexpressions that were an internal conflict. He finally turned away, agreeing with Metis. Was he seeing his heartbeat? No, that couldn't be it. It was too elaborate, and blood didn't flow outside the body like these auroras did. But that could only mean one thing. Am... Am I seeing his emotions? Metis gaped internally, trying to come to terms with this idea. That didn't make any sense, but it perfectly described what he was seeing. It couldn't be. Could it? He latched onto the pulsating auroras, siphoning them away until they began to stabilize. While he expected Aero to calm down, what he didn't expect was the sudden influx of panic. He hadn't just extracted that fear, he'd taken it on as his own. He gasped, the sudden influx of emotions a literal shock to his system. He broke off the bond immediately and steadied himself, taking deep breaths. But underneath his panic was another, very unusual feeling - he felt satiated, like he'd eaten a full meal. The feeling took him by surprise, adding to his panic. How in the world did taking an emotion make him feel full? The idea was so ridiculous, so preposterous that it trumped everything else he'd been through today. Bug-horse? No problem. Being lured into a fountain by some force? Scary, but fine. Feeding off emotions? No. He couldn't handle that. It was stupid, how on earth did an emotion give someone sustenance? Even now he was feeling his own set of emotions, were his special? How did they not nourish him? Why were others different? In fact, he felt so confounded by this possibility that it was almost offensive. It was an affront to logic, to reality. It drove him mad. Remembering what Lunaris had said about returning to their old bodies, he picked up his pace. This world was nonsensical, it should not exist, and it most definitely was not for him. He had been ambivalent before, almost taking interest in his newfound powers, but that had thrown him off the edge. He longed for the sensibility of reality, regardless of what he lost in the process. "I agree. The sooner we get back to the university the better," he said, a sharp edge to his voice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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