2022-05-11 - Gateways

(TXT to Una Ava) Ravn : I need a voice of reason and a person with a first aid kit to tell me to do something stupid.

(TXT to Ava Ravn) Una : Wait, you need a voice of reason to tell... oh, wait, I get it. Voice of reason AND, separately, someone to tell you to do something stupid?

(TXT to Una Ava) Ravn : Tell me when to stop doing stupid things, maybe. Meet me at Gray Pond? There are two places in this town the Veil is practically non-existent and this is the one where the monsters are mostly friendly.

(TXT to Ava Ravn) Una : Okay, I can do that. I'm putting the flag up now for 'I'm already worried, and that's why I'm coming to help.'

(TXT to Una Ravn) Ava : Oh, what stupid thing are we doing?

(TXT to Una Ava) Ravn : Nicasia -- the lady from Safe Harbor -- said something smart yesterday, after you were called away. Said, why don't we go check the archives on the Other Side's city hall. Means, somebody needs to learn to travel there. Means, there's two places in this town that supposedly are very easy to cross, and the other one is full of very angry ghosts and monsters. I figure we can take a look at least.

(TXT to Una Ravn) Ava : That IS smart. If they'll let us check them. I wonder if we'll need paperwork. I'll meet you there. I'll pick up some forms from our City Hall first just in case. They might like the initiative, you never know. I'll see you soon.

(TXT to Ava Ravn) Una : That was me. I mean, the three of us, having that conversation, but I think I raised that. Now I have regrets... well. Lack of certainty. I'm wary, and now that I means I'm committed, fuck.

(TXT to Una Ava) Ravn : I doubt we'll make it all the way to City Hall this time, but yeah, grab the forms. Either way, I need to learn how to do this. We can't rely on Rosencrantz and Vydal to always be available.

(TXT to Una Ava) Ravn : Oh, I'm sorry. I thought it was Nicasia -- maybe she just talked about regular City Hall records? Either way, it's a good idea. We'd be stupid to not check all the sources we have.

(TXT to Una Ravn) Ava : Daaaamn. Go Una! I'm so proud of you.

(TXT to Ava Ravn) Una : Possibly a very dangerous idea, though. But. Ok.

(TXT to Una Ava) Ravn : Yeah. That's why I don't want to do a stupid and be all macho about it, try to do it alone and tell nobody.

(TXT to Ava Ravn) Una : Very sensible, yes.

(TXT to Una Ravn) Ava : Sometimes the most dangerous experiments yield the greatest successes.

Gray Pond. Deceptively tranquil; a shallow pond surrounded by trees, and the bridge across it -- nothing much happens here. Mist rises from the water as the sun heats the surface; ducks quack in the reeds, going about their business. Frogs ribbit. It's another quiet day. Nothing terrible can happen here.

Except something terrible can, and on several occasions, has. Locals joke about the number of bodies dumped here by mobsters over time. The bridge is supposed to be haunted -- and if one goes by the amounts of different stories, there's quite a congregation of ghosts doing time-share there. Some of the older folks enjoy scaring the grandkids with stories of ugly naiads and talking fish. A number of those grandkids counter with stories of Cecilia, the ghost child who only turns up in winter when the pond is frozen.

There's been a bit of repairs done to the bridge railing recently. Somehow, a part of it blew out a month or so ago. Ravn still feels kind of guilty about it.

He's got a tote bag with a couple of water bottles and sandwiches from the diner. He's got a compass and a first aid kit. He's got a shitload of anxiety too, but at least that doesn't show.

What do you bring, to something like this? What do you wear? Una's evidently erred on the side of caution, here, throwing on heavy-duty canvas trousers and hiking boots, as well as her t-shirt and jacket. She, too, has a bag slung over her shoulder (probably containing cookies, let's be honest), which bounces against her hip as she walks, making her way across the bridge to find Ravn. She's braided her hair to keep it out of her face, the tightness of it only emphasising the pallor of her cheeks, and the sharpness of her expression.

Her anxiety is unmissable. So is her serious determination. "Hey," she says.

Honestly, Ava could not be more proud of her friends right now. This is such a bad and great idea at the same time, and the mad scientist in her is living for it. She is not dressed to the nines for this, though she is still dressed up. Fitted jeans are tucked into tall, flat boots, and a button down top with rolled sleeves completes the look, tied off at the front having clearly been designed to do so. Her hair is braided and twisted down her back and there's a big smile on her face. "Hey guys!"

There's a hiking pack on her back, looking like it's chock full of supplies. "I am so ready for this."

"I'm not," Ravn says. The collar of his black leather jacket is up, protecting him against the wind. Hiking boots and jeans; practical. "But I don't think I will be. I have this power that I barely know how to use. A power we need. I'm running out of excuses. I still want to err on the side of caution, though, and take this step by step. Because I got Rosencrantz telling me it's an adventure and everyone else telling me it's dangerous."

He fishes a cigarette out of a pocket and lights it with his battered old coat-of-arms zippo. "I'm terrified. But let's see what's over there, before we try anything else. Windows are watch only, at least -- nothing can jump through. I've practised that some."

One last glance around. One last hope for a reason to go home, maybe? "Are we ready for that?"

It's pretty clear which side of this divide Una sits on, given the way she's nervously not-quite-meeting anyone's gaze. Indeed, she seems distinctly uncomfortable in the wake of Ava's enthusiasm, and turns, instead, to stare out over the pond. "I... okay, yes. That makes sense. Thank you for being willing to... try. And for being sensible about it, Ravn."

Windows are fine. Windows are safe.

She glances back. She exhales, sharply. "As I'll ever be, I guess?"

"It can be both, you know. An adventure and dangerous at the same time, isn't that part of what makes something an adventure? Not really knowing what's going to happen? Not knowing what's going to happen means that dangers are also possible. Ergo." Ava lifts her palms upwards. "It's understandable to be nervous. I'm nervous, too. It'd be dumb not to be. But I try to push the excitement forward above all the other emotions. It helps."

There's a nod at the question of readiness. "When you guys are."

Ravn swallows and takes a deep breath. Then he leans out over the bridge's railing and looks into the water.

It dawns on him that he is using its reflective surface as a focus for his mind's journey -- like a scryer with a bowl of water or a crystal ball; his focus. Opening a door or window to the bottom of Gray Pond may be interesting but it will probably not be very practical.

He raises his gaze and, with the lack of a wall to picture a doorway in, looks at a tree. A tall beech with a trunk large enough that with a bit of imagination, it could have a faerie door, opening a window into another world. A window that one could walk up to, and look through.

And so it does. A window consisting of small glass planes set in lead panes, like an old barn window; his cultural baggage is getting a word in there, turning it positively medieval.

Well. Middle-18th century if one wants to nitpick.

And the mists start to shift.

Ava's approach may not be the worst of approaches, but it doesn't seem to comfort Una at all; if anything, it deepens her frown, and results in a sharp shake of her head. Does she feel excitement? If she does, there's no sign of it-- just the clamminess of palms, the sharp way that she follows where Ravn's gaze goes, and, finally, that intake of breath as the window begins to take shape.

Her, "Holy fuck," may be an exhalation, but even in this she sounds significantly less than excited. It is rather, instead, as if she's waiting, breath caught, for the other shoe to fall. For the inevitable horrors.

She stays where she is, tension marking the line of her shoulders and the clench of her fists.

See, you'll see a lot of things in Dreams of course. But when you get to see things like this out in the real world it is always such a trip. Ava's eyes widen as she watches the window come into existence within the tree. "Ravn, that's incredible," she murmurs as he works. Not too loud so that she doesn't bother him too much.

Una may be staying right where she is with tension in her shoulders and fists, but Ava is already starting to take a step forward, trying to see if she get a peek through that window and to the other side.

Ravn steps up to the window and very pointedly does not touch it as he tries to look through. What is the difference between opening a window and a door? None as far as he's aware except -- except that somehow, windows don't seem to attract much attention from the other side, at least not right away. And sometimes, windows show strange other realities.

He picked this specific spot for that reason. The Veil is so thin here it might almost just as well not exist. The odds of finding some random reality are similarly low. It's the Other Side, the mirror Gray Harbor he'll be looking into.

And what another side it is. It looks exactly like this one except --

The ducks have very sharp teeth. There's a child lying flat on her back in the pond who isn't there on this side -- Cecilia Nuñez, easily recognisable to at least two people present -- and the water is translucent. The latter bit is probably the most disturbing, given how clear a view of the bottom of the pond it offers -- which makes it easy to see that that bottom, indeed, is covered in bones.

Reluctantly, Una takes a few steps forward, not quite approaching the window, but certainly getting close enough that she can see at least something.

One thing is very plain, from the sharp inhalation of her breath: whatever she expected to see, even from her position of some limited distance, it is not what she's actually seeing. Maybe it's young Cecilia that prompts it; Cecilia, whom she may well have started to miss in the months since the pond melted. Maybe it's the ducks, though perhaps that's less likely. Maybe, indeed, it is those bones, and the implication of that into her world view.

"God," she says. "No wonder she's lonely." And creepy.

"Oh no." Ava's voice is soft. "I figured there would be other ghosts to keep her company when it wasn't Winter and there wasn't ice. As many dead as there are in this pond. The ones that we've found, and apparently the ones that we've missed." Because that's a hell of a lot of bones. Her eyes turn towards Una, the other woman's sadness matched in Ava's expression. Poor kid.

"When we go in, you should be sure to yell boo, Ravn. Get her back for all the times she jump scares you. But don't really. She might cry."

"I think she is sleeping," Ravn murmurs quietly. He knew Cecilia only turns up when the pond is frozen. Knowing intellectually and seeing is -- well, not the same. This is the true horror of it; to be adrift between life and death, just existing. Even the most miserable of the living at least have the release of death to look forward to. Something, something. Existential angst, made flesh in the body of a sleeping, dead girl.

He makes himself look at the bones instead. "I wonder if it's symbolic. Like Dreams -- sometimes, it's all symbols and gestalts. The way that Haggleford's tower appeared like it was in a Dragonlance novel."

"There's probably nothing else to do, in the warmer months," murmurs Una, who looks half as if she wants to cry, though she's straightened her shoulders and drawn herself together, too.

She swallows, sharply. "If this were a door and not a window, would we be able to talk to her? Interact with her?" It's not a request to do so. It's absolutely not. But.

The question hangs in the air, even as her attention slides (back?) towards the bones. "A symbolic message? That woman whose body you found, the one who exploded in the Dream, but whom you'd saved, previously, you thought... this is where she was found, wasn't it?"

"Hell. It's a window. If we knock on the window, would she be able to hear it? Or are you saying you think it's a deeper kind of sleep, you think? Like she's stuck like that until Winter comes. Because I don't think my heart could take that." Ava frowns through the window again, staring at the sweet little girl who loves cookies and climbing trees. The same little girl whose body she had to deal with after it came out of that frozen pond awhile back.

"Though, I suppose it might make the time pass easier for her if that were the case. But ugh. I just want to hug her."

"I think that maybe it is kindest to let her sleep," Ravn says, and swallows, hard. "Let the time pass. I could not bear having to tell her to go back to sleep now because we're leaving, see you in nine months."

He swallows again, and focuses on Una's question. "Yes. The girl who exploded. Violeta. They found her here, face down in the water, like she'd jumped off the bridge and drowned. I think it was ruled a suicide."

And a third swallow. "I can turn this into a door. But things can move through doors. Nothing will probably happen. I don't like the word probably."

Una's face crumples: the very idea is horrific, and her sharp, hard head shake confirms that she, like Ravn, is definitely now of the opinion that sleeping dead dead girls should be let lie.

It means it takes her a few more seconds to recover her equilibrium. But when she does, her mouth has drawn in tightly and her expression is determined. "Here," she says. "Where on the Other Side, all those bones can be found. If that's not a symbol... I don't like the word probably, either. Realistically speaking, is this the safest place to try? If we're going to get you to experiment, to try this skill out? Because as much as I really, really don't like it, it feels like... this is something you have to do."

And maybe, just maybe, given that look in Una's eyes, something she has to do as well.

"Then I will be the last to go in the door. That way if anything tries to go out, I light it up so that it doesn't get far. You guys go in, I pull up the back, Ravn closes it behind us?" That's Ava's suggestion as she glances between the other two. Her eyes drift back to the window. "And we are very careful not to wake Cecilia up. Because you're right, Ravn, I don't want to have to say goodbye to her like that."

A hand reaches down towards Una's, offering a little squeeze in support.

Ravn draws a deep breath. He can do this. He knows how. He feels the power inside -- so much stronger than it used to be, so strong that sometimes it's terrifying, like riding a nuclear warhead on its way to armageddon. Straddling a broken arrow. Don't breathe too deep lest the whole damned thing blows. Definitely don't use the spurs.

The window turns fluid. For a moment it looks like it might bleed away like wet paint -- and then it rearranges itself, becomes a glass door in a tree trunk. An inviting little green sign hangs at the door handle. OPEN.

"Don't think it's going to last long," the folklorist says and tries to flat out ignore the fact that he's sweating like a docker hauling sixteen tons. Not because of the physical effort, and not because of the Physical effort either, but because he's fighting every instinct he has. Maybe his power stayed collared for thirty-one years because it was a hell of a lot safer.

Una's blink of surprise answers Ava's hand, but she allows hers to be taken and squeezed, even goes so far as to curve her fingers around it in return - just for a moment.

She withdraws it again as the door opens, probably because her fingers are drawing in to her palms: into fists, nails digging in. This is not the first Door she's ever seen-- not even the first she's walked through, and yet.

Ravn's just warned that it isn't going to last, but Una? It's like her legs have frozen. She just stands there, staring at the door, and her head is shaking: nope, nope, nope, no, no, no.

Ava nods to the pair and prepares herself. Her body language shifts slightly so that she's fully prepared to take on anything that might end up coming out of the door as it materializes out of the window pane. "Then we'd better make this quick. You two first."

The door is finally there and Ava wait for the other two to open the door and go through so that she can follow. Then she waits a little bit more. Confused eyes move from the door to them. "It's not going to last long." There's a pause, spotting Una's head and how it's shaking. Sympathy touches her face. "I know you're scared. Do you want to wait here for us until we get back? Guard the door?"

Ravn can feel the door detach from his mind. It's there. It's real. What he does now doesn't matter. It'll be there until it isn't, and what side of it he's on? The door couldn't care less.

Okay, mate. You're the one who agreed this is a good idea, and then decided that you have the ability so it's not up to somebody else to take the risk. Show your true colours.

His jaw sets. And then he reaches out, lays a gloved hand on the handle, and presses down. The door opens. He steps through.

It could be that it's the sympathy that steels Una's resolve and forces her into action (sympathy sucks), or the fact that Ravn-- looking no happier than she feels-- has just stepped through. Either way, Una squares her shoulders, shakes her head again, and then follows the Dane, without looking back.

She can do this. She... has done this.

Once the pair have made it through the door and it looks like nothing is trying to sneak its way through, Ava makes the quick, and far more eager, step through after them. Those hands are still at the ready as she makes it through, eyes alert as she scans the area to make sure that nothing is ready to leap towards the door and out into town as they are occupied with getting between barriers.

-- And here it is, the Other Side.

The ducks do duck things. Their feathery butts go up, their too-toothy beaks go down. Presumably algae is nibbled on. Algae which grows from stacks and stacks of bones, most of which look decidedly human to a coroner's experienced eye. There's Cecilia, floating on her back, eyes closed, unmoving. Seagulls circle overhead, and whether they have too many teeth is impossible at this distance. Their cries sound mournful and eerie, but, the cries of seagulls always do.

It's misty here. Grey, as if reality has lost some of its saturation. Like a photograph, quietly bleeding colour to time. Ravn looks around. His senses tell him that he hasn't moved far. Past (through) that tree, that's all. And yet other senses are telling him he's moved a lifetime, a million miles, starfish, pineapple.

"So far, so good," he murmurs. "They say that if you can navigate our side, you can navigate this side. And that the further from the thin spots you go, the harder it is to open doors."

The last time Una went through a Door it was to escape a (nightmarish, if you happen to be an exceptionally uncomfortable Sim) Dream, and that is a whole other experience to... well, this.

Una stumbles a little as she crosses through, but rights herself with a carefully placed foot: touching anything is, it seems, completely out of the question. Her gaze seeks out the sleeping Cecilia, then hastily sweeps past: to the bones, the ducks, the seagulls above.

"Okay," she says, taking a deep breath. "Okay, so far this is okay. So we don't want to go too far from here. You are sure you can open one to get us back, right?"

That might have been a question to reassure herself on earlier-- but there is at least some level of trust here. Ravn doesn't want to be Lost, ergo he's confident enough. Mostly.

Bone algae. Ava makes a little noise, fingers wiggling out in that direction. Do want. "I kind of wish there was a hire-a-mover sort of thing. They could just bring me here and bring back all the neat stuff I see for me so I could test it all." Yeah, she's already getting excited. Also sad, because as thrilling as that bone algae is, she can't bring it with her. Much sadfacing.

"If it looks like our side, it's pretty easy to get to City Hall. Kind of curious to see our houses though. Una, don't you have some annoying ghost at your place or some guy that annoys you? I think you mentioned that once. I suggested the alphabet magnets. Maybe you could talk to him here?" So many thoughts buzzing through her head.

Her voice is quiet so that she doesn't wake Cecilia, but her hands are moving to her hips as she looks around. "Ravn, this is your expedition. Where are you wanting to head?"

"I think that for this time we should play it safe. Stay here where the Veil is thin and we're sure to end up in the same reality we started out from." Ravn takes a deep breath. "Get our bearings. Get used to the idea. And next time, plot out where we want to go and what we want to do there, so we can move quick and efficient. I'm pretty sure that the more we wander about sort of open-minded and unsure of what we're doing, the more we glow like beacons to the dolorphages."

He takes another deep breath. "Visit Asshole Irving, see if he's manifest in this reality. We can try this sometime. That's an expedition. Visit City Hall, that's another. Have a feeling that any argument with them is going to be one hell of a verbal cat fight so let's be properly prepared if we do. Maybe hit up Vydal for more intel, he's been there."

Una turns her head so that she can look at Ava, her expression somewhat intimidated by the other woman's enthusiasm, though there's a sharpening something at that mention of Asshole Irving. It's an idea, but--

But that doesn't mean Ravn's suggestion does not ease something in her expression, and encourage a careful, determined nod. "I think Ravn's right," she agrees. "Let's play it safe, and be practical. Next time we can consider one those things." The bag over her shoulder gets adjusted, carefully, and her gaze once again flicks around the area, narrowing in on individual differences.

"Vydal? From the Pâtisserie?"

Excuse the faint hint of fangirl in her voice.

"Mm." It's not her expedition, so Ava does not make the rules. But it's clear from the lack of words to express full agreement that Ava isn't fully on board with the playing it safe and staying where they are plan. However, there is no argument from the woman either. Just a quick bob of her head.

Of course, there's a full on smile when she hears that tone in Una's voice at the mention of Vydal. "Vyv? Yeah, he's a friend. Have you two not met before? Seriously? That has to be the worst tragedy to befall mankind. I bet he'd love your cookies. You should absolutely make him one of the Geoducks. Just let me be ready with a camera."

"I've seen pictures of the muffins he made for August Røn's stag party," Ravn observes blithely. "Eggplants, and peaches. Not convinced geoducks would bother him a whole lot. Probably make his boyfriend laugh for a week, though."

It helps a bit, talking about something mundane. "He's kind of elusive. Some people find him arrogant. I like him, though I do suspect he plots my murder for the way I treat his coffee cake. But more importantly, he's one of the people in Gray Harbor who have gathered the most information on all of this." Ravn leaves it unsaid; and who's likely still alive and accounted for because he tends to know how to not attract attention by talking about it.

He kneels down. "So they say you can't bring things back. Saying is not knowing. Let's find something weird to bring back and see if it's true that it will turn into something dull and mundane if we do."

Oh no, no, no: share her amateur baking with Vyvyan Vydal? How about... when hell freezes over, if the expression on Una's face is anything to go by. Pass. Big, big, definite pass.

"I've never had reason to meet him," she says, ignoring the uncomfortable part of that conversation to focus on the rest. "But perhaps we do, now. Or, well-- one of you two does, anyway, since you know him already. What kind of weird thing are you thinking?"

She's still sweeping the area, frowning as she tries to think of something worth experimenting with. Also? "Do you think... if I left some of the cookies I have, for Cecilia, that would be okay?"

"Bother him? No. But the wry amusement would be hilarious. Worth the picture!" Ava chuckles a little at the image she has in her mind. "I think he's hilarious, personally. But I'm a sucker for someone who can toe to toe with me barb-wise and not get offended. It's a blast."

Of course, then Ravn is mentioning bringing something back and Ava's eyes go wide with all kinds of joy, her arm shooting out and finger pointing towards the bones. "Bone algae! Bone algae!" Oh, she was just waiting for that.

"If you grab one of those, we'll surely know if it's turned into a mossy stick when we get back. Which presumably it will. Let's say I almost hope it will because that way, at least we're not dragging back some dead mobster who got planted here during Prohibition." Ravn manages a smile to rival any of Vyv Vydal's when it comes to wryness.

He also digs around his tote bag before producing a tupperware box. "You can put it in this?" A couple of sandwiches are returned to the bag -- in their wrappings still, but no box. "And -- I honestly have no idea, but I mean, cookies? Worst case scenario the ducks eat them. Then the ducks had a good day. I think intent matters a lot."

At least Una can laugh at Ava's enthusiasm-- the first genuine laugh, perhaps even the first genuine smile that she's had, today, for any of this. "Bone algae it is," is more murmured than said, but at least it's something. "I also hope we're not dragging back some dead mobster. I'm less okay with that."

Okay, so the smile wasn't going to last, even if a moment later there's one corner twitching up in almost hopefulness as she nods, reaching in to her bag to draw out her own tupperware: cookie filled and ready to go. "I'll set it down on the shoreline for her. Hopefully she'll see it. Or someone will. It's a... gesture of good faith. We mean no harm."

"Yes!" Ava sounds like a kid that just got told by mom and dad that she can get TWO candies at the candy store. Today is the best day. Bone algae. She's all but skipping off towards the giant pile of water and bones, looking for something that is close enough that she isn't disturbing anything, and is also small enough that it can be placed into the tupperware. Aha. This one will do.

Digging into her bag, Ava pulls out a pair of latex gloves and slides them on, then picks up the bone and algae both. Into the evidence bag they go. Then from there they go into the container that Ravn offers out. "Perfect. Worst case, it returns to normal like they say. Though, that does make me wonder how Veil creatures manage to survive so long outside of the Veil."

A smile shifts Una's way as she draws out the cookies. "I think it's a perfect idea."

Ravn's certainly keeping alert -- though his concerns are not so much dead mobsters as the ugly naiad of stories or for that matter, anything that just happens to wander by at random. He knows very little about this place. What he does know suggests that the greatest danger is growing complacent.

He's almost sighing with I told you so when suddenly a yell breaks the tranquility. "Hey! That's mine! What are you doing?!"

A man's voice. From the water. Because of course it is.

Una's just in the process of crouching to set down her box of cookies (alas, this is likely the end of the tupperware, but since when did any tupperware last for long in the world without being left somewhere/borrowed by someone/stolen?) when that voice interrupts her thought process-- and this time, is enough that she really does lose her balance, falling over herself, though at least she doesn't have far too fall.

She grabs for the cookies protectively, gaze lifting as she hunts down the source of the voice, all wide-eyed and undeniably wary.

There's a pause, Ava's eyes slowly closing in an 'of course' sort of way. The bag is lifted right back out of the tupperware as she turns right back around and looks towards the water where the voice is coming from. "I'm so sorry! I didn't see anyone other than Cecilia around, so I didn't know it belonged to anyone that was still around."

Ava carries the bone back to where it was and places it gently back exactly where it was. "I hope you can forgive me. I didn't mean to disturb you. I'm trying to find one that isn't attached to someone that is still around."

The voice hesitates for a moment; the sensation of imminent thunderstorm -- well, breathes out. Can reality breathe out? Reality breathes out.

Ravn does too.

"You know Cecilia, do you." It's not a question -- and it's followed by another pregnant pause. "That one. You can take that one. The owner is up in the cemetery and he's a bleedin' dogooder dandy who wouldn't mind anyway."

A duck paddles over and taps what looks like somebody's humerus bone. And to the eye of a coroner, 'somebody' will have been a man, average height. There's certainly plenty algae attached to it; it's been there a while.

"This is the mindfuck from Hell," Ravn murmurs quietly to Una.

Una also breathes out, a lengthy exhale that does not entirely release the tension in her-- but starts the process. Small steps.

"Um," she murmurs in reply to Ravn. "Just a bit. If the owner's in the cemetery..." Don't finish that thought, Una.

She's still clutching her cookies, but now, slowly, begins to set them back down upon the shore. It's fine; everything's fine.

Ava looks fondly towards Cecilia and gives a nod. "We talked during the Winter. I'm glad to see there's at least one other soul around here for her. That makes me feel a little better." Ava walks towards the bone that the duck tapped and begins to take that, instead.

"I appreciate this. I'm sorry again about disturbing your rest, and your bones." Ava's expression truly is apologetic. The new bone is settled into the bag and handed towards Ravn. "Maybe we should head out before we upset anything else?"

"I think we should," Ravn agrees. He does look a little relieved all the same. This is possible. It can be done.

Only, well, the hardest part remains. Getting back out.

Here goes nothing. He breathes in and focuses on the tree -- because restoring the door there seems easier than to try to make one somewhere else. Whatever mind technique works. Some people probably make literal portals the way Kailey did, a portal appearing in the middle of a street. He needs to imagine it in some surface, a transition of some sorts. He'd probably love to use the far end of an old armoire, with or without street lamps and fauns.

It seems even easier this time. Suspiciously easy. Yeah, he's going to angst about that all night if no one stops him because if it's this easy, then surely there's no such thing as a free lunch, and so on.

For now, though? "Let's get out of here. And see what we found."

This time, Una doesn't need a second invitation to head through the door that appears. She doesn't run, but that's no questioning that she's moving fast, not even taking a backwards glance at her tupperware container full of cookies.

Enjoy the cookies, Cecilia. Una will enjoy being safely back on the right side of the Veil.

Out they go, Ava is out right after Una and turning around to cover Ravn's exit to make sure that nothing tries to come out after him. Nothing does, the door closes and they all have made it out safely. There's a look of relief. For all of her excitement, Ava was still very nervous that something could have gone wrong in there. But now they are home and their feet are firmly planted on the ground.

"The bone!" She quickly opens the tupperware container, eyes alight, pulling open the evidence bag, and...

"FUCK!"

It's a stick. It's got moss on. Yay.