[a heart.]

[antreegonist]

There's a moment of nothing but light and sensation. Someone's looking you over and the scrutiny prickles and burns – it's nearly a physical pain, like fine little hooks digging past your skin, into the very meat of you. I know who you are, it says, and I know what you are, and that you don't have any business here --

“But you do,” says Mithos behind you. He's a tired, steady voice in your ear, a light hand on your shoulder. “I don't know what Dream's thinking, but everyone is welcome here in my heart; just keep in mind it's a real mess right now.”

Your vision clears.

((assume your characters wandered in here through a dream. also join #ihateyouihateyouiwanttocuddle on irc if you can!))

Comments

Re: [roots]

[edgeofjustice]

Mithos, seriously— I'm going in. Can you wait and finish this later?

Re: [roots]

[antreegonist]

...apparently not...

Re: [roots]

[edgeofjustice]

Fine, don't say I didn't try.

[I am going to try and brain you

like an absolute winner]

Re: [roots]

[antreegonist]

YOU HAVE KO'D A MITHOS

CONGRATULATIONS

Re: [roots]

[edgeofjustice]

[this was 100% the right course of action.

ponders for a minute before grabbing him and flinging him over a shoulder]

Field trip it is.

Re: [roots]

[antreegonist]

He kind of . . . vanishes?

The box is now in your inventory, though! It's still open.

Re: [roots]

[edgeofjustice]

[oh 8|

de-inventories it long enough to close it]

Huh.

Re: [roots]

[antreegonist]

A flash of pure rage hits you when you touch it -- you want to destroy it -- destroy everything --

But you can close the box when that fades.

Re: [roots]

[edgeofjustice]

...

[shakes it off and heads for the dark tree]

Re: [roots]

[antreegonist]

You pass quickly through the roots and approach the trunk of the black tree. It's so large that this close, you can see that climbing it the normal way is inconceivable; instead, the bark itself forms a rough, ridged path up, more than wide enough to walk on. It looks pretty twisty, if you glance up; the jagged wound in the trunk has damaged it in places. But it's still navigable.