[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/01989c3a-cdd4-7239-bbf7-969d978789bc.webp[/img][/center] [hr][center][color=298e25]Location[/color]: ??? [color=298e25]Grimoire[/color]: [color=298e25]Skills[/color]: [url=https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d6/67/d6/d667d6aff85379764e1832ae3b61dde8.jpg]Neverish Fit[/url] [/center] [hr][hr] At last, Rohan and Root joined the others on the porch. The sky was getting dim, as if to encourage them to walk in. Up off of the ground with his bow still out, he looked around and didn't see much. It was empty, and that made him visibly relax a little. The shoe box caught his attention, they had walked through the wilderness for a moment to get here. Their feet would surely drag in dirt or bits of grass. But then, the Neverish wasn't Earth. So why...? He sighed. It reminded him of home. There was a little pang in his warped chest. Rohan could remember places like this, before the Forest got him. His grandparents lived in a house a bit bigger, though theirs was better kept. An old habit kicked in, and he put his bow and arrow away, then removed his shoes. They were a mix of wood, hide and some strange adhesive he'd made from animal horns and wood ash, and they lasted longer than most things people wore. Nothing fancy. He didn't want to dirty up the floor. Even if there was something chaotically unknowable about this realm, shelter was shelter, and in the infinite possibilities one might associate with the Neverish, Rohan wouldn't rule out other travelers winding up here. It was warm inside. He looked around. The glass baubles strung up overhead probably had something in them that would hurt the group if broken somehow. So he moved carefully with the owl on his shoulder. He saw instruments on the wall. A koto, a long board with strings that one played sitting down. A sho, a handheld organ of pipes that could be played similar to a flute. And a tsuzumi, a small drum. Seeing those, the look on Rohan's face went from feral outside, uneasy inside, and now it was [i]spite.[/i] Back in the old days, he had an aunt who loved to play the koto. She was pretty damn good at it, said her parents left the city with it when she was young. [color=298e25]"Kono basho wa watashitachi o chōshō shite iru nodeshou ka?"[/color] He quietly asked Root, whose only answer was a low-pitched [i]mrp[/i] and a rustle of his wings. Right, how would he know any better than the rest of them. Rohan turned and slid the door shut. It seemed as if the weather could turn to rain and thunder here. Besides, shutting out the natural world helped normally, maybe it'd help here. He then unslung the pack holding his bow, quiver, and most of the things he brought in. The gentle thunk of his artifacts against the wall was easy to hear in the quiet of the building. He noticed something on the table. A leather journal, it looked old. Did things age here? Rohan sat down at the table and opened it up. The writing inside was written in gold ink. Somehow, he could tell it was meant to be read from top right to bottom left, and he found that curious because he didn't recognize the language. It wasn't English, and if it was Japanese, it wasn't any form he knew or was raised with. He squinted, trying to identify what language, if any, it could've been. The longer he did, the more Rohan felt something creeping into his mind. So he kept reading, kept staring at the words. And then there came a sound no one but him could hear. The thunder growled outside, and the wind seemed to go silent. Between the rumbling, he heard a voice far beyond the dimly lit walls of the Coven's shelter. Neither masculine nor feminine, in any way he could discern. It was easy to hear, because it was neither near nor far. His skin felt stiff. [i]"For whom weeps the storm, Her tears on our skin The days of our years gone, Our souls soaked in sin These memories ache with the weight of tomorrow..."[/i] [color=298e25]"What-"[/color] [i]Creak.[/i] Rohan heard the sound of cracking bark. Splinters creaking and twisting, the hum of wood bending in the wrong ways. A hand flew to his chest, and he heard [b]screams.[/b] The clang of metal against metal. The shouting of men over one another to be heard. [i]Burning.[/i] Fire. Fire. Fire, more fire. Everything ablaze. His body felt as though it was burning. They carried torches, they screamed, as if the end of the world were upon them. Just burning, everything [i]BURNED.[/i] Rohan's hands scrabbled all over himself to put out flames that weren't even there. He was burning, the demon had to die- Rohan fell backwards, and- [i]Snap.[/i] The journal slammed itself shut, closed by some unseen force. And Rohan was back in the real world. He was sweating, but the pain and the flames weren't real. A trick of the mind, a trick of the Neverish, he didn't know. His throat felt dry. The wood in his chest ached, and Rohan took a long breath. It was at that moment that he decided he hated this place. He stared up at the ceiling and laughed. It wasn't a happy laugh. [color=298e25]"...Kono ba- Heh, this place has a sense of humor,"[/color] He commented, pulling himself off the floor. The dark look in his eyes betrayed the cool grin he put on. [color=298e25]"Be careful with that. I don't know what that language is, but it doesn't like being read. We might as well start taking notes. Dysphoria's right, we're alone. For now, anyway."[/color] Root tilted his head at Rohan, and then stared up at Annika. Rohan got comfortable in front of the table and withdrew his own journal, made from deer hide and... [i]Something[/i] in place of paper. He withdrew a pen from a pocket and set to writing in silence. [hider=Translation] Kono basho wa watashitachi o chōshō shite iru nodeshou ka? = Is this place mocking us? [/hider] [hider=Neverish Log: 1] [color=298e25] We entered the Neverish today. Frank couldn't come, so it's just me, Annika, Dysphoria, and our familiars. We touched down in a forest. I'm surprised Namiki isn't waking up. Could've been bad with the others here. Dysphoria seems to think we're safe. Redwoods, maples. A cloudy morning, it looked like Earth. There's a fountain, and the three of us walked past it into a cottage. Almost reminds me of Rei's tool shed when the winter came. It's small, just one room. There's a stove, the fire smells like the redwoods. Plates on the table, but no idea what's in the pot. There are instruments on the wall behind me. Koto, sho and tsuzumi. [s]It's like the whole Neverish is trying to drive me insane.[/s] I'm trying not to look at them. [s]You watching me, Aiko?[/s] We found a journal on the table. The writing's a language I don't know, wrote in gold. Something about it made me want to read from the top right first. Then I started [s]hallucinating[/s] hearing and feeling things. Some voice singing over the thunder, I was on fire. Like someone just threw me into a furnace. [indent]Screaming too, but the burning was so much.[/indent] I'm fine. Nothing real. Didn't affect Root either. Is that because he didn't read it (He's a bird) or did it not happen to him because being made from my magic didn't matter? Marino had us build that Sympathic heart to connect us to the lab, is it different for him? [indent][indent](Shouldn't matter. [u]Ask her later[/u])[/indent][/indent] I think this place is building off memories. This forest feels like home with the trees. Then the burning all over. The sound of fighting. The building we’re in. Hope I’m wrong. Maybe ask the others? It smells nice in here. Worse places to hide out. [/color] [/hider]