daybreakacademy | [Open] The Mark of the Herald

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[Open] The Mark of the Herald

Mark of the Herald Part I
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Despite certain disruptive events and ominous visions in the preceding month, August is seemingly still free of any problems.

That’s quick to change, however. Starting from the third of the month, strange, circular marks begin to appear on human students around the school - and, indeed, humans around the world. Those affected begin to feel incurably drowsy, something that no magical or mundane solution can seem to cure or relieve; eventually, they’ll fall asleep entirely, whether they want to or not, and enter a state of magical stasis. Not even nonhumans are immune, though whether they’re marked seems to be much more erratic.

Those who remain awake or are otherwise spared by the mark are free to do as they wish - the Academy won’t ask them to do more than keep themselves safe. But where each marked person falls in slumber, a portal will form; a strange tear in reality, offering glimpses of a surreal, nightmarish plane that differs vastly from individual to individual. One thing is certain; the cause of a victim’s seemingly endless sleep and these portals are linked somehow, and the only way to find out exactly how is to go through...and the only ones capable of doing so are those who are still awake.

This log can be used as a catch-all for event-related threads. The information for this event is here.

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[A forest at night, only a quarter moon and the stars for light, filtering down through the leaves. The trees must be ancient, incredibly tall and thick... or perhaps it's the observer of this dream who has shrunk, because even the leaves are larger than normal. Imagine being two feet tall, if that, and lost in the deep dark woods. Smaller than a raccoon, weightwise. They'll eat meat if they can, won't they? As will cats of all sizes. Bobcats. Lynxes. Able to see perfectly well in this slow light, able to climb trees, deadly quiet monsters...

And the owls. Owls, who glide through the air soundlessly, who can see a mouse's nose twitch from a hundred feet away. Owls, who can't be escaped even with the power of flight. Owls the size of you, talons large enough to impale a person and snap bone with their sheer strength, before the feasting begins.

An owl hoots in the tree above your head.]

[Well. Being shrunken wasn't exactly on Kokoro's to-do list, especially not with a giant bird overhead and a crushing feeling from the atmosphere telling her that she should be afraid of it.

She steps back cautiously and tries to hide out of sight, pressing herself against the tree.]

[The great horned owl's night sight is wonderful. Its hearing is even better. They listen for prey before they look for it, as this one is doing right now, twisting its head to pinpoint the sound of dinner right below it.

She doesn't look like an ordinary forest critter. But that doesn't matter--owls will eat anything. Whatever looks like an easy meal. It's not quite sure yet, head turning in all directions, but it does keep looking down...]

[Kokoro freezes. Pretending to be an inanimate object is probably not going to work, but she's got a hand each on her whip and her bag just in case...]

Of course it would never be this easy.

[Life is tough out in the wild. Owls have a right to eat too. It's made up its mind and she is a good looking midnight snack. Some sort of deformed squirrel, maybe. Easy prey!

The owl spreads its wings and dives, talons outstretched...]

[Kokoro throws an axe toward its face. Without looking to see if it lands, she jumps off the root and starts running, searching for anywhere she might be able to hide.]

[Fallen leaves, dirt. More fallen leaves, more dirt, sticks... the usual foresty things. The owl's talons miss her, and she escapes. This time. It disappears into the darkness above. But she's lost her axe and there may be other hungry things...

What now?]

[Kokoro's only got so many axes left. She frowns and picks up the nearest sharpish stick, then starts to look around in the roots.]

There has to be someplace to hide. Animals survive out here all the time.

[Nothing close enough to be seen, but there's a faint rustle of dry leaves... And an even fainter 'voice', sounding distant.] < Kokoro?? >

Tobias?!

[She quickly covers her mouth and presses against a root, cursing herself. Answering probably tipped off every animal in the next kilometre.]

[The closest one happens to be a fox, sniffing its way along. A fox larger and heavier than the owl was, eyes glinting. It's watching her curiously...

Tobias is already on the move, fluttering carefully from tree to tree in the direction of her voice, as blind as any human in the eternal dark.]

< I'm so sick of this, I can't see. Where are you? >

[She gulps. Freezes. Stares at the fox, feeling in her bag for something to throw...

Okay. Fine, she'll call out. And if it attacks, she'll try and strike back at it.]

Here!

[Jail hears the hoot, stops, freezes. Slooooowly looks up.]

[Freeze frame, record scratch. "Yeah, it's me. Bet you're wondering how I ended up in this situation."]

[Honestly, even to her it's a little unclear. But she understands the basic problem here. One: small. Two: owls not small. Three: fuck.]

[Mind racing, she thinks quickly and comes up with an idea. It's a terrible idea and she'll probably die, so naturally she has to do it. She can't not.]

[Tensing herself and getting ready to leap, she puts her back up against the tree trunk, braces one leg on the wood, and cups her hands around her mouth:]

Hey, featherduster, I'm down here! You want me? Come and fucking get me!

< Jail? >

[Unluckily for her, that not-voice isn't coming from the owl, but somewhere to the south. Even worse, her shouting got its attention. Somebody needs to work on her impulse control.

It flutters down to a lower branch, watch her, calculating... is the risk worth it? How tasty would she be?]

Not you, buddy, the one that wants to eat me. [You know, a perfectly normal thing to say in a totally casual, normal tone of voice.]

[It's hard to track in the dark- there's certainly no sound to help her do so, not with how silently they fly- but she catches just a glimpse of a wing fluttering up in the branches and grins.]

[Perfect.]

Yeah, that's right! Right down here, c'mon! Come at me, bro! [Waving an arm just to make absolutely sure the owl sees her, gripping onto a nearby twig with another. She needs one shot at this, just one, which is good because one shot is all she's going to get.]

< Why are you taunting it? Bury yourself in leaves or something! >

[Why are all the teachers insane. He sounds like he's closer, in a way. Clearer. Coming to help the idiot courting death down there.

The owl's mind is made up. Down it comes, silent death from above, a mean beak and a pair of talons ready to dig into her flesh...]

[With the hand she has resting on the twig, she bends it back carefully, holding on to the tree to keep herself in place.]

Yeah, yeah, I could do that. Or, hear me out... [The shit-eating grin is audible in her voice, even in the face (beak?) of imminent death. She looks up right at the owl, tensed and ready, waits until the last possible minute-]

[-and jumps.]

[She lets go of the tree and the twig straightens up abruptly without an anchored weight holding it in place, flinging her up and forward to add some extra height to her already ridiculous leap. Making it enough to carry her right over the owl's head... and onto its' back.]

[Where she lands and promptly grabs on for dear life, because this probably going to be a bumpy ride.]

Ahahahahaha!

< No! No! What is wro--jump off! I'll catch you! >

[Sounds like he's chasing the owl. He can only hope he's able to get close enough. His wings are not meant for night flights, the air feels lifeless and still.

Jail is, indeed, on the owl's back. But what are owls famous for? Being able to turn their heads around, of course. It abruptly changes course, finding a branch to land on, and twisting around, opening its beak...]

[Jail leans back in the classic "whoa, we got a badass here" fashion, holding on to the owl with the strength of her legs alone, avoiding the beak.]

Dude, you don't wanna come over here, there's an owl.

[What? Just because she's willing to risk getting herself eaten for a good time doesn't mean she wants a student to end up as owl pellets. They cut your pay for that kind of thing.]

[Upon further consideration, she takes advantage of the owl's head being pointed in her direction to punch it in the eye.]

[She's much smaller than usual, and isn't superhumanly strong like some, but she's got a solid right hook and even a tiny fist directly to the eyeball isn't exactly fun.]

[It jerks back, startled--prey might bite, but they don't punch owls in the eye, and that was most certainly not a bite. A good idea, unlike her last one, because it distracts the owl long enough...

Surprise is everything in fights like these, and now the Tobias has it. He's smaller than the owl, but it has no idea he's coming until it's too late, rather like its prey would. It hears wings flapping, turning its head away from the tiny human, only see a hawk's talons flying at its face, too late to react--]

< Jail! Jump off! Now! >

[Before he slams into the owl and takes it off the branch. That'd be nice.]

[Jail actually listens this time, pushing off and backflipping away to land on a lower branch with the unrealistic grace of someone who pulls off bullshit acrobatic stunts as a matter of survival.]

[She manages to flip the owl off on her way down. She knows it won't understand her, but it still makes her happy.]

[He doesn't hurt the owl... much. But he does make sure it's chased off, giving it plenty of motivation for it not to try again, then he lands next to the inexplicably tiny Jail on her branch.

Why is life so weird.]

< What happened? To make you so small, I mean. >

Man, I dunno. [Jail shrugs, leaning against some comfy-looking leaves.] You tell me, it's your dream.

< I don't think this is a dream, I think it's really happened. Nightfall, I mean. >

[No sunrise. No more daylight, ever. The plants are already dying. The food chain is collapsing. The world's already dead, it just doesn't know it yet.]

Mmm, nope? Pretty sure we're dreaming. [She shrugs.] I mean, let's ask ourselves: what about specifically the apocalypse would shrink me to exactly your size? Doesn't make sense.

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[Open] The Mark of the Herald

Tobias | cw violence, I guess??

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aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i'm sorry

npnp

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