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Post by Ombekende on Aug 21, 2021 1:18:03 GMT
(TW for Trauma/Nightmares for this thread)
Another long and tiring day... Arum quietly sighed to himself as he walked back to his home- or well, the place he slept. The closest thing he had to home was back in the Jungle, but was that even much of a home? There wasn't anything there he really cared about, just annoying people and too many voices. The streets of Sirex Hive were already mostly empty, all the dragons living there already in their own beds. No one would notice the young Leafwing, and even if they did, none of the Hivewings really cared about him.
Arum stopped in front of an abandoned building, which had been empty for years. Kind of, since he lived there now. He quickly looked around for anyone that might be watching him, before he pushed open the door and went inside the dark building. Dropping his bag in the floor, he quickly went to one of the corners, crawling into a pile of blankets he had left under one of the dusty tables. It was hidden and safe, and a lot better than sleeping in a tree. It didn't take long for Arum to drift off to sleep. Talking to dragons all day was just as exhausting as plants.
(206) |
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Post by Bronzewing on Aug 21, 2021 1:25:25 GMT
Ombekende Phausis never liked being in the lower ranks. For most of the SilkWing's time in the gang he had been trying to get into higher ranks, and he even had a feeling that Sirex wanted him there- but even through that he was never given a role in the upper ranks of the gang. And to make matters worse, a DRAGONET was the one above him! A kid! If not for the kid's LeafWing ability (did we mention he was AN ACTUAL LEAFWING) Phausis would have taken care of them already. Some day, some day she would take out the dragonet and get the spot she deserved! It didn't matter where the LeafWing went, as Phausis could walk into their mind either way. He laid down in his usual spot, folding his claws before laying down for sleep. Most of the time he was left alone, as dragons knew that he hated being bothered... and that he was usually doing something when he slept. Many of the group was nocturnal, and Phausis also preferred the night... but he would not pass up a chance to bother the leaf dragon. When he closed his eyes he tried to pry into their head, only possible if they had already fallen asleep, and it worked to his happiness. Slipping into their dreamscape, he looked around with a purr before starting to show his influence.
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Post by Ombekende on Aug 21, 2021 19:51:19 GMT
Bronzewing He was dreaming- although he didn't know that yet. It started out as just one of his memories, his family moving around through the Poisonwing village, doing whatever they were supposed to do. Except for Arum. No, he was the hero of the tribe, no one could even think about making him help with preparing food or taking care of the weapons. All he got to do was sit around and maybe make some plants grow sometimes. Oh yeah, and help hunt, not that it was very interesting. Just listen to the plants for anything big, grow a root around their neck and snap. Dinner.
A dragon approached him. He didn't know who, as they had no face, but it didn't bother him. Sometimes dragons just had no face, especially in dreams. Yeah, very normal. What were they saying even? Arum didn't know, they had no voice, but they were talking, and something they said made him very angry. Roots began to rapidly grow around the dragon's limbs, pinning them in place, until it reached their roots and... Snap.
They were dead. Because of him. And he didn't even feel anything about it, not even when his family noticed the body and started asking what happened. Or when their words stopped being friendly, and they started yelling at him, saying how useless he was, that he was a failure that wouldn't even help his own kind.
(236)
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Post by Bronzewing on Aug 21, 2021 20:47:39 GMT
Ombekende Phausis waited, sitting in the background, unseen by the LeafWing who most likely thought they were alone. He twitched his tail, watching with narrowed eyes for anything of interest to happen. It didn't really matter what happened, as Phausis would make it worse anyway, but he would appreciate a little something he could go off to really make the dragonet suffer. Nothing told Phausis that maybe this was a bad idea, as they didn't have much in terms of morality. The dragonet was above him, and to his mind, this was a totally normal thing to do. So, the dragonet had killed somebody? He didn't doubt it for a second. That seemed like the sort of thing Arum would do, especially to dragons not expecting it. Their leafspeak was one of the reasons why Phausis stayed in the younger dragon's dreams, or confronted them far away from any forests or large areas of leaves. By being in their dreams, Phausis learned that the LeafWings were still around, but she couldn't care less about it. Sirex had no use for the LeafWings, and why would they involve the queen at all? Nobody in the hive was a big fan of the ruler. The secret was safe, but Arum's other secrets... less so. Phau started with only influencing the nightmares a little bit, adding more dragons screaming and darkening the sky to see the dragonet's reaction.
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Post by Ombekende on Aug 21, 2021 21:34:43 GMT
BronzewingThe screaming got louder and louder, Arum couldn't even hear the individual voices anymore. Just noise. Even the trees seemed to yell at him, their branches and leaves growing to block out the sky. But they didn't- they couldn't grow that fast on their own, and Arum wasn't using his Leafspeak. So why was it becoming darker? It didn't matter, he had to get out of there now.He quickly turned around and sprinted out of the village. Arum didn't fear any of the carnivorous plants, he knew exactly where they all grew and how to avoid them. Eventually he stopped, in one of the less dense parts of the forest, catching his breath. The trees around him quietly whispered to eachother, most of the usual stuff, but also grow grow grow bury living things under rootsHe.. wasn't telling them to do that..? Using his Leafspeak, he tried to tell them to stop, but their whispers only grew louder, and their branches grew faster. Even the grass was taller than it had been before, reaching up to his shoulders now. What is going on? Why are you not listening? Usually his Leafspeak was strong enough to even convince even dragontraps to give up their prey, but they weren't just ignoring him, but doing the exact opposite now. He turned around, looking for anyone else. Maybe there was another Leafwing doing this? He felt like he was being watched, but he couldn't see anyone around. (245)
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Post by Bronzewing on Aug 21, 2021 22:59:39 GMT
Ombekende He was still out of sight. Quiet, watching the panic on the face of the other dragon, claws digging into trees, watching them look around with a bit too much calmness to Phausis' liking. He twisted a claw, and a LeafWing manifested, running at the dragonet before being strangled to death by a lone vine before being dragged away into the darkness. It always felt nice, doing stuff like this- even if these were not real dragons. Phausis could make them bleed if he wanted to, and that was enough for him. And who would stop him? Nobody really got harmed, right? And after all, it kept him from doing things like this out of the land of dreams. Enjoy your nightmares, dragonet he thought as he recalled the LeafWings from before, dragging them into play and then murdering them in similar fashion. He never stopped them from screaming if their fake bodies demanded it, only dragging them away when it was their time to go back into the ether. He wasn't too familiar with plants except from what he had read in books, but the LeafWing's own mind would give him the supply he needed. He would never understand plants. Maybe they would do something like this, but he would have no clue if they were capable of such a thing. He would never be to the Poison Jungle except in mindscapes like this, and would really never move too far out of the Hive. He had bad memories from those times when he didn't stay as he usually did. You're stuck with me, dragonet.
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Post by Ombekende on Aug 30, 2021 1:28:40 GMT
Bronzewing He heard something moving behind him- quickly coming towards him. Spinning around, he saw it was one of his tribemates, charging at him with teeth bared. Arum prepared to fight back, but before they could reach him a vine caught them, quickly growing around their limbs, dragging them down onto the dirt, where more and more roots managed to grab them. Arum watched in horror as the plants dragged them away. He wanted to go after them, try to remove the roots and hopefully save the dragon, but he couldn't move his talons. Nononono- Lifting his talons quickly, he saw the roots under him shift, as more dragons ran out at him, some fleeing the trees, some trying to attack him.
But the plants got them all before anyone could get close him.
I have to get out of here they're going to kill everyone it's going to kill me oh moons. Spreading his wings, he lifted himself up into the air, aiming for a gap between the branches. But as he approached, the tip of his wing brushed against the leaves, and almost instantly he felt vines growing around it, trapping his wing. He let out a yelp as he fell, before he was stopped by his own wing, still hanging in the tree. How could he even get out..? Was he going to die here?
"Hello? Is anyone here?" He yelled as loud as he could. "I- I need help!"
(241)
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Post by Bronzewing on Aug 30, 2021 3:02:56 GMT
Ombekende The dream-maker stood still, claws still digging into the earth below his claws, looking at the dragons moving about- they would run past Phau into the darkness where they were erased from existence, fading into the black. They never existed anyway, and beyond the boundary that he would let nobody cross, there was nothing but the void he couldn't create. Who knew what was out there! Happy dreams, good moments, what this dragon really would be thinking about over what Phau was doing to them? As long as the SilkWing had some kind of power, the LeafWing would never sleep calmly. Shame Sirex wouldn't want them dead. He would do it in an instant. He moved the vines around the dragon, twisting like snakes around the wings, spreading them to as far as they could go and then some- right on the threshold before they would break into pieces. He didn't want to show any lasting injury, as not many could make a dream world carry over into real life. Phausis did not want the child to know it was his work. He did not answer their distress call. He made sure no other dragons answered it, and the forest became silent except for the slithering of leaves. They were alone around the corpses of their own kind, nothing alive except for themselves and the sadistic being watching them from afar. Phausis enjoyed it that way. Even better when nobody knew it was him doing it.
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Post by Ombekende on Sept 22, 2021 22:30:25 GMT
Arum waited, and listened. But there was nothing. Not even the birds were singing anymore, and the only sound in the normally loud jungle was his own panicked breathing. He struggled, feeling the vines tighten around his wingtip, slowly growing up to the palm. But with the way he was hanging he couldn't reach the vines to cut them off, and Arum's wing wasn't strong enough to just pull him up either. All he could do was hang there and wait, hoping the fragile bones in his wings wouldn't snap from holding his weight.
Was he going to die here? No- no this couldn't be real. The jungle wouldn't do this to him, or his tribe. This was just a dream, yeah. It had to be. He just has to wake up.
Arum bit himself in his arm as hard as he could. Nothing changed, except now his arm started to bleed, and he started to cry. There was nothing he could do, all his tribe members were probably dead, and Arum would likely die of dehydration in a few days, then simply become more nutrients for the trees.
(190)
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Post by Bronzewing on Sept 23, 2021 0:03:17 GMT
OmbekendePhau was enjoying himself, having the vines tug at the younger dragon's wings, about to snap them in twain before letting go- and he did that over and over again until he got tired of watching the panic on their face, and he changed his focus to something else. He watched them bite their own arm, and he kept it bleeding- could he even create pain? He had never been under one of his own spells, so he wasn't sure- he hoped it did. He hoped his dream-world could create the feeling of pain, of suffering, of trauma- and he loved it. Maybe he shouldn't have been enjoying it. No sane dragon would- most would have stopped by now, but something was wrong in the SilkWing's head, and all they got was a feeling of serotonin from the act. Phausis would not judge himself for his deeds. The light started to get darker, eyes of hungry animals appearing from far away, none of them coming near except to take quick snaps at his legs, about to bite but rarely- if ever- touching him. And Phau, the scariest animal of them all, laid across the tree with their unnatural inhuman eyes staring at his prey.
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Post by Ombekende on Jan 12, 2022 23:44:46 GMT
Arum could feel the vines moving around his wings, adjusting their grip, but not moving closer to his body. What were they doing? Why not just snap his neck?? He tried to reach out with his leafspeak again, either to convince them to let him go, or just figure out what was going on.
...They didn't respond. The vines almost felt more like snakes than plants with how silent they were but... even snakes weren't this cruel.
It's fine just breathe... If this was a dream he'd be fine, if not then there would probably be someone around, right? He tried to yell again, but other than the rustling of the trees, it was silent. Except... it felt off. He looked behind him, just in time to see some kind of shadowy creature leap for him. Arum yelped, not having enough time to do anything, but it missed, leaping away into the shadows.
He let out a sigh and looked around for if it came back, when he noticed... strange eyes in the shadows, watching him. More blue than any animal he knew... so they probably belonged to a dragon right?
"H-hey you! Please, help me..!" His voice felt.. wrong somehow. Like it didn't belong in the forest. Arum noticed another movement below him, and when he turned his head he saw it was a creature again. The same one, or something else? He didn't want to find out. Arum quickly closed his mouth, hoping it wouldn't notice him, but it didn't work. As prepared to leap he panicked, flapping his free wing to try to get free, which only resulted in him swinging around on the vines holding his other wing.
And putting a lot of pressure on that wing.
Arum wasn't sure if the snap was the teeth of the creature clicking together, or the bone in his wing. Maybe it was both.
He screamed in pain, tears dripping down his nose. Please wake up, make this stop, please...
(332)
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Post by Bronzewing on Jan 13, 2022 2:24:15 GMT
OmbekendePhau realized that he had gotten too close- and they had noticed that he was there, in some fashion. While Phau would never dare reveal himself as the perpetrator, or help the LeafWing out via a dream helper... so instead he backed off, ignoring their pleas. In response, a creature as blue-eyed as himself leapt out, running past the dragonet as if it was running from something worse. Maybe that something worse was Phau himself, or maybe it realized that it would prefer to leave than be part of the scene unfolding in front of it. A bird repeated his words- "Help me, help me..." but was soon strangled by a stray vine before the avian was fed to a local carnivorous plant. The plant turned to the dragon, as if it had eyes.. but it overall ignored them for the time being. The snapping of Arum's wings put the SilkWing's attention back on the dragonet, and he decided to allow a few more animals to nip at their feet as they swung there. And maybe, just maybe, he could break that bone a bit more? He was running out of ideas, as the night terrors he had already been instilling were doing enough damage. There was nothing else he needed to do without making this more silly than painful. He enjoyed violence, but once the level of it went into ludicrous territory, he never found it as much fun as it could be. So for now, sitting invisibly in his shadows, the silk dragon watched with open eyes and a cunning smile on his face.
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