singillatim | prelude

January 1st 2015

Do you remember yesterday? What is tomorrow?
How will you face this quiet apocalypse?
— Raphael van Lierop.

As the old year falls and the new year begins, the skies fill with light. An Aurora comes on the last day of December, and with it the usual signs of it: the ethereal noise, the cracks and pops in the air, the stuttering of electrics as they struggle to power on and then blare and flicker. It is, as Interlopers have come to know, business as usual — in terms of the Auroras within this world. However, something a little different happens this time.

Interlopers will fall asleep all over the town of Milton. Even the ones who fight sleep and try to stay up into the small hours of the night will find themselves drifting off for a short while — as if their eyes just feel too heavy to keep open, and their minds slip into a deep kind of quiet darkness without their realising. And at first, there is nothing — nothing but the quiet dark. Something peaceful, almost.

A dream comes.

The first thing you notice is blood in your mouth, the cold in your bones, the deafening din in your ears — as if you are caught in static and the sound of howling winds through pine trees. You are afraid. At first, you do not know why. You find yourself on your knees in the snow. The skies are filled with green light, the air is thick with smoke. And then the realisation comes:

This is the ending of all things.

You look up, to the sight before you: a huge, shapeless shadow. Towering above you, over you. A head peers down at you: a cluster of three wolf skulls, eye-sockets glowing green and terrible, and their three open maws, dripping with more green. The sound it makes is unnatural, you cannot put it into words. The darkness draws in, you are so cold, so tired.

This is the ending of all things.

It is so hungry. You are so tired. The world falls away, you cannot see the stars, the dark hiding them from view. Were they even there to begin with? Or did they go out? You have forgotten. And you know, you know—

This is the ending of all things.

The skies glimmer, licks of strange, colourful wisps curl above — a voice screams out your name, from the static and winds. Through the noise. A woman’s voice. You have heard this voice before, in the lights and noise. Do you see? What could be? What you could become?

Can you hold on? Please. A hand grips your shoulder, but as you turn — the dream ends.

For some, they snap into waking with a shout or cry. Some will shudder awake to find tears in their eyes. All over Milton, the Interlopers wake: shaken, unsure, afraid. They will awaken to the dark: the Aurora is gone — slowly fading from the night skies into an otherwise calm and clear night.

It is a new year.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The answer itself is enough for Bigby. Especially since he'd really appreciate having a few more people around who like avoiding fights, rather than getting into them. The less confrontations happen here in town, the better.

So there's no questions about that part for Bigby. He instead nods a little bit, kind of with approval, and when he speaks up it's instead to ask: "You were in the army back home?"

Not really what he expected just by looking at Levi, but Bigby also figures it's not impossible.

"...yeah. I, um..." He's figured out that for most people here him being sent to war was abnormal and not a good thing. He's glad it's like that where they came from, but it makes him hesitant to mention it. He doesn't want to upset anyone, or bring more attention to himself.

"...I was conscripted when I was younger."

"I see."

It's probably a calmer - or rather, less surprised - reaction than most people would give. Then again, it's not like Bigby comes from the sort of world that's similar to the one most people here come from. Practically everyone had to fight back in the Homelands to survive, especially right before they all no longer had any choice but to leave that place.

"Well, it's good that it gave you some survival skills. And I'm glad to see you aren't aggressive, despite your training. We want to make sure there's no hotheads here who could cause violent trouble, right?"

Especially when their community is so small. It's so easy for a spark to ignite into huge trouble for all of them.

Huh, that's a lot less of a reaction that he expected. Good? He never wants to cause a scene, and Bigby doesn't seem like the type to do so anyway. Maybe it wasn't as uncommon in his world...Levi hopes that's not the case.

"Yeah...I spent most of my service in forests so that's helped some here." He sighs, "...I've seen too much fighting. I don't want to see more, especially if there's no real reason for it."

"Well.. Kid, if you get into trouble you don't want to deal with yourself, just let me know."

There's something in that statement that does squeeze Bigby's heart a little, after all.. Even though pretty much anyone of any age had to deal with shitty things where he comes from, it's not like Bigby enjoys watching people suffer. And it's not like he hasn't already been playing the town protector ever since whatever mysterious force brought them here dumped him into this town.

Might as well add one more charge to the list.

"I live on the lake side of town. If I'm not in, then I'm probably out hunting. But if I'm home, you can knock on my door anytime to ask me for help with a difficult situation. I can fight plenty." So he can do Levi's part of the fighting too, if it's ever necessary here.

"Thanks." He usually prefers to deal with trouble himself, but its good to know there are a few people he can rely on.

"Okay. I sleep here, which, um, I guess you figured out...uh. But I patrol all around town." And some of the forest outside of it.

It's not really a surprise to Bigby that Levi patrols. He's seen more people do it - Edward, first and foremost - and if Levi has army training, it only makes more sense that he'd instinctively do that sort of thing. It must have been why he was on the lookout for that dog months ago too.

"Let me know if you see any sign of that being we saw in our dreams, then." If Levi is keeping an eye out anyway.. "No matter how insignificant it may seem. We gotta learn everything we can about it."

Instinct, paranoia and boredom all lead to hm spending a lot of time patrolling. "I will. Let me know if you come across anything odd or worrying...even if its not related to the dream."

He lets out a huff.

It's not really an annoyed one, though. If anything, it sounds nearly amused.

"If I had to mention everything odd, we'd be here all day." Trust him, Levi. He's a literal wolf from a fairytale, and even he thinks so many of the people here are just.. so weird.. He could fill an entire conversation with stuff about Rorschach alone!

"But I get what you mean. If something's worrisome enough, you're gonna know about it. Hang in there 'till then, alright?"

"Well, I mean...odd enough to stand out and...yeah." He nods. "I will. You too."

prelude

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cw: kids being sent to war

cw: kids being sent to war

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