[Heart Game]

[aberdevine]

(♫)

For a moment, there is nothingness. The black void is all-pervasive. Perhaps more worrying, though, is the fact that you seem to be unable to move. It's less a sensation of restraint than it is the horrifying sensation that your own body has gone numb and refuses to obey you.

But then there's a voice, speaking to you. "Remember," it says with a sort of vicious glee, "a bird can only fly within its cage."

And the world explodes into light and color, and you can move.

((NOTE: your scissors remain scissors, but your tape has become an emerald-green ribbon.))

Comments

>> LOGIN: HIWA

[aberdevine]

(♫)

You find yourself standing in a forest, or at least an approximation of one contained within a square room. The ground is vinyl tile printed to look like dirt, moss, and grass. The walls and ceiling have been painted with trees, bushes, and sky. There are a few two-dimensional cardboard trees propped up in the corners.

In the middle of the room, there's something like a sideways hourglass. Two huge orbs of glass with wooden bases -- no, they're snowglobes, aren't they? Two giant snowglobes connected like conjoined twins. Each contains the same scenery: a thick forest on one side, and the outskirts of a shrine on the other. A torii gate stands in the middle of each.

The globe on the left shows winter. Snow falls gently from the sky, and there's evidence of children at play. Snowmen, a shogi board, and other games litter the border between the two halves.

The globe on the right shows summer. The toys are gone, and bloodstains cover the ground along the border instead.

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[forthefonofit]

I'm beginning to wonder about your childhood, Viridian, but I'm technically not a qualified psychologist. Yet.

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[aberdevine]

You have no idea, man.

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[forthefonofit]

[leans in close and gives the glass a testing tap on the winter side]

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[aberdevine]

It's cold... but not solid. Your finger passes through.

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[forthefonofit]

[gonna move a shogi piece to advance the game]

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[aberdevine]

You can't seem to reach, oddly enough...?

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[forthefonofit]

Hmm...

[pokes to see how far he can reach in]

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[aberdevine]

Well, you could probably step inside.

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[forthefonofit]

[oh it's that big]

[sure why not, let's go inspect up close]

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[aberdevine]

Once inside, the snowy forest stretches out around you. You can still make out the the outline of the snowglobe, but it's overlaid on a "real" scene.

Two kids are sitting and talking on the borderline.

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[forthefonofit]

[eyebrows raise and takes cover to listen in]

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[aberdevine]

It's hard to make out their exact words, since they're leaning close and talking quietly, but it's obvious that they're having fun.

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[forthefonofit]

[good for them??? i guess?? idk childhoods and frands]

[checks out the shogi game he tried to mess with earlier]

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[aberdevine]

It looks like one side's already won.

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[forthefonofit]

[bets it wasn't Viridian]

[pokes a piece out of place]

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[aberdevine]

Luckily for you, that doesn't seem to affect anything.

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[forthefonofit]

[well, nothing else to really do here, time to step out of this side and head into summer]

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[aberdevine]

You're immediately, almost physically overwhelmed by a memory.

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[forthefonofit]

[do we all just have terrible childhoods in Emerald, is that our secret team theme]

[gets a good look around at the bloody scene once the memory ends]

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[aberdevine]

It's... not pleasant. The dead bodies have been cleaned up, but for some reason, the blood remains. The whole area smells coppery.

There are a few objects on the ground: a shed snakeskin, a red thread (or is it only dyed that way thanks to the blood?), and something that glints under a pile of bloodstained leaves.

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[forthefonofit]

[eyebrows raise, crouches down to examine what's glinting without touching if he can see it clearly that way]

[if not, then brushing the leaves away to see]

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[aberdevine]

It looks like a pair of glasses. As you brush away the leaves, your hand barely grazes it, and a... pop up window appears?

Jump to hospital Y/N

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[forthefonofit]

Oh? Something a tad anachronistic perhaps.

[taps Y]

Re: >> LOGIN: HIWA

[aberdevine]

The world dissolves and reforms around you...