Often called the 'Lover's Triangle' for the trio of waterfalls feeding in to a triangular gorge, the Idalani area is a picture-perfect place to spend time with that special someone, with a beautiful exotic backdrop and countless rainbows dancing across the sky. (+2 Speed)

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An Unexpected Setback [self]

Postby crow » 09/08/2015 9:52 PM

((why yes, I will attempt to do every one of these RP prompts with Kit/Rift AUs. just try and stop me :U))

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The first thought she had was, My dreams are becoming stranger.

She had, of course, always been pale. It was one of the things that drew the sorcerer to her, one of the things that made her what she was: pale of skin, green of eye, a wild tumble of flame-colored hair. Of course, since their encounter with him, his magic was slowly relinquishing its hold on them, and some of that had begun to change. There was now a faint dusting of freckles across her nose and atop the backs of her arms--- or there should have been. Today, there wasn't. She was as milk-pale as she had ever been, perhaps paler still. She felt her chest constrict as she stared at her hands, a terrible fear creeping up.

But it had to have been a dream, a nightmare. Her memories of the journey had been too long and too full. It wasn't until she turned around and saw her own body that she realized something was amiss.

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And then the body stirred, shifting in its sleep, murmuring with the same voice that she had used all her life. With growing horror, she looked down at the rest of herself. She was still herself, sort of--- it was as if everything had been washed pale. For a moment she wondered whether she was a ghost, but the realization hit her that she couldn't see Rift anywhere.

It couldn't be... But what if it was? She knelt by herself, knelt by the body, and shook its shoulders urgently. "Wake up!" she said, still in her own voice. Her certainty was already growing in tandem with her dread, but she wanted to be sure whether her suspicions were true. And if they were, well... She would cross that bridge when they get to it.
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Re: An Unexpected Setback [self]

Postby crow » 09/11/2015 3:19 AM

Her own body roused groggily, groaning as it turned over to face her. Blinking sleep out of its eyes, it squinted at her. She didn't know what sort of expression she wore, but the face that looked back at her grew concerned. "Catherine?" it said--- her voice, still her own voice, and how strange it sounded--- "Whyever do you--- Ah." It sat up, looked down at itself, and came to some dire conclusion. She waited with barely disguised impatience, fighting the urge to shake it by the shoulders again and demand that it tell her what was happening.

It settled things soon enough. "This is your body, isn't it? Oh, it's strange to hear myself like this," said her body. Eyeing her, it inclined its head, a familiar gesture replicated on a different medium. "And you must be in mine, though you've certainly come as close as you can to replicating your own."

"Rift," she said. It--- he blinked, and waited obligingly for her to continue. She breathed a sigh of relief at that; she hadn't known for certain until then whether it was him occupying her body. "I... Why am I like this? I almost hadn't realized what had happened until I saw me... saw you." Which was it? She hardly knew how to describe either of them now. What a terrible mixed-up business this was.
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Re: An Unexpected Setback [self]

Postby crow » 09/12/2015 5:14 AM

Rift's expression grew pensive, his gaze cast down at the ground. "It must have something to do with... Well, with what I am. My body being as malleable as it is, I suspect it merely responded to your self-image. You expected to wake up as yourself, didn't you?"

"... Yes," she said. "I certainly don't expect to wake up as anyone else." From the way the corners of Rift's mouth lifted, she knew it wasn't much of a response, but it was the truth. Even in a land of magic and curses, this phenomenon was a rare one. She couldn't remember of ever hearing of a case within living memory, though it was true that they had not been travelling for terribly long, and the list of curses and charms known to any witch worth their salt was a long one. She sighed. "You're taking this remarkably well."

At this, Rift gave a shrug. "I'm used to inhabiting a variety of physical forms. This is... not one I would have chosen, of course, but I'll make do." He inspected himself, and Catherine tried her best not to grimace as a smile broke slowly over his features. Would she ever get used to watching his expressions on her own face? "In fact, I think there may be some fun to be had like this," he said, an ominous glint growing in his eyes.
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Re: An Unexpected Setback [self]

Postby crow » 09/12/2015 5:28 AM

"Don't you dare," she warned him; he rewarded her with a fox grin, all teeth and insolent mirth. She glowered at him, but a sobering thought gave her pause. "We can't possibly travel like this," she said. "We look like dopplegangers... of a sort." She looked at her strangely pale hands, then up at Rift. "Is it always like this? You can change your shape, but not your color? I'd always thought it was a preference."

"Ah," said Rift, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. He still looked as untroubled as ever, but she knew full well just how adept he was at lying with his face. "I... I don't know. I've experimented with it, and..." He shook his head in frustration. His real identity had been lost to him a long time ago, and even their encounter with the sorcerer hadn't brought them back. There were times when he despaired of ever rediscovering his origins, but she had insisted that they would keep searching. Sighing, she edged closer to him and threw an arm around his shoulders. He leaned against her, closing his eyes, and they stayed like that for a moment.
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Re: An Unexpected Setback [self]

Postby crow » 09/12/2015 5:32 AM

"... This is strange," he said.

"Yes," she agreed. They untangled themselves from each other and made a few false starts before she finally managed to speak a coherent sentence. "You need to teach me how to change like you do. We can't stay here forever, and there will be no going anywhere else if we stay like this."

He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again and frowned. Eventually he said, "I don't think about it much. The closest analogy that I can think of would be flexing one's arm, perhaps, or walking. I must have learned it once, but by now it's simply a natural thing, and I hardly spare it any thought at all."

"You said my expectations gave me this shape," she prompted. "Is it... something like that? If I expect to look a different way, will I?"

"Perhaps. It's possible. You could try," he said. Still, he didn't sound confident, and she looked askance at him. He thinned his lips and said, "You... Your form is stable, so your conviction in it likely runs deeper than my own. I'm not sure that it could be so easily changed."
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Re: An Unexpected Setback [self]

Postby crow » 09/13/2015 1:45 AM

She made a face at him; he wasn't exactly being encouraging. He shrugged. "I could be wrong," he said, in a tone that made it clear that he expected nothing of the sort. Shaking her head, she closed her eyes. Nothing for it now but to try it herself, and see how well she fared.

She thought of his form first, the human shape he preferred: a tall, slender young man with pale hair and coldly handsome features. She had thought she knew it well from having travelled together for some time, but she found that she knew it less than she had thought. On the whole, he preferred animal forms when they were with company, and she found herself stuck on the details--- how did his hair fall across the nape of his neck, and how exactly did his shoulders slope? She could feel the changes as they happened, and found he had been telling her the truth so far as the sensation of it went. It was not unlike bending one's body in a way it was accustomed to, but in her case it felt rather more as if she was attempting to perform a task she had not done in some time.

"Oh heavens," said Rift. Her eyes snapped open, her concentration broken by his voice. He was staring at her, wide-eyed. When she stared back questioningly, he said, "Perhaps we should stop trying. That was... I would rather not see that again, if you please."
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Re: An Unexpected Setback [self]

Postby crow » 09/13/2015 2:06 AM

She was tempted to ask exactly what had happened, but something in his face told her not to. She sighed. "I managed the change, did I not?" It was only mulish frustration that made her say so. Whatever she had done, it wasn't what they had hoped for, and it was likely that she wouldn't get very far with it for some time.

Rift cast a glance her way and shuddered ever so slightly. "Yes, you... You certainly did." Rising to his feet, he stretched, rolling his shoulders as if to test his new shape. "I propose a change of pace--- why don't you instruct me for a while?"

Oh gods. He was being patient with her. "What is there to teach you?" she said, trying and failing to keep the exasperation from her voice. "It's as you said before. This is merely a new shape for you."

He paused and watched her for a moment, saying nothing. She could feel something like embarrassment coiling in her gut. She knew she was handling it badly, but--- "Do you think this is easy for me?" he said. It was her turn to stare now. He took that for his answer. "Ah. I suppose I should have guessed that." He offered her a small, wry smile. "I've attempted to change myself back at least ten times since you woke me up. Believe me, I am as unhappy about this as you are."
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Re: An Unexpected Setback [self]

Postby crow » 09/13/2015 2:35 AM

"You hide it well enough," she said, but there was no heat in her voice. She merely sounded tired. Once more, she said, "What is there to teach you? You already know how to act human, and we haven't stayed long enough anywhere that you would have to worry about mimicking me specifically. If a stranger saw you, they would be none the wiser."

"If I know how to act human, I'm not very convincing," he said bitterly. Before she could say anything in reply, he continued: "Even if I did, I do not know how to act... female."

That came as a surprise to Catherine, who gave her own body another once-over. Everything felt as it should have. "But whyever--- You're clearly capable of... of becoming one," she said awkwardly. He arched a brow at her, and she scowled at him again, but privately she was glad to see some measure of his humor restored, even if it was at her expense. "Is that another choice of yours?"

"It is and it isn't," he said. "I prefer the male shape, yes. Given that there are other options available to me, I suppose you could call it a choice. I did, briefly, attempt to use female shapes more regularly, but they felt even more unsettling to me than their male counterparts. Some aspect of my internal alignment simply finds them objectionable."
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Re: An Unexpected Setback [self]

Postby crow » 09/13/2015 10:25 PM

Unable to form a reply to that, she turned her attention to his original question, but still found herself drawing blanks as to what exactly he wanted from her. "There really isn't much to teach," she said. "You know my patterns of speech well enough, and I daresay you could mimic them." It pained her some to say so, for he had only ever done so in jest, and she was loath to give his mockery any credibility. Unfortunately, if they were stripped of their sarcastic veneer, they wouldn't have been far off the mark. "As for the rest..."

"Is there really no difference?" he asked. "What of, say, how I carry myself? Is it not unnatural?" he asked. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he sounded almost hesitant. Obligingly, she studied him. It was an odd affair, knowing as she did that it was her own body, but she seldom had any opportunity to study herself. It was easier to think of him as inhabiting the body of a stranger entirely. Once she came around to that way of thought, she found that there were irregularities to note after all.

"You wouldn't walk with such large strides, I think. No, you take up altogether too much space." It wasn't something she had ever taken conscious note of before, but it felt incongruous to her now. She checked her own stance to verify it, and said, "Try sitting again--- Ah."
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Re: An Unexpected Setback [self]

Postby crow » 09/13/2015 11:11 PM

To his credit, Rift was a quick learner. He sat in what must have been his natural manner, but almost as soon as he had done so, he began to shift himself to match her pose instead. A curious expression settled over his features. "Yes, I see what you mean. This is... Hmm."

Over the course of the morning, she walked him through as many of the details as she could think of. The fact that they were so far from the next village on their journey; they had packed provisions, and had no need to risk venturing out onto the roads where they might be seen. Rift was already showing great improvements, and could likely have passed for a nondescript village girl if it weren't for the specifics of their arrangement. However, he needed no instruction from her as to how to act the part of a wandering mystic, so the problem now lay almost entirely in her court.

He had been watching her a great deal as they ate; she waited for him to say something, but he did not. Eventually, she said, "Come now, I cannot be so fascinating. What is it?"

Again, he hesitated, but under her scrutiny, he had no choice but to speak at last. "I had been thinking. There is one form with which you must be familiar other than your own, and I expect you will have an easier time with it than another. It's only..." He trailed off, his expression troubled.
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