2021-04-26 - The Call

It started with a round of conversations, a round of texts, a few shared dreams, a few ideas, and a couple of hey, maybe come back me up so I don't get eaten if this is a really foolish idea sorts of discussions. Conner, who arguably still doesn't know enough to be pulling anyone into mystical forests, got the bright idea that they really ought to use the bit of elk horn that he and others picked up in a dream to go find where the elk it's attached to is trying to bring them. That it might be part of something larger, connected to the sole surviving book of a set. That an entity born of that book, or connected to it in some way, is out there now, hungry and in need of help, and that the elk can lead them to it.

At least. The help bit is Conner's theory, that they can prevent this from becoming something horrible and out of control if they approach in that sort of a spirit.

He meets them at a designated spot just inside the treeline, the part that backs right up to the Broadleaf's rear parking lot. He's got on hiking boots, jeans, a t-shirt and a flannel shirt over that, and looks just as rumpled as ever. He also brought a backpack with a couple of supplies just in case. And, of course, there's the elk horn, polished and sitting in his hand while he turns it over and over, waiting for the others.

Elias was reluctant to come on this venture. It was only Xavier's insistence that he was going to go into this one way or another that eventually convinced Elias to come along. He's been exceedingly quiet about the Veil, the Dreams, and his experiences with them since his return, and he remains just as much so now. He has on a pair of jeans and combat boots along with a t-shirt and jacket, glasses balanced on his nose, and a backpack slung over his shoulder with some things in it just in case. It's very clear that the idea of going /back/ isn't high on his list of priorities, but he's come to see Xavier as a friend, and the idea of letting him tromp off on his own has brought him to this point. His expression is somewhat grim as he waits, hands in his pockets.

Normally, Diana wears high-waisted pants, a geek-related t-shirt or ugly Christmas sweater, leggings, and flats. She still has the high-waisted pants, but the rest has changed for now; she's got on a pair of hiking boots, her (probably) geek-related t-shirt is beneath a flannel, and the leggings are nowhere to be seen. It's like she's actually taking something seriously for once! She's got a notebook in her hands and a backpack on her back, and she smiles politely to Conner and the others as she approaches. Those she doesn't know very well get extra nods of greeting.

Xavier promised Conner that he would help the last time they saw each other, so of course he answered the call with an affirmative when Conner rang. He roped in Elias, because he has a feeling that he knows more than either he, or Conner does and that would be valuable if they get in over their heads. Not that he intends to, but when an innocent tarot reading goes horribly strange, a jaunt in the woods to find a a horned creature will likely be as troublesome. He's dressed for the weather, wearing sturdy boots to keep the damp off of his feet, jeans that he doesn't care if they get dirty and a jacket to keep branches from scraping his arms. He nods his head to everyone there and puts on his bravest smile.

Aidan is late, slightly. Not by much, just enough that he approaches the assembled group at a gentle jog, looking faintly apologetic right up until it turns into a bright grin of greeting. "Hey! I'm not too late, right? I mean, you're here, so probably not, but. Sorry. A lady lost her kid in Safeway and I kinda got distracted trying to help her find him. He was hiding behind that rack of discounted stuff way off in the back eating twinkies. Anyway, hi. Do we know how exactly we're thinking to do this, yet?" A tiny pause. "Also, I don't know all of you, so hi, I'm Aidan." He's in jeans and boots as well, albeit red ones and Docs, with a grey t-shirt that declares it's friday and he's in love under a fluffy white polar bear hoodie with ears and a nose on the lowered hood, and a beat-up black leather jacket atop that. Also, a somewhat battered bag of rainbowish Guatemalan-style fabric slung over his shoulder. Probably stuff is in it.

"Hey, I'm Conner," Conner says to Elias, the only one he doesn't know. "You must be Xavier's friend Elias?"

He transfers elk horn from left hand to right so that he might offer a proper shake. He offers smiles and nods of greetings to the other, a smile which gets just a little deeper at Aidan's apparent cheerfulness.

But when the horn gets warm, his eyebrows lift. "Huh," he says. "It's warming up. So...not really how yet no, but I think it wants to be done." He tries just tuning in with his Art, to see if that offers anything, keeping it balanced on his open, outstretched palm so it's accessible to the others as well.

Diana returns a smile back at Aiden, and a little wave as well. "Diana," she says, for those who don't know her; it's clear she knows Aidan, at any rate. "I feel like this is... important, somehow. Sorry to be vague, but. Anyway, I agree that it seems to want to be done and taken care of." She pulls out her own bit of elk horn, checking to see if it's warm as well. Either way, she ends up reaching out with her own Art to it again, trying to gather whatever additional information she can.

Elias nods to Conner and says, "Elias Weber," taking the offered hand and giving it a shake in greeting. He offers a small smile and then takes a step back. His attention shifts over toward Aiden and he offers him a nod, and one to Diana as well, in greeting. Then he is taking a bit of a step back. He studies each one in turn, but when Conner mentions that the antler is warming up, his attention shifts back over to it. He has very little detail on what exactly it is that they've come to do, other than possibly help a creature, and so he listens rather than offering up any suggestions for the time being.

Xavier clears his throat and nods to both Elias and Conner. "Yes, sorry, I should have said something. My mind is in left field apparently." He laughs to himself before he looks at the rest of the group. "Xavier Rousseau." When Conner pulls out the horn, he quirks his brow and shoves his hands in his pocket. "Not just because it was in your pocket warm but legitimately warm? That's not weird. Not at all." He huffs out another laugh and watches as Diana pulls out one of her own.

"Dude, is it?" Aidan leans in a little to get a better look at the bit of horn, as though this might somehow be visibly obvious rather than simply palpable. He reaches out to it with his mind as well, though for him the aspect that instinctually presents itself for the task isn't Mental but Spirit, a sort of diagnostic exploration of the Thing. Possibly the 'warming up' thing is what tips it to that choice, even if it's kindly neglected to burst into fire or anything like that. "...it'd be kind of funny if the horn did a literal hot-or-cold thing if we wandered around trying to track down the original owner. Except by the time we found it you might need gloves or something, then."

The apartment manager looks up and around, a little big-eyed as the trees start shuddering and the grass starts dying. It might maybe be enough to shake a man's confidence. He grins a little at Xavier's joke but opts not to run with it. Instead he cocks his head towards the source of the sound. He sort of lifts a shoulder, like welp, here goes, and starts cautiously making his way in that direction. At least now they have some notion of where to go.

The sudden pulse from the antlers sends a shiver down Elias' spine and his eyes close a little as he takes in a breath, not enjoying that unsettling feeling. There was a time when it would have elicited excitement, a feeling of adventure. Now, it just leaves him feeling chill, particularly when that sound follows. He takes in a breath and then says, "Whatever you just did sounds painful." And yet, he follows behind Xavier, keeping eye out on their surroundings at they move, a glance spared for the dying grass.

Diana gasps in surprise as she reaches out for the antler and sees the man's eyes widen. She blinks, trying to bring herself more fully to reality, and then looks around her, frowning when she sees the grass has died in their vicinity. "Um." She doesn't follow Conner just yet. Instead, she says, "I... saw the fire-tree man. He saw me too, and his eyes widened. I don't know what that means exactly, since he's the one who gave us these antler tips, but it doesn't seem... good, per se?" And then she looks a little startled at the sound they're hearing. "Like I said... it doesn't seem good. I feel like we're missing something important here, and I don't know what."

Of all the things Xavier expected to happen this was not on the list. With the surge of energy, and the grass dying right in front of him, he turns pale. Yep, completely in over his head. He spares a glance to Elias as he speaks and nods his head. "I don't think we should try that trick again, it seems.. unhappy about it." Still, if Conner is moving, then Xavier is going to at least back him up. Diana's words make him pause and he frowns. "I'm not sure what we're missing, I don't think I had that dream but... I'm pretty sure that's the sound an elk makes. It could also be something wanting to kill us."

"Yoshit," Aidan yelps, jumping back a step as if the antler, the antler he hasn't even physically touched, had somehow nonetheless burnt him. The trees shuddering in not that different a way than he does and the grass dying around their feet do absolutely nothing to contradict that impression, and his eyes widen at the sound in the distance, arms wrapping self-protectively across his chest as he looks out that direction.

"They've-- it's got a heartbeat and I think it wants to eat me." A beat. "My magic, I mean. Not, like, my leg. Probably." Oddly enough, he does not look to be in the hugest of hurries to follow Conner in that particular direction, but-- now somewhat reluctantly -- he does it anyway. "Was it just me?" He blinks at Xavier, then back the way they're headed. "That's legit what normal elks sound like? The kind that definitely don't get summoned up from the beyond and kidnap people or anything?"

Conner hesitates when Aidan says it wants to eat his magic. "We knew it was hungry. But we didn't come here to make a sacrifice of you or your gifts either." This means he doesn't seek to cross the barrier yet.

No, he's looking at Aidan in concern, saying, "And it might be after you specifically because of, ahhh, your...role. In burning those original books. This could be a bad step forward for you to take. Maybe..."

He frowns, as if he's none too sure of that maybe, and so must needs trail off, leave it unsaid.

Diana's still looking a bit startled, herself, and she re-startles when Aidan does. "I don't know why the fire tree man would want to eat you. I ... feel like he's not big for ill intent, despite him threatening us. I think he's scared-- backed into a corner, in some fashion. Something like that." She pauses as Xavier says it's an elk sound. "I don't get the same kind of vibes from the elk-- vibes in the colloquial sense. When I looked at the elk tip before, I was looking through the eyes of something large. Something that felt it owned this forest. And I saw, through its eyes, a woman dancing around a bonfire, and 'I' reached out for her... but I don't know anything past that. I don't know if it hurt her or helped her. Maybe it eats magic?"

Diana reluctantly follows the others.

Elias returns Xavier's look, studying him for a moment and then he listens as the others talk about the tips of the horns and says, "If someone broke off the tips of my horns, I might be displeased, though I might be appreciative of having them back." He offers it with no suggestion as to whether doing so is a good idea or not. But he doesn't seem in any particular hurry to go traipsing through the trees either unless the others have decided that that is what they are going to do.

Xavier frowns as they reach the clearing. He's getting a lot of information on the flay, as he didn't get a chance to sit down and ask Conner what he saw in his dreams. Still, the large 'shape' in the clearing is unsettling. "I've seen a few elk before and they were not that large. Granted it was stuffed and behind glass, but even then I don't think that's an elk." Not that he has any desire to cross that threshold. He'll follow of course, but he isn't going to be the one to get his head taken off. "He probably wants them back though, maybe we can toss them in?"

Aidan chews a little on his bottom lip as they walk, with a small nod to Conner's remarks. "I kinda. It seems like maybe I oughta go and kinda... apologise? Ish? I mean it was trying to destroy stuff and it kinda wanted to eat me then, too. The book did, I mean, not the... elk. There wasn't an elk there. But, yeah, I mean. It might be kinda specifically mad at me." And he's not currently going to throw himself across that barrier of trees, either.

But they can hear the elk-thing, and sense the elk-thing, right? And it definitely seems to already know they're there, right? So he glances at the others, and then takes a breath, shoulders rolling slightly back, and lifts his voice. "Um, hi? Hello. We think maybe you're related to a book I ran into like a year and some ago? And it was destroying stuff and we, the people I was with, kinda had to fight it, and I'm sorry 'cause maybe there was a better way. So are you okay? And, uh, also that girl if you're the elkish thing that took her? And if you have her could you please let her go? I mean assuming she wants to." He can't speak elk, but maybe it understands English. Somehow trying to talk to it mentally doesn't feel like plan A, right now.

Xavier's idea of just tossing in the elk horn doesn't...seem like the worst one in the world to Conner. At least. Part of it. Tossing seems disrespectful. He moves slowly, one hand up, rather in the manner of someone on TV who might be about to put a gun on the ground. Instead, he's putting just his hand inside the barrier, the one that's been holding the elk horn, intending to lay it on the ground there in a sort of offering, ready to move and move as fast as he can if this gets real ugly.

It is the only thing he has to give that he knows of at this moment. "This one doesn't seem like a fish-elk," he murmurs, "so the thing that took Marcy could only be marginally related here. But the woman dancing around the fire that Diana saw, I think she shares some connection to the books that Aidan burned and the entity that the tree-man Diana and I saw in our dreams...resulting in us having these horns at all...tried to tell us was hungry."

He can always pick this horn up again, right? He shoots Elias and Xavier a rueful look. "It's so hard to explain because it's just all...symbols and connections and...and instinct." Which may explain why he didn't exactly try to sit down. It all sounds like so much madness when he tries to convey his very...right-brained...guesses about what's going on here.

"Fish-elk," Elias murmurs mostly to himself, because this is new information that he didn't have before. He rubs a little bit at his face and watches as Conner moves forward to place the horn inside the clearing. He moves closer behind him, because if something grabs him and drags him in, he's at least going to make an attempt to try and drag him out again. "Be careful," he says to Conner when he approaches, glancing over to the others to make sure no one else is attempting to go in at the moment.

"I also saw through the eyes of a woman, when I investigated the fruit we were given. Immobile, panicked, and ending up... well, immolated. She slept for a long time after that, becoming... something else. And whatever she is now, she's unbearably hungry. But she's not the same woman the elk-or-whatever reached out for. She was maybe 20 or so, dressed very... gothily? Is that a word? It should be, if not." Diana half-smiles. She listens to Aidan talking without a word, and blinks twice at the single word they get in response. It's only then that she seems to come out of her reverie and realize Conner's reaching in. She bites her lower lip, and stands near Elias. Four hands are better than two!

While Xavier has been hovering behind Conner and Elias, when the giant creature peeks though the treeline and speaks in his head, he takes several steps back. Very many steps back. "I'm sorry, but that has too many eyes. Nothing should have that many eyes." He stares at Connor as the thing gets close but he doesn't step any closer either. He likes the space between himself. When Diana mentions the gothy girl, Xavier frowns. "Wait, I think I saw someone like that in the library, on the night the fog rolled in. She was really interested in books about spellwork."

"That kinda sounds like the girl the elkfish took," Aidan says quietly, "...or, um, any of her friends, really, they were kinda all rockin' the more or less twenty and gothish and spellwork thing." And then there's the eyes and the demand, and he pales somewhat, stepping back again at that sense of pulling.

"That-- that's like him only bigger, like-- I mean all those eyes, only these gotta be at least twice as big..." And presumably the rest is too, if the resemblance holds up. It has not previously occurred to Aidan there might be more than one elkfish around, despite what that would mean for their continual population. He stares at it. "...I think it wants our magic." Hesitation, and then a little louder, speaking to it again, "Do you? Why? And I mean. How? But I kinda need mine."

Conner whips his hand away and makes an ungraceful stumble back. It lands him on his butt, sends him crab-scuttling back like a kid playing games in gym, getting pine needles and forest floor dirt all over his jeans as he does. He leaps back to his feet, lets out a sharp breath that's rife with all the adrenaline he's surely feeling, his eyes wide, his mouth slightly ajar.

"Fish-elk," he tells Elias, and all that adrenaline is still in his voice too, leaving him sounding a little out of breath. "And it does sound like those girls," he tells Aidan, and Xavier too, because looking for spellwork seems like something they'd do.

The creature is booming into his mind though, and he shakes his head. He might have been willing to donate maybe a little, but he won't offer all he has, and after being, well...almost attacked, almost dragged away, he certainly has revised his stance that this might be resolved peacefully. Whatever...this...is.

"I do want it, as it happens," he tells the elk-fish. Fish-elk? Felk? Felk.

As soon as that long tongue goes for Conner, Elias is reaching out to pull him back, but Conner is even faster than he is, crashing into him and sending Elias stumbling back a few feet, just barely keeping his own feet while Conner scuttles backward away from the thing. "Are you okay?" he asks Conner. But that voice booms. It is huge, and Elias just stares at it for a few moments. But there's something about its words, something about them that draw him closer. Does he want it? It's been so much of his life. And yet, all his search for answers has given him is pain. He could give it up, let it go. It wouldn't matter to anyone at all for him to do so. He takes another half step forward toward the giant fish-elk thing.

Diana looks over to Xavier at his words, and asks, "Did you get a name, or possibly even a number? But even a name would be a really great start. I definitely got the impression that the immobile-later-immolated woman wasn't the same as the goth girl. But, since I was the immobile-later-immolated woman-- or at least looking through her eyes-- I didn't get a good look, there. ...what kind of spellwork was she interested in, by the way?" She turns in surprise to Aidan at the talk of elkfish having taken others, and she nods, frowning. She lunges forward to try and catch Conner, and she doesn't end up knocked back like Elias was, but then there's that voice, and she freezes. Her eyes close tightly, her frown deepening, and then she reopens her eyes, looking to Aidan first. "Do you think-- I mean, the girl that was immolated-- maybe she really was innocent, and the elk is the one that should've been burnt? I mean, I hate to advocate for violence, especially with what it led to last time, but I--" She breaks off as Elias moves forward. "Hey, um..." Oh dear. She can't remember his name. So, she leans forward and taps him on the shoulder. "Careful," she says simply. And then, after a moment, she says petulantly to the elkfish, "I actually always liked my powers. Still do. So um." She shrugs. "Suck it?"

Xavier has a moment where he tries to process everything. He has no idea what a fish-elk is, but he is pretty sure he doesn't want to see one, at least not more than he's already seen it. That voice is loud in his head and he winces. IT's a tempting offer, but he shakes his head. "No I'm good." Though he has a feeling that if this Felk really wanted it, he has the ability to have it. Elias walking forward makes him pause and he walks forward to touch his shoulder. "Are you sure? I won't tell you not to, that's your business and your life, but it's probably a point of no return." Looking to Diana he shakes his head. "No I unfortunately did not get her name."

Less of a yelp and more a swallowed squeak as that tongue goes for Conner, and Aidan moves as though to help yank the guy away before it's clear the guy's got the scrambling covered on his own. "It wasn't a girl, it was a book-tree-bone-thing," Aidan protests to Diana, albeit a touch weakly. It's not as though something woman-shaped that was also trying to destroy its world at the time might not have gotten immolated just the same.

He stays well away from what he imagines to be tongue-range, eyeing what they can see of the creature. "First off who needs it most and how come and how are you even determining that? And second, no it isn't and yes I did, I mean, yeah I guess kinda some things've been awkward or creepy and maybe some shit I've gone through I wouldn't've without it but it's me. Probably it's why I'm even alive, so, y'know, no thanks, I don't want to get rid of it and be some other person I don't even know." A glance to Elias, and softer, "You sure you do?"

Conner looks sheepish as he realized he nearly brought down half the team like a particularly awkward, oversized bowling bawl. He shoots them apologetic looks. That shriek has him hissing, has him flinching, and he looks at Elias. He clears his throat, because while it is his decision...

"Elias, don't. I don't think you'll live to enjoy whatever peace it's offering."

He is starting to agree with Diana's assessment. Yet this thing is awfully big. How many people have taken it up on its demands?

It's tempting, so very tempting, to just let it all go. It would be so easy. Is he even sure that he would mind if he didn't survive it at this point? He doesn't respond to those around him. Instead, his entire attention is focused on the great beast in front of him. It's only that sizzling ground, the death all around it, and something inside of him, that finally pulls him back. He takes one step back, and then another, and finally he turns away. The look that he gives to the others is somewhat haunted. "It seems like it is trapped and won't leave here. Is there more that we need to do here?" His voice is flat, almost toneless.

Diana nods to Xavier's words, and then looks to Aidan-- he gets a nod too, but far more sympathetic. "I don't mean to imply you did something terrible. I think you did what you could with what you had. You didn't know her, or what she wanted or needed. And for all I know, she was immobile for a reason, trapped for being terrible. Or, maybe someone trapped her on purpose? Too many questions, not enough answers." She frowns as she hears what else the creature has to say, and she takes half a step toward the trees like she's about to give it a piece of her mind. And also maybe a punch in its stupid head. Her frown deepens, and she takes a step back, then. She winces at the shriek, and then calls out, "I revel in it! Heck, give all the power to me! You should be shooting YOUR power this way, so I can relieve YOU of this oh-so-burdensome burden! How about that?" She quiets after Elias speaks, tilting her head. "My main worry," she says in a far more gentle tone, "...is that it's luring people in. Or something along those lines. I don't think it's harmless here, even if it can't escape, and never finds a way out."

Xavier is tense as he watches his friend at the barrier. When he finally turns around he shakes his head. "No I don't think so, at least that's not my call. I think we should get out of here and you should drink a lot of alcohol." He looks to the others as he takes a few steps back. The shriek isn't pleasant and he winces but tears his eyes away from the face with too many eyes. "Should we leave it here? Grumpy as it is?" If the trees are holding it they should be fine right? That's what he tells himself.

Aidan gives Diana a still-weak half-smile for her reply to him, and a slightly stronger one for her call to the elkfish, once he recovers from the wince that shrieked demand elicits. Elias's decision makes his shoulders visibly relax a degree, though there's still a definite wariness to the way he's holding himself.

"I think... probably it's a bad idea for us to get within, like, tongue-range of that guy," he says, "Probably we shouldn't go through those trees. I think. Maybe we should kinda try to warn people who sparkle not to go here? 'cause these trees maybe kinda have the right idea."

He runs a hand through his curls, which makes not much difference to them, really. The creature may not like his questions, but they're comin' anyway. "Who are you?"

Conner hesitates a moment. Then he collects the antler piece. He doesn't know that he wants it, but...he knows that he might need it later. He looks up at Elias' flat tone and something remorseful crosses his face. But then he frowns thoughtfully down at the ground.

"Not unless there's a way to make this cage any stronger," he says, then looks at Xavier, Diana, Aidan, and finally Elias to see if any of them know how. "Because something tells me it has every intention of breaking out of it."

"I didn't say that it was harmless," Elias says to Diana, "Just that it doesn't seem that it can get out. Do you have a means of keeping it from luring others here?" He studies her, seeming open to suggestions if she has any. And then that massive set of antlers crashes into the trees, shaking them and making his sight waver. His eyes close and his shoulders hunch slightly inward. "Unless others have figured out how to strengthen the Veil and close off thin spots since I've been gone."

"Definitely," Diana nods to Aidan. "I think we should stay as far away as possible." Saying that, she takes a step back, right as the shockwave comes, which throws her somewhat off-balance. Her nostrils flare briefly, but she says nothing aloud-- at least at first. She looks to Conner, and then Elias, and gives another nod. "True. I don't... know of a way to strengthen the Veil. I know people can open ...spaces to walk through, in it, but I've not heard of people closing off thing spots. Any of the rest of you know anything about that?" Despite her earlier words about staying as far back as possible, she takes a few steps forward now, though still (hopefully) out of tongue-length. "Maybe we should examine the aspens with whatever we can? Maybe... try to figure out how they were constructed, or by whom?"

That impact of sound and air and movement leaves Aidan silenced for a few moments, catching his breath, and he ends up chewing his lower lip again, watching the trees. "Maybe we should ask August? He knows trees. And magic, but I mean: trees. Maybe magic trees. But if they aren't kinda doing it on their own like... whatsit, psychotropic scenery or something?" That may or may not be what he means. "Then yeah figuring out who would be good. And how. 'cause. I can get plants to do SOME stuff but I don't think I know how to make 'em do something like that."

He takes a slower, deeper breath, and finally draws his gaze from the clearing. "For right now though, I dunno if it's safe to try checking them out or he'll, like, show back up and tongue us half to death so... yeah. We could stand way back and try, I guess? Or. We could maybe go get that drink or something and maybe try to think about it."