Smoke & Mirrors: Circle Keeper Dreams Again
4/20/2006
Logfile from GarouMUSH.
[GMNote: Stacey GMed this dream sequence.]
[Somewhere on the Bawn again...]
As Circle Keeper rests, he sinks deeper into a more peaceful sense of being, the place of dreams. He stands within the Western bawn, not far from the Caern. A few animal trails cross his path, stag and fox from the look of them, and the scents of the forest, of wildlife, and hints of fellow Septmates drift along the cool breeze.
Circle Keeper begins his wandering off into the bawn, the wolf his typical irrationally happy self of his dreams. A quick and easy step over any clutter and a buoyant tail mark his posture, dominant and incredibly easy as he sniffs his way along.
A stag jumps into Circle Keeper's path, several feet ahead. It pauses there, turning its head to look at him, and then leaps off into the woods. Once the sound of its hoofs beating against the ground dies off, a feeling of watchfulness seems to emanate from the forest.
Well, he knows that /that/ is. It's dinner! Circle Keeper bows forward almost playfully, before springing forward in pursuit of his supper. He bounds along as fast his legs can carry him, and when it comes to food, it's as if the Uktena suddenly finds speed no one knew he had.
The stag really takes off as it is pursued, long, thin legs moving fast as it runs. The watchful feeling increases. Something is definitely watching the Uktena, following him... Pursuing him? Just who is the prey here?
It takes a few moments for the feeling of watchfulness to get past his elation, but once it does, Circle Keeper suddenly abandons the hunt all together. Freezing up, his nose raises to sniff at the air tepidly. This also does not go on for long, before he breaks out into a run to the east at full tilt.
The stag runs off to disappear within the woods, no longer destined to be food. As Circle Keeper sniffs, he catches the distinct scent of smoke, just a hint below the usual forest smells. Trees blur as he runs, heading toward the foothills, but still that feeling persists. He is being watched. And it's Not Good. A black figure appears just in the corner of his vision as he runs, perhaps running alongside the Uktena further out amongst the trees.
One danger at a time. Ciuraq keeps up his b-line eastward. If anything, he pushes himself harder and harder, trying to get to where-ever he's going as fast as possibly can.
The watchfulness, the scent, the figure, all continue with the Uktena, no matter how far and fast he runs. Finally, he breaks out from the trees into the foothills of the eastern mountains. The smoke seems to thicken within this clearing, as though it had somehow passed the Uktena and now turns back to trap him in its coils. A nauseous feeling grips the Uktena as he enters this new area.
Circle Keeper skids to a stop once he emerges from the forest, tail elevated high behind him. He sniffs furiously at the air, turning about as his eyes round and ears pull back. Through a toothy `grin,` he growls, searching for the source of the watched feeling.
The source eludes him. Try as he might, he cannot focus upon the source. Oh, it may /seem/ quite obvious where it is... that black figure curled in smoke, almost lupine in features, but try to actually /see/ it, and it disappears, only to reappear in the very edges of his vision opposite where it had been before.
Circle Keeper, like the repeating dreams of late, stands his ground. The white wolf digs in, tail elevated even further as he starts to growl all the louder. It's a familiar litany, like he hadn't learned anything from the previous dreams. His! His territory! Go go leave leave!
The Shadow Wolf actually growls this time. Or was it more of a harsh laugh? It appears before the Uktena then, the charcoal smoke twisting and wrapping around its body, eyes like mirrors staring him down.
Despite the unusual circumstances, the Uktena reacts in the manner so ingrained and instinctual, there's probably no thinking on his part in the reaction. His eyes flair wide, hackles rising as his back arches, and he stares back.
The shadow wolf continues to stare, its tail more relaxed, posture amused, unworried by the Uktena's aggression. The smoke continues to thicken, blotting out the sky, curling around Circle Keeper, and the sick feeling deepens as well. A small voice, though one that commands respect, murmurs from the smoke. *Guard.*
The presence of a spirit in his dream doesn't throw the Uktena for a loop, having dreamed of spirits before in the past. He instead presses his head forward, continuing to staredown the smoke wolf thing.
This staredown of sorts continues, with Circle Keeper essentially staring into his own eyes, as the other wolf's are mirrors. No matter how much attention is focused upon the wolf, the Uktena cannot fail to miss the large body of a snake that slithers through the smoke, encircling the area. It rears up its head, behind the wolf, and peers down at them menacingly with discolored eyes, eyes that contain no small amount of madness.
Circle Keeper's reaction is swift, the Uktena turning startled as he snake comes through. His body flows up to crinos in a spin, spear in hand as he finally rotates back again. It's released, the Uktena sending his weapon towards the snake overhead the other wolf like he was trying to down a large animal.
The Uktena's spear flies straight and true through the air, straight into the huge snake, and... straight through it? The spear should have stuck into the snake's thick hide, but instead is sticking out of Circle Keeper's own chest.
Circle Keeper can't help but be shocked when hit with his own weapon, tumbling down to the ground as the force of the throw hits him instead. The crinos can barely muster enough brain cells to think to pull it out of himself, so absolute is his surprise.
The dream does not pause for the Uktena to recover. The large snake opens its massive mouth, poison dripping from its fangs to stain the ground, and leans forward to swallow the shadow wolf whole. It is only then that it returns its attention to Circle Keeper, and this time the snake's eyes have been replaced with mirrors. It moves forward, tongue flicking out as it hovers overhead, mirror-eyes reflecting a perfect image of the Uktena, whose eyes have once again changed to match those of the shadow wolf. Mirrors.
For once, the Uktena doesn't reach up to tear out his own eyes. Instead, shifting to lupus, he turns and flees with all due speed back into the woods. His posture isn't so much horror as before, but more alarm.
As the Uktena flees, the images begin to blur, a haze filling his vision, until all is black, unmemorable, and the Uktena gradually awakens.
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