Idle Thoughts [Open]

[missled]

Alazne Carter gazed into the seemingly endless expanse of sea in front of her, hands in her pockets and a distant look on her face. Brown hair that had always been an inch too short for her liking fluttered around her face, trying to distract her from whatever was holding up her mind for this long. It was a fruitless attempt, her eyes kept concentrated on the waves, her toes wriggling in the sand.

It was the best time of day, in her humble opinion. The sun was high, but not high enough yet to burn, as if that could happen here. No. No. She mustn't think about that. Today would be a real day, not a day filled with doubts about what was real and what was not. Today would be just her, alone with the waves and the sand.

Her mind wandered back to the memories that were oh so cherished, the only things she had left to prove that this wasn't real. Only a nightmare. A long nightmare. It had started out as a dream, a good one at that. If had been just her and Danel, but there had been a problem, but the memory was hazy... She let it be. That happened sometimes in dreams.

The dream had turned into a nightmare so quickly though, and now here she stood. Could one realize a dream was a dream if one was still dreaming? No, it was one's reality at that point in time. This felt so real, this was her reality now. The sand between her toes, the light sea breeze on her face. If this was a dream, it was too real to wake up from. Maybe Danel would wake her up eventually, Alazne mused as she started to hum an improvised tune quietly and paced down the beach, leaving a trail of foot prints behind her.

[TYGER WEATHERBY]

Tyger Weatherby wandered around the beach aimlessly. Perhaps he was on another mission to search for his "missing" daughter and wife. Maybe he had finally found it fit to relax? No... Tyger wasn't relaxing. Why would he when paranoia set in? Who's to say they aren't with the Angel of Death! Even though his mind was active, he was calm. He started forgetting about his paranoia and started to look and stare at the sky.

He glanced down and happened to see Alazne Carter. Of course, he wouldn't know the name, he just knows that there's a person. He sat back and watched her for a bit, like a mysterious stalker, before making his approach. One thing Tyger hated the most was the people that "followed" you. They, in reality, just have a different destination in the same general location as yours but appear as if they follow you. Yeah, that was a nuisance.

"Excuse me, you s-seem dazed" Tyger said as as politely as he could to this person, with a curious look. His mind was off of whatever subject it was on prior. "What's wrong, my dear?" He was trying to suppress his other thoughts and emotions, but his paced breathing made it clear that he was failing at holding back his own anxiety. Altogether, Tyger was feeling better today, much more better than he has been in a long time. He wasn't quite sure why either.

[darton]

Darton was walking through the sand when he noticed figures in the distance. He wasn't sure, but one of them was most likely a woman, standing by the shore, the other, one he couldn't clearly see approached her, but he didn't see any signs of a fight.

Ever since the world became this way, he was fighting every day to supply himself with energy. Most of the time he went after thugs and highwayman, draining their energy without killing them. He wasn't fond of their kind, and he would have killed them without a second thought for attacking others like that, but still, he didn't really want to lower himself to their level. That, and he didn't want to dirty his blade with filth like that.

The weapon was resting in its scabbard, hanging from his belt on his left. It wasn't too heavy, but still, most Leeches didn't use such weapons, due to their low strength. Being attuned to fire, his physical power was a bit higher, allowing him to wield the blade with ease.

He visited this place every once in a while, since it reminded him of his home. Their house, no, more like their small castle, stood by the shores of the Channel, on the English side. He didn't feel homesick, not anymore. He just wanted to remember, remember where he came from. His father always taught him that he should always remember the history of his family, so that he could avoid being used by others like they were by the kings of Britain. But still, he knew the past was carved in stone, and all he could do was to strive for a better future for himself. He would fight to live, and find a way to return to his real body, in the real world.

He brushed his thumb against the pommel of the sword, and decided to approach the people he saw. He was taking a walk anyway, so it couldn't hurt to meet some new faces in the meantime, right?

[snugglebunch]

The Cat-Like Hollow walked along the beach slowly, on all fours, only stopping every so often to have a staredown with an incoming tide. He kept this up for a great deal of time, until he saw a pair of people. He grinned an artificial grin and moved toward them.

He approached the pair and circled them slowly, examining them. His blade like tail twitching slightly as he moved. Finally, once he'd finished his lap he sat down, looking at the Cat-Beast and letting out a playful "Meow~!" he then turned and looked at the Butterfly. A sound rumbled from his mouth that resembled a human clearing their throat. "It's taking every bit of my power to ignore my instincts and hunt the butterfly, but it would be a shame to hunt one so radiantly beautiful." His voice mimicking a slight purr.

"My name, madam, is Snowb... Just Snow..." he'd been ridiculed about his full name, so introduced himself as such. "And what monicker does such a wondrous creature such as yourself take?" he stretched and laid down in the sand, awaiting the others response.

[missled]

Alazne looked up at the man who had just asked her something. She hadn't really heard him, due to the fact that she was contemplating reality and whatnot. "Oh. Um. Nothing. I'm fine." She said as she avoided his eyes, instead choosing to look around. The sun was slightly blinding, but she could distinguish another man approaching and a... cat?

She was brought back to the man that had already addressed her, his breathing was quite noticeable. "If you don't mind me asking... What's wrong with you?" Alazne winced, she had worded that wrong. That sounded rude. "I mean, is there something troubling you?" That was better, much more friendly. She hoped he wouldn't get angry at her for being so thick, people in this dream world seemed to get hostile very quickly.

She jumped slightly as a meow sounded from out of her vision. She then remembered the cat that had been approaching, and turned her head slightly as he circled. She turned a light pink color as the cat flattered her, no matter how strange it seemed to be. It was a dream after all, anything could happen. "Monicker... That means name, correct? My name is Alazne, Alazne Carter." She said quietly as she turned to the other man. "That reminds me, it would be rude not to ask your name, so... What's your name?" She asked, turning a shade pinker at the embarrassing repetition in her last sentence.

She turned towards the other approaching figure, he seemed to be ready to use his weapon. Alazne hoped that that particular reflex was only for defense purposes, she wasn't in the mood to fight, nor was she ever.

[TYGER WEATHERBY]

"You're fine? Y-You're sure? Because you seem dazed" Tyger said, making hand gestures along with it. Then, she had asked him his troubles and all of his problems cam flowing about to him. "Ohhh, yes, I'm missing my daughter... About this tall and she's cute and little..." He held his hand a certain height. "Ohh, she seems to be missing, she always turns up though" Tyger nodded, starting to realize a trend.

He held onto his tail, brushing it. He put a hand to his chest, feeling the pressure. Then, this cat, Snow, walked up to them and began talking with a rather peculiar vocabulary. "S-Snow, and Alazne. Okay, Okay, I can remember that. I'm Tyger."

He looked over, seeing another approaching figure, Darton. He was feeling suspicious about this new approaching figure, though he's happy that he spotted Darton than letting him sneak up on them. Darton wasn't hard to miss though, Tyger was just out of his mind.

[darton]

Darton noticed the cat approach the pair, and raised an eyebrow. After the conversion, there were no real animals left, only the humans turned into data. Seeing an animal, or at least something that looked like an animal was rather surprising for him, but he had fought numerous beasts. They were a dangerous bunch, going after his chip, trying to kill him so they could live a bit longer. A hard existence that must be indeed.

He continued walking towards the group, still careful, and ready to draw his blade if something went wrong. That was one thing he didn't really like about himself. He got a bit paranoid, and jumpy after years of this virtual life.

It didn't take long for him to reach them. He noticed the man looking at him while he was approaching, and he realized his left hand was still playing with the hilt of his sword. He was sure he would do fine with his powers as well, but he didn't like wasting energy, especially if he didn't have to fight.

"I'm sorry for intruding." he said. He still had some of his manners intact, his father engraved them in his mind a long time ago. "I noticed people gathering, and I was interested what would draw others to this place."

"Ah, where are my manners. I'm Darton Geor Wolf, at your service." said the young man with a slight bow, shifting his hand on the weapon, securing it in the scabbard to show he would not draw the blade.

[snugglebunch]

Alazne, Tyger, Darton. Interesting names, the lot of them. "Alazne... It's got a wondrous ring to it. Much like the bell on a kittens collar." He said with a smile. Then he looked at Darton. "You're name is rather interesting as well. But you seem to have nothing to do with a Wolf as your name so implies." He nodded, then finally, his eyes rested on Tyger. "You're name... It's rather straight forward, isnt it. You're name is Tyger, You are a cat... Not much thought needed to put those together." He said, his voice echoed over a mild purr. It wasn't a real purr, mind you, but sounded rather realistic.

He watched as the other feline petted his tail. he brought his own tail around and glanced at it. "I would try that... But It seems that my tail is a bit more... painful... than yours." He stated with a grin. "I bet you also cant detach yours, eh?" His voice seemed to be hinting at a Brag. "I do envy you, though, you still have fur to feel. My fur is all synthetic, doesn't feel real at all..." He said with a chuckle, rolling up the sleeve of his coat and showing his Purplish fur.

"You lost your kitten, eh? I know how that goes. I haven't been able to find my feline since I got to this new world. Not for lack of trying, but after a few months, I kinda gave up..." He muttered. "I can't feel love for her anymore anyway. But I will always remember young Fitz... The Alleycat." He said, his face turning into a smile. He may be mechanical and without emotions, but he still knew when he was supposed to portray emotions, and what emotions it was that should be shown.

[missled]

Alazne nodded with raised eyebrows as Tyger described his daughter. It was slightly alarming that he wasn't worried about her. She couldn't be very old if she was only that tall, Alazne certainly wouldn't let someone that young wander around by themselves in this dangerous place, what with all the viruses and such running amuck. It simply wasn't safe for someone who couldn't protect themselves the way adults could.

Alazne smiled at Darton, even if he did make her feel a little uneasy with the way his hand seemed so drawn to his weapon. He seemed nice enough, good manners and all that. "You're not intruding," Alazne assured him with a smile. This man seemed slightly less insane and less feline than the other two that were in the group.

Alazne watched Snow as he began to talk again, now that she was less inside of her head it struck her that there was a talking cat in her presence. Interesting enough, and although it was still out of the ordinary it did not make her want to scream and run as it would have at one time. She reached out to touch Snow's fur, seeing if it was indeed as synthetic feeling as he claimed. It looked more shiny than regular fur, and of course it was purple which wasn't particularly normal.

"Well it's certainly nice to meet you all." Alazne said abruptly, wanting desperately to get off the subject of lost lovers, although she still couldn't remember why. She supposed that was for the best, since the subject was already making her queasy and upset, she was beginning to sway from side to side in a fashion indicative of her anxiety rising. "So um," she started, trying to think of something to change the subject to, but all she could think of were stupid questions like what their favorite color was and how they thought the weather was. "What brings you to Horizon Beach?" She asked, deciding that that question at least seemed friendly and was not entirely an odd thing to be wondering.

[TYGER WEATHERBY]

"Ohh, my daughter..." Tyger said worrying again, but listened as Alazne commented on meeting, "Yes, it-it would seem that fate has brought us here. Even if in such a dreamy environment." He nodded, looking at the three characters that had appeared.

"We certainly are an odd bunch though..." Tyger remarked, "I still don't understand how an animal is here, and how they're even talking to us, and why he cats like the Cheshire Cat." He recalled the old tale, was it Alice in Wonderland?

He looked out toward the water. "I wonder what's on the other side..." He said, losing his focus. "I wonder if this world is as... Abstract as it seems. Why, we should go to the very edge of the world and see if we fall off!" Tyger said, delightfully. "We can be like those ancient explorers!"

He stopped rambling, and examined the others faces. It didn't seem they were really at all amused, especially this cat.

[darton]

"Ah, I might not resemble a wolf Mr. Snow, but trust me when I tell you that we Wolves are loyal to each other to the death. It's always been like that, and it's my task to make sure it will not change." said the man in reply to the cat like hollow's words, his voice serious, and a bit melancholic. He missed his family, but he would not give up. There had to be a reason he survived after all.

"I come here every now and then to remember the past, and to steel my resolve, I guess. That, and it's a nice change from the usual fighting that goes on all around the place." he said, this time turning to Alazne, his fellow Leech.

"I guess most of us got separated from family and friends. I wish you good luck with your search for your missing daughter, Tyger." said Darton, bowing his head in the direction of the addressed. He knew he would never know what it felt like to be in his place, but he got separated from his friend as well, and it was hard on him.

"That would be nice indeed, but I think we would need lots of excess energy to survive such a long adventure."

[snugglebunch]

"Seeing the Edge of the world? Would that be possible?" Snowball mused, thinking about what Tyger said. "Falling off certainly would be an experience. We could always just send you in a barrel, and if you live, you can tell us what you saw." Snowball said playfully.

"i come to the beach in need of... Nothing, actually. Im just here because it's where my feet carried me." He yawned and stretched, laying down in the sand, right next to Alazne. Letting out yet another mimicked purr as Alazne petted his fur.

He looked up at Darton with a fake grin, "Now, you're such a mood killer, aren't you. I believe the only one that would be incapable of making it would be the cat here." He said, gesturing toward Tyger. "Beasts are so... Violent..." He muttered, staring out at the ocean.

[missled]

Alazne's eyes passed over to Tyger with a startled look. "Why would you ever want to fall of the world?" She asked in her singsong voice, "Unless you thought there was somewhere else there, like Columbus and the New World. Are there any New Worlds here, you suppose? Or maybe an old world. The old world." A melancholic feeling came over Alazne, she missed the real world so much. Her heart actually ached with the pain of the loss of reality.

She sat down in the sand next to Snow, her hands still wandering across his synthetic fur. "If we did want to go across," She said tentatively, "How do you think we would manage it? A boat?" The idea that a simple thing like a boat could actually work in such a hostile and lucid dream seemed quite ridiculous, but how else did one get across a body of water? She supposed that she and the Darton fellow could simply fly, but what if Tyger and Snow wanted to come? It wasn't like she was up to carrying a full grown man across an ocean, or even a cat for that matter.

Her toes were starting to feel the warm lick of the ocean water, the tide seemed to be coming in. She looked down with a puzzled look. "Aren't tides caused by the moon?" She asked the general area. It seemed to her that although dreams didn't really have to follow any laws of physics, but she hadn't seen anything that directly defied them here either. "Wouldn't that mean that there's a moon or some other large thing in the sky?" She looked up at the horizon, the only thing there was the glaringly bright sun. If it was a sun and not some lamp or firefly or something. She shook her head. Dreams didn't make sense.

[TYGER WEATHERBY]

Tyger looked over to Darton, "Oh, Rosie always shows up, yes she does. Usually at the days end... She always seems to just wonder off. Sometimes it's like she's older than what she appears to be..." Had anyone the heart to tell Tyger that they were all ten years older than what they appeared?

"A barrel? Why would I venture in a barrel, why that's the most absurd thing- even for me" He said, staring back off into the distance. "I ever so do wonder though..."

He looked to the cat, "I'm not violent... At- At least, I try not to be... The morally corrupt must be the first to go, when they are gone... S-Survival will be the only thing causing me to kill innocents... I hope that group makes progress on getting us out of here before then, yes?"

"Old world?" Tyger thought, drawing sketches in the air with his hand. Using his imagination to 'view' them. "Well, I suppose a fail safe being on the other side could be possible..." He nodded, apparently still thinking it over.