Nightmare (Nero)

[Rain]

Rain knew, the second she arrived in this world, something was very, very wrong.

She had the sickness again, but this time it had lost some of its bite. She might have finally been getting used to it. This was her third world, after all. She just took a seat, sat back, and let the coolness of the night refresh her. It was kind of funny. The first place she went to was perpetually night time. Second place was constantly sunset. She wondered if this place was always night time too, or if it had a regular night and day. Seriously, was that a normal occurrence? Was she never going to see high noon again? Not that she was complaining, but if the next world she went in was a regular day and night schedule, she would probably actually be surprised. Funny how that worked.

But she had not sensed something amiss until she tried walking. She stood up, stretched to the sky, and took a look around. A thin veil of mist rose from the soil, circling around the chipped and worn gray headstones- headstones!? The girl balked when she realized where she had ended up. Oh, this was bad. She brought her hands up and touched her fingers together in a wheel; familiar gesture as she got nervous. Then frowned when familiarity gave way too… clumsy grappling. The girl blinked and frowned down at her hands, only to freeze in her motions.

Her fingers were long. They were also curved and pointed like claws. Her arms, already pretty thin, were spindly and exaggerated at the joints. She blinked at the vision of her hands and wrists for a moment. Then slowly looked down. Her beige sweater, which was a little spotty and worn before, was now slashed and torn, held together by a few dull colored patches like an old ragdoll’s dress. Slowly she pulled apart her hands and looked down at her now bowlegged limbs. They were also spindly, bent at exaggerated angles at the knees. She looked at her boots, debating on if she wanted to take them off to face the horrible truth. She decided against it. Instead, she brought her hands up to her face, and delicately touched her face. The shape seemed normal. Maybe. She touched her hair and flinched as she pinched it and held it out. It felt stringy. Not in the metaphorical sense, but looking at it and pulling them out felt like actual threads on her head. And they were black, not brown.

When Rain took the time to look over all of her… traits, she was quiet for a few minutes. A few long, considerably agonizing minutes. Then she took a deep breath.

I’m dreaming.

Of course. That made sense, now. After all, she knew she did not look like this. And really, why on earth would she have ended up in a graveyard? That did not make any sense whatsoever. What a silly dream. It was like it was trying to be a nightmare. Well, it certainly was not going to work on her, no sirree.

That being the case, Rain dropped her hands and proceeded to stroll out of the graveyard. Though she fumbled for a minute with her new legs, until she found the proper rhythm to walk. She had to slow her gait, and take wider steps, but she was a quick learner, at least. Now it was time to explore this place and see what this world had to offer. She would climb left and right, top to bottom if she had too. If she started out in a graveyard, sans the zombies, she figured it could not get much worse than this.

[Nero the Sable]

Am I ...

The darkness stirred around him, dark wisps pulling to and fro, tugging his consciousness along with it. The Tsviet felt groggier than he ever had before; as if his brain had been hit with a metaphorical train and he was left to pull himself back together. As he slowly opened his eyes, Nero let out a quiet groan, feeling returning to the rest of his sore limbs. He was lying face down on the ground, a much preferrable position to on his back where the awkward, metal wings projected, attached to his spinal cord. He took his time bringing his limbs inward to pull himself up off of the ground. There was no hurry; he could already tell he still wasn't home. However ...

I am ... alive.

Crimson eyes surveyed the area thoughtfully, as his sight and mind quickly began to catch up with one another. Where ever his accidental travel had led him, the Sable could be thankful that it was somewhere dark. For most others, he realized, it was probably a little difficult to see in the dim lighting of the place. Where exactly was this place, though? Glancing around for a moment to make sure there was no one nearby, Nero took a few steps forward to examine the oddly rounded rock close to him. Slender fingers traced outlines on the stone for a moment, before he sharply pulled his hand back. A tombstone? He took another look around and noticed that he was indeed standing nearly in the middle of a graveyard. Nero may have been more floored by the idea of standing within such a place of death, if he'd been less confused and stressed out. After all, Deepground didn't have a graveyard. Death was a natural part of his life, yes, something that let him sleep at night. But a place filled with the bodies of the dead ... ? His darkness was enough of that.

Frowning underneath the mask on his face, the Tsviet quickly began to make his way from the misted graveyard. He spotted a gate not far from where he was casually walking, and assumed it to be an exit. Nero wandered aimlessly, not many thoughts other than Where am I and What's happening crossing his mind. Each time he opened a portal, it went to a strange, new place that he'd never seen before. It was frustrating to the Tsviet, who only had one particular goal in mind; to find his beloved brother. However, that task was soon to be deemed impossible, if he could never find his way back to Gaia.

Nero stopped at the end of the path and moved away from its entrance as he came upon an open square. There was a fountain in the middle, and many ... strange looking creatures walking around. Curious eyes watched the odd beings as they made their way around the area, obviously unaware of how inanely abnormal they appeared to be. They seemed to be human-like, in most cases, dressed in clothes and behaving how any normal denizens would. However, some where .. skeletons, some were creatures he couldn't place a name to, and others had such exaggerated features that the Tsviet could only imagine they'd been experimented on.

Suddenly aware that he was surrounded by things that were abnormal, the sable-haired man began to check himself over. His tattooed forearms were still the normal length and color, and his legs appeared to be normal as well. The glowing lines of his Deepground uniform, as much as he hate how it constricted his power, were comforting reminders that, perhaps, he was still as close to human as he ever was. Slender fingers grasped the edges of the metal mask on his face for a moment, before running over his wild hair. Nothing different there, either. Grimacing, Nero flexed the metal, bladed wings attached to his back. They moved normally, if not a just a bit awkwardly. He preferred not using them if he could, since he had full use of his arms and hands. His pistols were still attached to his thighs, another small comfort.

How bizarre, Nero thought to himself, looking around in mild amusement, For once, I may be the most human creature haunting about.

[Rain]

As the female.... thing that she was now attempted to make her way out of the graveyard, Rain belatedly realized another trait that proved this was a dream: she could see everything clearly close up, even though she wasn't wearing her glasses. She was still debating with herself whether that was good or bad. This could turn into an ugly nightmare just to scare her. In which case, her sight would be an unfortunate trait that was exploited. She definitely hoped not.

When Rain had emerged from the graveyard, she had to stop before she ran over someone in surprise. She did a double take for everything, her eyes flickering on each person, object, and structure that surrounded her. Long, Gothic influenced arches with a dull monochrome palate, pointy roofs that poked the sky, walking monsters, a fountain with glowing green- oh wait... that water was green? Oh that did not look safe. It was probably poison or something. She was definitely not touching that, no matter what. Her eyes went back to the walking monsters, her mind coming to terms with each ghastly face.

'Skeleton... Werewolf...Ghoul...'

Taking a few hesitant steps, Rain walked more into the heart of the strange town, feeling curious, confused, and a little anxious as everything came to sight. The beasts hardly paid her any heed.

'Zombie...Evil Clown...'Devil...'

She was starting to feel a little creeped out. It was not the creatures themselves (heck, she had faced beasts ten times fiercer and scarier than these things) but the fact that all these scary, supposedly evil monsters were just walking on by without a care in the world, acting completely normal. It was the normalcy that concerned her, oddly enough. It was like they were trying to get her guard down before they turned and pounced. Then the monster girl blinked, and balked at one particular smiling face. Angry eyes, jagged teeth, and round pumpkin heads.

'Jack-o-lanterns?'

And then everything clicked into place. They were celebrating Halloween! No way! Had that much time passed already? Then she remembered it was all in her head anyway, and laughed it off. It was more like a breathless sigh of relief when the mystery was solved, showing off her new row of knife sharp, jagged teeth. Well, that explained the creepy atmosphere but lack of danger. Silly her, getting all worked up over nothing. She strolled along, looking at everyone in a new speculative light. Wow, these costumes were so realistic. Not the shabby ones bought at a store, but some pretty impressive- SHANK!

Rain jumped aside with her arms up in a sort of haphazard defense when something clanked right next to her. She watched the contraption warily, and only after a second put her hand on her knife, waiting for it to strike again. There was giggle behind her, and Rain turned to see a miniature mummy giggling at her expense before hurrying away. Rain would have blushed if she could, realizing that some harmless prank had been played on her and it had effectively startled her, and it shamed her. Shouldn't her nerves be stronger than this by now?

She drew her knife anyway, and warily poked the wood post of the guillotine, (though she had no idea what the contraption was or it's purpose) and jumped back in wait, just in case. When there was no reaction, she leaned in and tapped it again. She bent down, poking the metal showing through the hole with the tip of her knife. Nope, still failed to see the benefit. She stood straight, and put her knife back into the strap under her ragged sweater, crossed her arms, and stared at it.

And stared.

And stared some more.

Stupid thing. She promptly kicked it, wincing at the unexpected and frankly unusual pain it caused her toes and heel. Her ears (which she had forgotten to check before) went flat for a moment before popping back into the thin triangles on the side of her head. She turned and strut away, keeping her face down and trying to keep from making eye contact with anyone. Though even avoiding faces could not stop the site of a cybernetic limb extended in the corner of her eye. She had merely taken a glance- a single flicker of her eyes- when she did a double take. She slowed her gait, sucked into admiring the ensemble, and trying to figure out just what the hell it was supposed to be.