#proph.starter

"Night all!"

Grabbing her things, Caryn prepared to leave the Olive Branch. It had been a busy evening, and she felt the good kind of exhausted – the one that comes with the satisfaction of having impressed people with the quality of her art. That meant she pulled on her jacket with a smile on her face and left the restaurant with a bounce in her step. She loved her job! Now she just wanted to head out to the Moors and dance among the trees for a bit. Nature called out to her in the rustling of leaves and in the call of owls out hunting for their midnight meal. The handful of howls she heard from the pack didn’t hurt either.

Eleni had been in the heart of town earlier, watching the people going about their daily work and enjoying the pulse of life she could all but taste beating around her. At one point, she’d caught a tripping child, smiling at his quick expression of gratitude before sending him back to his mother. It had lifted her heart, and she’d almost touched the thread surrounding him to strengthen it. But at the last moment, she’d pulled back . . . Too dangerous, she thought. Immortal as she might be, that did not mean she could see the way her change might have affected his fate. Would she have blessed him . . . or damned him?

Sitting on one of the many stone benches at the lyceum, Anastasia probably looked like she was ignoring the various conversations floating around her. It would be an inaccurate assumption. Although her focus remained on the essay in her hands, she could still take in the talk around her. Trained in the soft arts of courtly life from birth, this was child’s play to her. In her mortal life, a moment’s inattention could mean a loss of standing or prestige – or even a knife in the back. The gossip here held less danger . . . at least thus far.

Tempted as she might be to quit paying attention, discipline kept her focused. With the new shadows darkening her world, she would have to remember those old lessons. Anastasia had no intention of becoming someone’s plaything . . . or their prey.

“An excellent essay,” she decided as she sensed someone taking the empty space beside her. She didn’t look up as yet. “I find myself reluctantly impressed.”

That visit had proven to be almost entirely a waste of time. No one had any news or reports on his sister, though they all promised to let him know if they picked up anything through their various networks. Ethan lit a cigarette and took a deep drag before he began to trudge towards the little place he’d rented for now. Nothing spectacular, but if his other sisters descended on him, he wouldn’t be sleeping on his own couch.

However, he’d gotten a few more clues and details on the shadows that had suddenly appeared, and of the danger they’d become – killing without mercy while twisting others.

Just what the world needed . . . a new species of predator.

The sound of soft footsteps behind him had Ethan pausing in midstride and tilting his head to the side. “Let’s have a good night, shall we?” he offered to his as yet unseen follower. “I’d really just like to get home for a good night’s sleep.”

thymae can't ever really say that he's let fear fester in his body nor has the dryad ever paid much attention to such feeling. but the darkness feels suffocating, the days don't stretch on quite as long anymore and that sparkle in thymae's eyes starts to dwindle ever slightly. he's well aware the shadows are playing tricks on him, tenebrous cruelty disguised as people he yearns to see but thus refuses to.  his mother, sylvanus, daphne - they'd be this calling card home if it didn't feel all so twisted and contrived. it's still enough to have the bubbly dryad on edge, and though he knows better than to be wandering in this vast dark he can't help it.  normally so invested with the world before him, he's more caught up with his mind currently, bumping into @startingprophecies by mistake.  “oh, woah, you shouldn't be out here.” he's very much bambi, a deer in headlights, but he shakes his head as though brushing off their collision while offering an apologetic smile at the other. 

her own arrival at the portal is deliberate . there are a few other creatures that may enter the underworld , but why would she trust them with the safety of her loved ones ? no , talia is going to explore it herself ⸻ but she did not expect to find someone else , suspiciously close to it .

open / @startingprophecies at ink spell

he'd been exploring the island since he'd arrived. poking his head into places that looked interesting or had the potential for answers, but mostly whatever had caught kai's up to that point had little to do with the darkness that overshadowed the island. his stop at ink spell was just as selfish, a demand for his cousin to go with him to get lunch disguised as a time to search through books together once they got back. the second that theo had left the counter, though, kai had slid behind it. drinking the leftover coffee like it'd been his to take and reading through the book that'd been left open on the counter rather than look for titles on the shelves.