Hopefully a peaceful, restful sleep, she thought to herself as she drifted off into the green pastures of dreamland. A green tinged sick and rotten as she drew closer....
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(Sakkaku rolled a 3
)-
Reiko Ohta
- Posts: 383
- Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2023 1:01 am
No, Bad Dreams, Put Her Down (night, D2, Horrific Nightmares, Reiko Ohta)
Ohta's eyelids were extremely heavy. They had been all evening really. She was normally very punctual about sleeping, the sort of person to keep to a routine. So when no unusual sensations greeted her as she drifted off this time, she allowed herself a smile.
Hopefully a peaceful, restful sleep, she thought to herself as she drifted off into the green pastures of dreamland. A green tinged sick and rotten as she drew closer....
---------------------
(Sakkaku rolled a 3 )
Hopefully a peaceful, restful sleep, she thought to herself as she drifted off into the green pastures of dreamland. A green tinged sick and rotten as she drew closer....
---------------------
(Sakkaku rolled a 3
)Spider ๑ Bushi ๑ Scout ๑ Scholar ๑ Doctor ๑ Short ๑ Wiry ๑ Curious ๑ Archer
Honor - Untrustworthy | Status - 1.0 | Glory - 3.0 (Character Profile)
Has: daisho, daikyu and quiver, shoulder bag with testing items in it, occasionally accompanied by a pony named Kinboshi
Honor - Untrustworthy | Status - 1.0 | Glory - 3.0 (Character Profile)
Has: daisho, daikyu and quiver, shoulder bag with testing items in it, occasionally accompanied by a pony named Kinboshi
Re: No, Bad Dreams, Put Her Down (night, D2, Horrific Nightmares, Reiko Ohta)
Reiko finds herself in front of her family home, but something is wrong with it. The shadows are darker, and no line seems quite straight.
Approaching the house, it looks like it's been abandoned for years. The floorboards on the surrounding veranda are rotted and collapsed in places, the shoji screens are littered with hold. In the rafters above the front door are spiderwebs, but not natural ones. These aren't the sort of spiders her Clan is named for, that hunt down pests for the good of everyone. She feels them looking at her through eight tiny eyes each, glowing green pinpricks in the dark.
The front door is broken inward, as though an animal charged straight through it. She can see deep furrows of claws all the way through it.
Cautious, silent steps take her further inside. She hears shuffling and growling from the central room.
Opening the door to it, she was jumped by a monster. It fought savagely, but she manages to take it out easily. As easy a breathing.
Behind her, she hears a scream, turning to see her mother in the door. She looks around to see what she's screaming about and catches sight of the mirror in the room. In it is a monster; it's almost beautiful, in a way. Long, thin, almost delicate articulated limbs. A fluffy scarf-like fur around its neck. Wings draped like a pale, iridescent cloak behind her. Huge, bright eyes set in a small face that seemed to pierce any deception or falsehood.
And in the mirror below her lay the corpse of her father.
She looks down. Now she sees him with her true vision. The moth-like monster's head moves with her as she looks back at the mirror.
Approaching the house, it looks like it's been abandoned for years. The floorboards on the surrounding veranda are rotted and collapsed in places, the shoji screens are littered with hold. In the rafters above the front door are spiderwebs, but not natural ones. These aren't the sort of spiders her Clan is named for, that hunt down pests for the good of everyone. She feels them looking at her through eight tiny eyes each, glowing green pinpricks in the dark.
The front door is broken inward, as though an animal charged straight through it. She can see deep furrows of claws all the way through it.
Cautious, silent steps take her further inside. She hears shuffling and growling from the central room.
Opening the door to it, she was jumped by a monster. It fought savagely, but she manages to take it out easily. As easy a breathing.
Behind her, she hears a scream, turning to see her mother in the door. She looks around to see what she's screaming about and catches sight of the mirror in the room. In it is a monster; it's almost beautiful, in a way. Long, thin, almost delicate articulated limbs. A fluffy scarf-like fur around its neck. Wings draped like a pale, iridescent cloak behind her. Huge, bright eyes set in a small face that seemed to pierce any deception or falsehood.
And in the mirror below her lay the corpse of her father.
She looks down. Now she sees him with her true vision. The moth-like monster's head moves with her as she looks back at the mirror.
GM | Birb | Tiny | Floofy | Architect of Horror | Experienced 3
Honor: All of it, Status: Yes, Glory: Very yes
"Want to talk about dreams and dreamers? Sensory input gives the illusion of consciousness. You are all just dreams made of flesh. I used to be too. Now I'm flesh made of dream. You can too, Chuck. You can too."
Honor: All of it, Status: Yes, Glory: Very yes
"Want to talk about dreams and dreamers? Sensory input gives the illusion of consciousness. You are all just dreams made of flesh. I used to be too. Now I'm flesh made of dream. You can too, Chuck. You can too."
-
Reiko Ohta
- Posts: 383
- Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2023 1:01 am
Re: No, Bad Dreams, Put Her Down (night, D2, Horrific Nightmares, Reiko Ohta)
Ohta fought the visions, the... nightmares. They were strange, hard to follow. She'd never known her father, and she had never seen the monster before. There was something false, something she had to fight.
But she couldn't. There was a curiosity, an opportunity. Was this a way to... no. There was nothing to learn. Then why was she drawn like a moth to a flame, to the mirror and to seeing more.
No matter how much it frightened her.
---------------------------
A more generous Sakkaku with a 15 is not enough.
But she couldn't. There was a curiosity, an opportunity. Was this a way to... no. There was nothing to learn. Then why was she drawn like a moth to a flame, to the mirror and to seeing more.
No matter how much it frightened her.
---------------------------
A more generous Sakkaku with a 15 is not enough.
Spider ๑ Bushi ๑ Scout ๑ Scholar ๑ Doctor ๑ Short ๑ Wiry ๑ Curious ๑ Archer
Honor - Untrustworthy | Status - 1.0 | Glory - 3.0 (Character Profile)
Has: daisho, daikyu and quiver, shoulder bag with testing items in it, occasionally accompanied by a pony named Kinboshi
Honor - Untrustworthy | Status - 1.0 | Glory - 3.0 (Character Profile)
Has: daisho, daikyu and quiver, shoulder bag with testing items in it, occasionally accompanied by a pony named Kinboshi
Re: No, Bad Dreams, Put Her Down (night, D2, Horrific Nightmares, Reiko Ohta)
A father that may or may not even be hers, and yet the dream demanded belief. A home that she didn't know, and yet felt familiar. A mother that, now that she looked at her, also wasn't hers, but her heart felt the attachment. Felt it so strongly that she began to cry black ichor that stained her snow-white coat.
Madness.
The mother-but-not-mother whipped out her sword faster than any human could blink. She was yelling something, but she couldn't hear it, or it made no sense.
Her eyes lit on a scroll locked away in a lattice-front cabinet.
The pull. It called her here. Knowledge.
Reiko reached out and swatted at her mother, who tried to scream, the blood bubbling and foaming out of her mouth as she choked on it. She didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was the knowledge. It had called her here. She always knew where it was.
The Dream had told her.
Madness.
The mother-but-not-mother whipped out her sword faster than any human could blink. She was yelling something, but she couldn't hear it, or it made no sense.
Her eyes lit on a scroll locked away in a lattice-front cabinet.
The pull. It called her here. Knowledge.
Reiko reached out and swatted at her mother, who tried to scream, the blood bubbling and foaming out of her mouth as she choked on it. She didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was the knowledge. It had called her here. She always knew where it was.
The Dream had told her.
GM | Birb | Tiny | Floofy | Architect of Horror | Experienced 3
Honor: All of it, Status: Yes, Glory: Very yes
"Want to talk about dreams and dreamers? Sensory input gives the illusion of consciousness. You are all just dreams made of flesh. I used to be too. Now I'm flesh made of dream. You can too, Chuck. You can too."
Honor: All of it, Status: Yes, Glory: Very yes
"Want to talk about dreams and dreamers? Sensory input gives the illusion of consciousness. You are all just dreams made of flesh. I used to be too. Now I'm flesh made of dream. You can too, Chuck. You can too."
-
Reiko Ohta
- Posts: 383
- Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2023 1:01 am
Re: No, Bad Dreams, Put Her Down (night, D2, Horrific Nightmares, Reiko Ohta)
That's right. Knowledge. That's what she came here for. It was what the Spider needed. All she needed to do, all she should do, is give EVERYTHING for that goa...
She remembered something suddenly. Something her Spider mother had once told her. Reiko Subaru had always been the more demanding of her parents, the more distant, the more cold. Not that she ever doubted Subaru loved her as a daughter, but where her Kirin mother showed it more outwardly, Subaru was private about her affection and approvals, keeping them behind closed doors and in small gestures; A small nod, a touch on the top of the head, an extra piece of mochi on her plate with a meal unacknowledged, an offer to teach her something new and exciting.
But in this haze of blood and ichor and broken silver, the soft spoken woman's voice came to her and she remembered what Subaru called her most important lesson; That the only thing worse than not giving your all for your Empire and Clan... was giving your ALL for your Empire and Clan.
"Ohta, I know you are not as young as you once were, and you have learned much with Hisomu-sensei at the dojo. You will graduate in one week, and soon you will leave this house, to do me and Wakana-san proud. But if there is any one thing you must remember, out of all the things you have learned in this household, this town, it is this; We are all humans, Ohta. Fragile, sinful, foolish, and proud. We can do amazing things when we put our mind to things, when we give our all and then some. We can push past limitations we thought we had, grow and fly and amaze even the Heavens with what we can do. I know you can achieve those heights, that you will give your all. But do not knowing when to stop, when to rest, when to ask for help, when to admit you are lost... that is much more important than knowing when to push yourself."
"Daughter, you were once a child who could not walk, and one day you may be an old woman who is retired. And between that you do not stop being human, corruptible and imperfect like we all are. A true samurai remembers these things, and it is not a weakness, it is a strength. If you strive for perfection, to know all and do all, to live up to every wish of those around you, you will lose yourself in the process, like a hungry spider who chokes because she tries to eat a dozen flies at once. Be wise, Ohta, and seek Wisdom above Knowledge. I know I have no room to talk because of my own failings, but I have learned much because of my mistakes, and I do not wish to see you repeat them."
When the words finished, ended with the memory of both of her parents hugging her, the scene was gone. The blood, the foam, the pounding in her head that drove her.
She stopped, gave in to sleep, and just let herself rest. For the first time since arriving in Blue Lotus Village.
----------------------------
TN25 for final check, rolled 30.
She remembered something suddenly. Something her Spider mother had once told her. Reiko Subaru had always been the more demanding of her parents, the more distant, the more cold. Not that she ever doubted Subaru loved her as a daughter, but where her Kirin mother showed it more outwardly, Subaru was private about her affection and approvals, keeping them behind closed doors and in small gestures; A small nod, a touch on the top of the head, an extra piece of mochi on her plate with a meal unacknowledged, an offer to teach her something new and exciting.
But in this haze of blood and ichor and broken silver, the soft spoken woman's voice came to her and she remembered what Subaru called her most important lesson; That the only thing worse than not giving your all for your Empire and Clan... was giving your ALL for your Empire and Clan.
"Ohta, I know you are not as young as you once were, and you have learned much with Hisomu-sensei at the dojo. You will graduate in one week, and soon you will leave this house, to do me and Wakana-san proud. But if there is any one thing you must remember, out of all the things you have learned in this household, this town, it is this; We are all humans, Ohta. Fragile, sinful, foolish, and proud. We can do amazing things when we put our mind to things, when we give our all and then some. We can push past limitations we thought we had, grow and fly and amaze even the Heavens with what we can do. I know you can achieve those heights, that you will give your all. But do not knowing when to stop, when to rest, when to ask for help, when to admit you are lost... that is much more important than knowing when to push yourself."
"Daughter, you were once a child who could not walk, and one day you may be an old woman who is retired. And between that you do not stop being human, corruptible and imperfect like we all are. A true samurai remembers these things, and it is not a weakness, it is a strength. If you strive for perfection, to know all and do all, to live up to every wish of those around you, you will lose yourself in the process, like a hungry spider who chokes because she tries to eat a dozen flies at once. Be wise, Ohta, and seek Wisdom above Knowledge. I know I have no room to talk because of my own failings, but I have learned much because of my mistakes, and I do not wish to see you repeat them."
When the words finished, ended with the memory of both of her parents hugging her, the scene was gone. The blood, the foam, the pounding in her head that drove her.
She stopped, gave in to sleep, and just let herself rest. For the first time since arriving in Blue Lotus Village.
----------------------------
TN25 for final check, rolled 30.
Spider ๑ Bushi ๑ Scout ๑ Scholar ๑ Doctor ๑ Short ๑ Wiry ๑ Curious ๑ Archer
Honor - Untrustworthy | Status - 1.0 | Glory - 3.0 (Character Profile)
Has: daisho, daikyu and quiver, shoulder bag with testing items in it, occasionally accompanied by a pony named Kinboshi
Honor - Untrustworthy | Status - 1.0 | Glory - 3.0 (Character Profile)
Has: daisho, daikyu and quiver, shoulder bag with testing items in it, occasionally accompanied by a pony named Kinboshi