bakerstreet | Pines all roarin' on the heights

Entry tags:

[meme] au

Pines all roarin' on the heights

the enchanted forest meme

Everyone loves a good trip in the woods… but there are some nights when it’s a little too foggy and that owl’s hoot echoes a bit too much. Then again, you might be lucky, and everything is bright and cheerful with candy canes sticking up out of the ground. That’s when you know you’re not in any ordinary huge clump of trees.

Follow the yellow brick road and don’t go off picking any flowers. You never know what you might find… or what might find you.

WARNING: Depending upon what you plot out, some things could be squicky for some people. Be sure to ask ahead with the person you're tagging if you have any doubts or questions!

directions

1. Comment with your character, series, preferences, etc in the subject.
2. Roll a number between 1-15 with the RGN for a prompt.
3. Reply to other comments and play the scenario out!
4. Double check that you didn't forget the map!

prompts

1. GHOSTS » Are the ghosts friendly? Or do they want to scare you stiff? Are they under a curse, or are they just in need of some good avenging? Maybe you should turn back…

2. TALKING ANIMALS » Sometimes this can be charming, but animals are fickle creatures, and if you’re not polite, they could send you in the wrong direction if you’re lost. Otherwise, be fascinated and wonder how this could be scientifically possible.

3. JUNGLE GUY » Just imagine… somehow, he got lost or left in a jungle and the local natives or animals raised him. He is an expert at communicating with the animals, fighting off the one that don’t listen, and always seem to be saving outsiders.

4. BIG BAD WOLF » One of the most classic of all clichés, someone is just waiting for you to let down your guard to snatch you. Of course, you don’t have to get eaten. They might just want to hug you or stop you from getting eaten by something else.

5. HAPPILY ENCHANTED » Birds are singing, the sunlight is shining. Princesses are happily playing with unicorns and the woods are made of candy. It’s a delightful setting, and you can just hear the children’s music playing in the background.

6. GIANT SIZED » When they told you to be careful in these woods, they weren’t kidding! Even the smallest of insects can be dangerous now that they’re the size of horses! Luckily for you, there are lots of hiding spots!

7. PASSING THROUGH » You didn’t want any trouble. You just wanted to take a shortcut and get on your way, but shortcuts often lead to trouble, don’t they?

8. FAIR FOLK » From fairies to elves to those evil gnomes you want to kick around, there are all sorts of legends of magical creatures living in forests. Do you believe? You just might want to, because they love to pull tricks on humans.

9. THE MAZE » One of the worst situations to be in, truly. You made a left turn here, and a right turn there, and came back to where you started. Something or someone had put you in a maze, but why? And can you manage to find your way out?

10. HIDDEN CIVILIZATION » No way. You found it » the lost civilization of something or other! This place has slipped into myth and legend, and there has been no proof of its existence, and here it is! But will you be welcomed with open arms? Or will they hold you here in fear of you telling someone about them?

11. WITCH’S HUT » Don’t eat the décor, don’t accept any apples, and don’t drink any drinks that are fizzling or smell weird. Be polite, and follow any other fairy tale advice you can think of. Witches are evil more than they are good, and if they won’t turn you into a toad, they just might use you in an evil plot or eat you.

12. ON A QUEST » While the woods might be dangerous and scary, you are determined to go through them and get that magical herb or fight that ogre. Someone’s life depends upon it. Will you succeed, or be another one of the many past failures?

13. NOT WELCOMED HERE » Turn back! Go away! We warned you! Private property! Why aren’t you listening to these signs? Okay, don’t say we didn’t warn you about the trigger-happy hermit or the dragon lurking in the caves up ahead!

14. THE OLD CASTLE » There have long been tales of a castle that disappears with the rising of the sun or magically changes locations and you have stumbled upon it. Will you get trapped inside, or will you free someone from an ancient curse?

15. WILDCARD » Is there something we missed? Did you want to pick your own adventure or mix something together? Go for it!

POSTED BY luuupin

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ he is a swamp witch okay this iS HIS JAM. ota to everything, assumed CR totally good with me ]

[ Dave always wants to help. He's also always up for a change of scenery, and some adventure. So when Sage mentioned needing to go out to some distant woods to collect some something-or-other, he volunteered to come along. Safety in numbers and all that.

...He's a city kid, born and raised. "Woods" conjures up ideas of spooky places and weird sounds and shadows.

He would so, so much rather be dealing with that than what's going on right now.

Things are... weirdly sparkly. Every animal they pass looks up at them with impossibly huge doting eyes. He keeps hearing playful laughter, the sound of old-school skirts swishing. And who the hell is singing a cheerful tune? ]

...Do you have a bad feeling about this? Because I have a bad feeling about this.

[ When he realized that he was going to have to go into those woods to get the last ingredient for the potion that he had been working on for the last week, Sage was more than a little annoyed. If it were something else, something that he had spend less time and energy on (and this could potentially be really awesome for him within the community, if he figured this out), he would have dumped the damn potion into the river and would have been done with it.

Alas, he couldn't do that, he had to go travelling and he had to go into that goddamed forest that he hated more than he hated soggy bannock.

At least Dave was coming with him, though he should probably have warned him ahead of time about the potential, uh.... shit that could go down.

Picking over a few rocks and walking along a fallen log, Sage snorts and looks back at his friend, wry smile on his lips.] Disturbance in the force for you there, young Skywalker?

[ More high singing from the woods beyond them, Sage ignores it.] Just ignore it, and ignore any overly fluffy creatures, okay? Just-- look for the damn flower I told you about okay?

Being this far from the city is a disturbance to me.

[ He's kidding.

Mostly.

But he gingerly picks his way over moss-covered ground, dodging a tree root. ]

Define "overly" fluffy? The most wildlife I've seen lately was the pizza rat at the subway station.

How are you dealing without Wifi and Starbuck there? I mean, you aren't gonna go into shock or something are you?

[ He is teasing, but there is a hint of honest curiosity there. Not that he thinks shock is gonna happen, just that-- well, this is rather far outside what David usually considered a comfort zone, and while Sage felt completely at home in woods and swamps where there was more magic than anything else, he knew that it wasn't the same for everyone.]

Mmm, anything that looks like it would be in a children's TV show really, you think they are cute and fluffy but if you get too close-- [ He drags a finger across his throat. ] The fluff and gunny eyes hide the teeth.

I have a personal hotspot, unlimited data, and I had a latte before I came to pick you up, so don't you worry about me.

[ He flashes Sage a bright smile; he's so obnoxiously affable sometimes that it's hard to tell if he's being earnest or being a troll. ]

All right, so if I see something that grossly cute, I should kick it? Sounds about right for the way I usually feel about such things.

.... you fucking would, ohmyfuck.

[ He just sounds impressed despite his words. Because honestly, if there was every the potential to be a city witch in the most base sense, David would embody it.]

I mean, kick it yeah. Or find a way to light it on fire, kicking it might bring you too close to it to escape quick enough. For once, you being a heartless, city bastard will come in handy.

[ The words are said with a face shot over his shoulder as Sage jumps easily from the fallen log to a rock, eyes scanning the area for the pale blue flower that he was in search of.]

I was the starting kicker for my high school and college football teams.

[ Because of course he was. Everything about him save the cable access psychic gig screams handsome, successful, All-American boy.

He pauses, squinting at the horizon, the line of trees ahead of them. ]

Something's moving through there. Coming our way.

...still, sometimes just touching the fuckers is enough to screw yourself over. Be careful, okay?

[ He might act like a jerk a lot of the time, but he really does care. And there are things in these woods that he wouldn't subject his worst enemy to (or his parents, there are things in these woods that even his parents don't deserve). Sage has gone back to looking around when he snaps his attention back to David, then over to the far side where he was indicating.

Shit.

While there was a chance that whatever it was in the woods was totally harmless, there was also just as much of a chance of it being not harmless. So, in a quick move, he stumbles along the log, wraps a hand around David and hauls him down to hide behind a tree and rock.]

If it's a fucking unicorn, we run.

Understood.

[ David is level-headed enough to know when he doesn't know something, and to heed someone else's warning.

Or ask, as the case may be: ]

...Why? I thought they were nice?

[ Someone had better call animal control, because there is no way birds are ever supposed to be that cheerful, Stiles thinks, slouching his way through the woods.

It's supposed to be fall, but there's no hint of it anywhere, what's left of the storm earlier dripping off of bright green leaves and soaking the hems of his jeans. At this point, he's sure he's lost.

Taking off after that shadow hadn't been his brightest idea, though man, he would've sworn that it was Allison, for all that she was dead. (Chasing hallucinations wouldn't be all that better.) ]

[For some reason, Five's comm isn't working, nothing but static in her ear each time she tries to reach her crew mates, to tell them she's heading into the forest because she thought she'd spotted someone familiar. And it does occur to her that seeing One (or Jace Corso - they do, after all, share a face) out here, right now, is next to impossible, because he's dead. They're both dead.

There's also the fact that, the further she goes into this forest, the more certain she is she's been transported somewhere completely different from where she'd started this journey. It's bright and sunny and idyllic. She could have sworn it had been misty, drizzling, gloomy before. And now... now she's not certain how to get back.

After what seems like hours of walking on her own amidst the echoing melody of singing birds, she spots a glimpse of someone, walking among the trees themselves, and it doesn't look like someone familiar this time, but she can't help wondering... So she calls out as she approaches.]

One? Is... Is that you?

[ Well, at least he isn't alone here. He turns towards where he thought Five's voice had come from. It being unfamiliar is actually assuring, doubly so when he's sees her. He waves, like a dork.

He wasn't sure that he'd heard right at first. Because one? That's not a name. (Though how much room does he have to talk, really?) ]

I am not the guy you're looking for.

[ He doesn't try to get any closer himself, waiting. It's great to see someone here too, but these woods are weird. The birds are odd, and there doesn't seem to be any other kind of animal life around so he's sort of wary, even if nothing about her seems off. ]

Tell me One's a nickname, it just seems cruel, otherwise.

[Indeed, he's not the guy she was looking for, but the way he says it quirks her lips in an amused smile for a moment.]

Or are you the guy I'm looking for, but you're just attempting to use Jedi mind tricks on me?

[Once she's face to face with him, she gives another glance around to their strange surroundings.]

It's... sort of a nickname? But more like a name that was given out of necessity and then it just... stuck. Uhm. Same with mine, actually. I'm Five.

[ Stiles brightens at that, relaxing slightly. At least Five recognizes a good thing when she hears it, unlike some people he could name who a) don't appreciate the glory of the Star Wars universe, or b) have never seen any of the films. ]

Mitochondria might have been the inspiration for midi-chlorians, but as far as I know they're still just the powerhouse of the cell. [ He wiggles his fingers. ] No force powers here.

[ Magic though, is debateable. But who brings that up out of the blue.

The trees around them are as green and drippy as they always were. Too bright. ]

It may be convenient, but it's a shitty naming scheme. [ Also calling people numbers just doesn't sit right to him. It's so... clinical. ] Do you go by anything else?

[Stiles if you only knew: the last Star Wars film that Five saw was Star Wars 36. But she won't give you spoilers.

Weirdly enough, it's the other names that Five has ever gone by that she finds... impersonal? Or, at least, they don't feel like her anymore. They don't feel right. She's not Emily Kolburn anymore, she's not Das, because she doesn't have those memories. And she's certainly not Cassandra or Apple, because they were only ever fictional. Five is who she is now.

She shrugs.]

If Five doesn't work for you, any name will do. It doesn't really matter. Just, you know, preferably nothing insulting?

[She'd rather have a new name for a new person, not use one that no longer applies to her.

It's that or Five, Stiles, these are your options.]

Have you seen anyone else around, by the way?

[ Good to know that Star Wars will never die. Even if he wouldn't recognize the characters. ]

Honestly, I'm not the best at names. [ But the number thing really won't work for him - even sports jerseys have a player's name plastered on them. ]

Blue works? [ After her hair, ] Or Fiver. But that movie was terrifying. [ Rabbits aren't supposed to be terrifying. ]

You're the first living person I've seen since I got here. [ Stiles kicks at the dirt, covering his own uncertainty over why he's here. This is real, he's checked. ]

[Five has no idea what movie he's talking about, but Three calls her Fiver already, so that's always a possibility. However, she gives some more thought to the number, and the word pops into her mind in different languages, languages she didn't even know she knew. Not that this is the first time random information has come to the surface in her mind without the memory of ever learning it.

Quinque. Latin. Five or multiple of five.]

Quinn, then? Quinn should work.

[She frowns when he uses the phrase "living person," and if she hadn't seen a vision of One come in here she probably wouldn't have given it a second thought. It's only because she's already thinking of someone not alive that it occurs to her to ask, head slightly tilted.]

...But you have seen someone not living?

[ Watership Down. The animated version, something he would not recommend for small children. ]

Yeah, that'll do. [ Which reminds him... ] I'm Stiles.

And uh, maybe. [ He runs a hand through his hair. ] I'm not sure the who applies.

[While maybe if she'd been from the 21st century she'd have some comment on his name and the fact that it's rare, if not unusual, with where Five's from? She can't really talk, since she's run across names like Nyx, Solara, and Tobar and not really thought much of it.]

Stiles. Okay.

[Well. That answer only further piques her curiosity.]

What do you mean?

[ The first two don't seem too bad, the last one is harder to place. ]

It wouldn't be the first time I saw something that isn't there, or that isn't supposed to be possible. Dead people don't exactly get up and walk around again.

[ He frowns. ]

The how is a bigger question; like, what's gone wrong this time?

Oh. I thought I saw... I mean, I'd been told... That One was dead, too. But I followed him in here? Or I thought.. I did...

[So they'd both seen something that shouldn't have been possible. She's curious about his apparently having encountered something similar before, though.]

Okay... Well, either we both hallucinated for... Some reason. Or, someone's made some androids to look like dead people?

[She shrugs, clearly not thinking it's a super likely scenario, but it's all she's got for now. Certainly more logical than ghosts, right?]

I know technology is good, but is it that good?

[ Not that he had gotten the best look at 'Allison'. He'd just... assumed. How many other brunettes did he know who could move like that? The werewolves tended to be more direct, and well, he never really friends with other students who shared those features. ]

You would need a projector. [ Which could go where?

He scratches his nose, uncomfortable again. Hallucinations won't ever be a comfortable topic. ]

I don't know, do you ever feel guilty about the fact that he's dead?