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Post by Lorelei on Nov 1, 2022 7:39:54 GMT
"It is because of our shared blood. Take someone capable of besting us and move him to a different Shadow and his special advantage disappears. Take one of us to a different Shadow and we retain those advantages that make us superior. Those of the Blood are the only reliable yardstick we have to test ourselves against," Lorelei explains.
The current tap-tap-tap of the blades against each other near their tips indicates a certain playfulness, hardly a serious testing...
"Unless what?" she echoes in a halfway serious tone. "However lucid, I ~am~ dreaming. Are you certain this isn't a dream of a dive? Have you tried to deliberately change anything? Here, for all we know, dreaming might not even be necessary to shape-shift an object."
Tap-tap-tap... .
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Nov 1, 2022 13:43:10 GMT
"According to you, you are asleep and I am in your dream. And your friend over there," Cody nods towards the Kraken, "might be pulling some strings. However as far as I am aware, I am awake."
"You see, the Abyss does strange and violent things to a person. Physically, and mentally." Cody absentmindedly continues to fence with Lorelei. Not exerting himself. Thrust, parry, repost... More like a formal dance than a dual.
"From my perspective, I was in the lower part of the Courts of Chaos. I dove off my pier; off DaggerWays and into the Abyss. I fly, fall, swim, float, bounce; both gently and roughly. Without experiencing it for yourself, it's difficult to explain all the sensations and actions. Something analogues to being put in a barrel and rolled down a hill into a raging river and over waterfalls. Meanwhile, you are being assaulted by an assortment of Pit creatures that would like you as their guest of honour and main course. All of this happens at once while sometimes there's nothing happening at all.... In order to survive the madness, my mind patches over the unfathomable chaos with pictures of things that I can comprehend. A sort of coping mechanism."
"Look at me, I'm rambling..."
"Anyway, today, my experience as I moved through the Abyss was that of being on a Flux Ship. The Flux Ship was torn apart around me and I suddenly found myself in freefall in the hard vacuum of space surrounded by dead crewmates and debre of the ship."
Cody pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts and tries to decipher the events. "In all likelihood, what really happened was that I was attacked by Pit Demons, was injured and I killed them. My mind just processed the trauma as a shipwreck and them as the dead floating around me...
Matter of factly, Cody continues his narrative. "I ShapeShifted myself to heal the worst of my wounds and shape my body to survive in hard vacuum. I don't think I lost consciousness at all. So, anyway, as that was happening, the Flux Ship wreck somehow transformed into an anachronistic wooden sailing ship - shipwreck. Hard vacuum transformed into churning seawater, which caught me off guard and I had to ShapeShift to this new environment. And that's about the time I found you. And the Kraken."
Cody continues to dance with Lorelei as their clashing steel keeps time.
"And, as I said... I think I said, that the Abyss touches everything. So, somehow, it has brought me to your dreamworld. Me awake, and you sleeping."
With dancing in mind, Cody does a pirouette and slight bow as he continues the sword dance. "Oh, and Shadow? I don't have much use for Shadow. It would only take me away from the Abyss and my search. So, the only Shifting I do, is to myself. Or what Shifting the Abyss does to me."
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Post by Lorelei on Nov 8, 2022 14:48:22 GMT
"I simply thought that if you could shape objects, doing so might increase their intrinsic value and thus make life easier for you," replies Lorelei. "As for shifting myself or anything around me, it is but a thought in the dream-world. I also know that in the waking-world some Tritons and some Rebmans are shifters, but I have never had reason to try it myself... at least not in any obvious way..."
As Cody twirls, Lorelei slips inside the reach of his blade and slides an arm around him, arching backward under his bow and pulling them close upon their rise. The feel of skin-on-skin is electric, and gazing into her eyes lends him an inkling of the true power of Rebman women. It gives him insight into how their shadows gave rise to the legends of sirens.
In the most solemn of tones, Lorelei tells him, "I would never suggest you abandon the search for those you love..." .
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Nov 8, 2022 18:06:25 GMT
"Oh, I ShapeShift my body, but I also shift shapes with my hands... That is to say, objects that I find in and out of the Abyss. I'm somewhat crafty that I can repair things or make them into something else. Metal and stones into jewelry and art. Inanimate things. So I increase their intrinsic value and get a little more profit than what most of the other Pit-Divers get for just selling the raw materials that they find. If that's what you mean."
"I could make a living doing that, with or without the Abyss. I miss being home, on Station, where I could repair and build machines and such. But other than basic primitive mechanisms, nothing else works in the Chaos environment. Unless it is also endowed with magic or some other primal power. And, none of that works in the harsher environment inside the Abyss."
Cody is surprised when Lorelei slips under his guard and embraces him. "Oh! Erm.." The unexpected intimacy causes Cody to blush. Lorelei's youngness is belied by this mature maneuver.
"Oh, no... I never thought you were suggesting that I should give up searching."
"And as sad as that is, I also find joy, like meeting you..."
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Post by Lorelei on Nov 14, 2022 9:18:10 GMT
Lorelei gives Cody a coy little smile as he blushes, her chin dipping slightly as her eyes take on a smoldering half-lidded expression that would send lesser men scattering in a panic.
"It is good to know that your search has redeeming moments," she says, leaning just a little closer to plant a kiss upon his cheek.
"But if she were here, now, she would tell you that you are still letting your guard down..." .
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Nov 14, 2022 18:02:04 GMT
Cody blushes harder. "You do disarm me. But I'd sooner throw myself on my own blade than see you harmed fair maiden."
He slips out of her embrace and propels himself out of her reach. As graceful a retreat as he can manage.
"And... We are cousins after all." A cold dousing to squelch Cody's rising heat.
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Post by Lorelei on Nov 15, 2022 7:11:47 GMT
"And since I cannot have you for that very reason, the game is Chase-The-Boy, not Catch-If-I-Can...," Lorelei says with a widening smile. "Of course, in Shadow the roles are usually reversed..."
"I envy you this time. When I awake, I will have only memories of all this, and memories can fade. You, on the other hand, will have whatever you collect to keep the memories fresh, provide you escape before my awakening unravels this place..."
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Nov 16, 2022 2:09:37 GMT
"Some day we will meet again in your waking hours. I have your token." Cody smiles as he holds up the coin Lorelei tossed to him earlier. "I'll keep it as a momento for both of us. When I see you I will show it to you to jostle your memory."
Cody notices that Lorelei's eyelids are beginning to droop. That if she falls asleep in this realm it means that she is waking up in her own. He tucks the coin into his sporran and withdraws a length of turquoise silken string. It takes a very sharp knife and a lot of effort to cut a short piece which he ties around Lorelei's wrist. "On the chance that you can carry this through from your slumber to wakefulness. It's a spider silk from inside the Abyss. It's very tough. Collect enough of it and you can knit it into armour."
Cody gives Lorelei a hug and proceeds to collect the ship's bell and some other items from the wreckage. Using the silken string to tie them together so that he can haul them back through the Abyss.
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Post by Lorelei on Nov 26, 2022 18:01:07 GMT
Lorelei helps Cody collect interesting items. She even finds a small, heavy, padlocked chest made of an unfamiliar wood for him to take... a treasure inside?
Despite her best efforts Lorelei is soon yawning and looking a bit diffused around the edges... .
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Nov 26, 2022 22:21:39 GMT
Cody sees that Lorelei is literally beginning to fade. With her leaving, the relative safety of her bubble will go too. He gathers up and finishes securing what he can before the maelstrom of Abyssal Chaos sweeps in. "Bright morning, sweet cousin." Cody says as he gives her a kiss on the forehead and she fades away.
ShapeShifting quickly to adapt to whatever the Abyss throws at him Cody shields himself and begins his accent (Deccent?) back to the Courts of Chaos.
After a long and exhausting journey, he pulls himself onto the familiar pier. He is greeted with some helping hands that guide him into their cave.
Joanna gives Cody a jagged toothed smile and hands him a big bowl of stew and a bottle of beer which Cody gratefully accepts. He shovels the food in quickly as Joanna comments, "Someone's gotten quite a large haul this turning.
Old Bob gives a grunt and pokes at the small treasure chest, "What we got here?"
Joanna snarls, "Leave it be. Can't you see Cody's had a time of it hauling it in. He'll open it up after he's fed and rested."
Silent Bob grins and nods while Old Bob frowns.
Cody finishes his meal and dozes off to sleep.
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Post by Lorelei on Nov 27, 2022 9:18:17 GMT
As Cody sleeps, he dreams. Whatever had linked them hours ago was not completely severed. Looking at her Cody sees that Lorelei has aged at least a year in the short time it had taken for him to reach his dreams.
She is sitting on a padded window-seat looking outward at the glow beyond the grill covered window as she brushes her long black hair. Her hair floats majestically in the liquid environment. On a small table next to her, the segment of spider silk he had given her lays coiled on a silver tray beside her combs and hairpins.
Her brush stops in mid-stroke. As if sensing his presence Lorelei sits up straighter, turning to look about the room and failing to see him. He was a ghost to her reality, immaterial and perhaps inaudible. Physically, there was one possible exception to test; he quickly discovers he can move the piece of spider silk he had given her.... .
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Nov 27, 2022 20:31:42 GMT
Cody is surprised to find Lorelei in his dream. Or, maybe not.. The reversal is certainly interesting. The dreamer and the dream.
Cody clears his throat, trying to gently get Lorelei's attention without startling her, but without success. "Hello Lorelei." ... No response ...
Looking around the chamber, it is more or less what Cody expects to find from the stories and descriptions of Rebma. Reaching out to touch the furnishings, Cody realizes that he is an apparition. An ethereal form. It doesn't feel right to be a voyeur and Cody considers leaving when he sees the piece of Arachniform Silk on Lorelei's silver tray amid her other possessions.
Cody is thrilled to discover that the Silk transitioned through the veil of dreams and that she still kept it among other valuables. Reaching out without thinking, Cody touches the Silk and makes contact! Lifting the strand Cody considers what to do: How to communicate? He puts the Silk down for a moment.
'Would it be too weird? Too frightening to wave the Silk before her eyes? Make it coil on the tray and slither around like a serpent? Maybe try to spell out a greeting with it?' Cody ponders these things while Lorelei continues to brush out her hair while gazing out her window.
Suddenly Lorelei straightened her back and looks about her chamber. Maybe she sensed that the Silk had moved or sensed Cody's presence after all.
Gently, on an impulse, Cody carefully lifts the strand of thick silk and gingerly drapes it over Lorelei's wrist like he had in the Kraken's grotto.
"Please don't be afraid."
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Post by Lorelei on Nov 29, 2022 7:03:56 GMT
Lorelei stare blankly at the thick strand of spider-silk draped across her wrist. She lays the brush on the silver tray in order to free her other hand so that she can gently stroke spider-silk. "Cody?"
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Nov 29, 2022 13:25:19 GMT
"Hello Lorelei." Cody said again. Not sure if she could hear him or not.
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Post by Lorelei on Nov 30, 2022 9:16:47 GMT
"Cody, I think the spider-silk may be acting as a link or bridge, just not a very good one. I'm going to try something new that may help."
Lorelei begins concentrating. Cody can feel the gathering power... and then he sees a slowly pinwheeling icon appear in the air between them. Between stories and things he has seen in person, it looks something like a cross between Pattern and Logrus, an inner spiral and outter tendrils. .
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