The Doctor wakes up to pain, because strangely enough, lying on hard, cold ground with a couple broken ribs is not the most comfortable thing in the universe. He groans, and rolls over slowly, opening his eyes to blink at the surrounding area in quiet bemusement. His head's fuzzy, but clearing quickly, and it doesn't have to be clear anyway for him to register that this is so very much not where he should be. Not even a little.
He bounces to his feet - or, rather, starts to bounce, winces at the twinge in his chest, and then just straightens awkwardly the rest of the way. He's not the only one here, but he's the only one conscious at the moment, so he homes in on the next most interesting thing in the area - that shimmering stone arch, which he immediately starts circling, leaning in to study the stones and the inscription at close range. Looks like a way in or out of this place, probably...
Well, except for the fact that it's broken. That might be a problem.
Cold is the first thing Neal notices. Silk satin trousers and dress shirts, not so much with the protectiveness. He shudders and rolls onto his hands and knees, gives his head a little shake, and looks up.
And immediately goes into emotional lockdown as logical calculation takes over. The hand towel he was going to use to clean the charcoal and gun grease off his face is still in his hand. He's still dressed for that damn showing, and... he has no idea who any of the others here with him seem to be.
Also it's winter.
This makes about as much sense as...
His talent for metaphorical comparisons seems to have abandoned him for the moment. It left a headache behind. How sweet.
Neal struggles to his feet, looking up at the arch--and then checking sharply and taking a half-step back when someone circles around it toward him.
Toph immediately shifts into a defensive stance at the movement, hiding the momentary panic of waking up alone behind a stony glower directed... Slightly between the two guys she can "see" on the other side of this arch.
"Okay, crazy spirit things," she says in a no-nonsense tone that really doesn't match up with her tiny, twelve-year-self, "you got to the count of five to explain what's going before you get beat down. I don't know about any of the usual mumbo-jumbo, but let's see how big and bad you are when I'm kicking your butt."
The Doctor pulls up short as one of the people sprawled on the ground sits up, and grins brightly at Neal - like he's not cut and bruised from recently falling through a skylight, like it's not at all strange that they've found themselves in a strange forest for no good reason...
"Oh, hello! You're awake! I was just-"
He isn't sure what explanation he can give for their current situation. He doesn't have to give an explanation, thankfully, because then one of the others wakes up and starts... threatening? He turns away from the man he'd been speaking to for a moment and swings toward the girl, eyebrows raised.
Juliet hisses in a breath as she wakes up, almost sounding near tears that she chokes back. The chain around her waist is digging into the small of her back and she allows a sob to escape her as her hands fumble for it as if she's afraid she'll feel the pressure again as she slowly gets yanked back into that pit
( ... )
"That makes two of us," Chris muttered in response to the blonde woman who had just pushed herself up to stand a few meters from where he had been deposited in the snow. From what he could tell, everyone in the immediate area seemed to be just as clueless about their situation as the next person, which meant that who or whatever it was that had summoned them to this place hadn't chosen to stick around and mingle once the guests had arrived
( ... )
Juliet glances over, a ghost of a smile crossing her features, neither pleasant nor threatening- simply neutral, much like everything about her. It feels false, but then again, it always has been. Veils of neutrality.
She follows his gaze, but doesn't step forwards. Between the temple and that statue, she's developed an aversion to things like that. It's old and suggests too much and something about it sends a chill down her spine.
Or maybe that's the cold on her bare arms.
"It's an archway," she says, not so much explaining as if confirming it to herself. She finally dares to take a step further and nearly trips- the chain's tangled around her foot now. She growls slightly and leans down to disentangle it. The stupid thing wasn't going to leave her alone for a minute.
"So you don't know anything about it, either? Or who they are?" She points the other people assembled in the area out.
"No idea," Chris asserted, after scanning the small crowd of people who seemed to be just waking up for any signs of a familiar face. It made him uneasy knowing that both Phoebe and Paige were still under some sort of spell, leaving Gideon with a free pass to get to Wyatt what with no one else left to protect him. The worst part of it all was that he couldn't even seem to sense Wyatt anymore--or Piper, or Phoebe.
While the thought that he might have been sent to Limbo or somewhere similar had crossed his mind, it didn't seem likely given that he could sense that Paige was somewhere not too far away. Who all these other people were or where they had come from, on the other hand...
"You look like hell--no offense. I mean..." Yeah, way to insult the nice lady, Chris. "What's the last thing you remember before ending up here?" Because if it had anything to do with dying, then he really needed to find some way to escape the afterlife, and get back to his family.
Nill wakes up feeling air on her face, something she most definitely didn't when she was trapped down in that basement. Her eyes flutter open and she looks around. The breeze makes her realize that she's most definitely not in the basement, and as she climbs to her feet she takes notice that oh - it's cold. But cold is better than being crushed in a basement, and she just stares at the snow with a slight hint of awe.
She's never seen snow before, but her focus rests on something else entirely as her eyes scan over the area. On her tiptoes, she seems to float her way over toward the arch. Her wings perk up curiously, and her head tips off to the side. Her arms outstretch as she reaches it and she pivots on one foot to try and get a full view of the area around her.
Where's Heine?She briefly wonders, and the thought is fleeting because she realizes that there's something more important at work here. She tips her head back in order to see the full thing, and sees the crack down the center. Her mouth drops open into a look of shock, and
( ... )
Neal is still studying the archway himself, trying to keep his mind off the fact that once everyone is awake, they're going to need to move. Whatever is keeping the snow out of this little area isn't keeping the cold out. They need shelter, food, and information.
He rubs his face, mentally commanding himself to focus--before he sees the teenage girl inspecting the arch. He smiles at, saluting her with the hand holding his towel while trying very hard not to wonder what kind of place she was wearing that outfit to. Maybe she's from New York. Wouldn't be that weird.
Nill freezes in place as she hears the man's voice, and slowly cranes her head to glance over in his direction. Her first instinct is to run, she doesn't know him - strangers are dangerous without Heine or Naoto here - but her legs won't cooperate with her thoughts. So she just stands there, her breathing becoming coming out in rapid little gasps, and her eyes grow wide as she stares over at him. The tip of her wings become more visible over her shoulders as she tenses, she's on high alert as she realizes that she's not alone
( ... )
A ghost of a frown crosses his face, both at the... are those wings? and at the fact that she's not talking.
"Danger?" He looks back and up at the arch, then flashes another crooked smile at Nill. "Dunno. Not exactly friendly though, is it."
He crouches, letting her have the high ground and hopefully helping her relax. "I'm Neal. You must be cold in that. ...You want my vest? It's not gonna be much better, but it's something."
Stefen sucks in a sharp breath as he wakes up, the cold air in his lungs shocking him to full consciousness as he doubles over coughing. He gasps for a moment, shivering as the wind whips the snow around him and his gittern. Once he recovers, he looks up and stares in shock.
This is not Haven. This is not anywhere near Haven. Or the room he was sitting in, waiting for Vanyel. This is a forest with snow and what looks like other people.
"It is v-very c-cold," he comments - he tries for dry or sardonic, but instead just comes out pitiful and stuttered from his shivering.
Glitch uncurls himself from the ball he was in on the ground, and looks up at the person stuttering.
Huh. New person. New place, too, since he's pretty sure he isn't in the O.Z. anymore. The frozen parts of the O.Z. weren't so heavily forested, unless it somehow turned to winter without him noticing.
"Well, you're a sharp one," he mutters, and then his expression softens a moment later. The kid's even less prepared for sudden cold than he is, and he's shrugging out of his coat before he has time to think of just how cold it is out here.
"Here," he says, holding the ragged coat out for the boy to take. "The name's Glitch. And you look like you need this more than I do."
Stef opens his mouth to retort that stating the obvious was preferable to panicking because he didn't know where he was, wasn't it, and then snaps it shut when he sees the man shrugging out of his jacket. He's in a strange place with strange people, and he doubts this man has any better idea where they are, but he's still offering Stef his coat.
A Herald would refuse the coat. Stef is not a Herald. He takes the coat with a faint smile, shrugging into it gratefully and hugging his knees to his chest to block some of the wind. A cold backside from the snow was better than standing up, for now, in Stef's opinion.
"Th-thanks," he said, and tried to shiver less. It worked a little - the extra fabric helped. "I'm Stefen. N-not really a cold weather person."
"Yeah, me neither," Glitch says, trying not to shiver, himself. He's still got more layers going on than Stefen does, at any rate... But he misses the big furry blanket he had the last time he was in the snow. He misses that a lot.
"I'd see about starting a fire, but, ah... I'm not really the outdoors type. More the indoors in a nice, safe laboratory type. Or a less-nice, less-safe government function. You know, I never thought I'd miss those..."
Please, Stefen. Stop him before he really gets going.
Sam lay there for a second, surprised how easy it had been to have the wind knocked out of him after the thrill of invulnerability he'd felt not very long ago, facing Alastair down. His head was roaring, and he had a momentary vision of the demonic blood pounding through his veins literally screaming its way through his temples.
The roaring sound, however, changed into something more recognizable as his head got to sorting itself back out, and he realized it for what it was: wind. Just wind. No howling echo of the damned or whatever he'd been idiotic enough to think for the moment. No. Just wind.
A moment later it hit him like a truck: why was there wind? Inside? That couldn't be right.
His eyes opened, and it took another moment to resolve what he was looking at, as he stared up at the tips of snow drenched trees scraping against the inked night sky. They looked almost like skeletal fingers, pointing upwards, accusatory.
No, he corrected himself, Trees, Sam. Get it together. Pulling himself to a sitting position, he
( ... )
God, it was perfect. All the disappointment Damon had felt when he'd woke up to a distinct lack of both a.) the tomb, and b.) the desiccated corpse of Katherine that was supposed to be inside of it, had flown out the window when he realized in an almost kind of cynical humor that this place was perfect. It was dead -- the very dirt itself looked dead, even if you ignored the ashen grass that covered it. He kicked some of it aside with a boot, chuckling in a way that indicated bitterness mixed with all kinds of lunacy.
He'd gotten so fucking close and that bitch had sent him here. He wasn't sure how she'd done it, but when he found out, oh. Bonnie Bennett was not going to be a happy camper. Elena would probably be pissed to all hell, too, but he couldn't really care less about that right now. Not after what she and Stefan had done. So, he hung around close to the trees, admiring the unnatural air of the whole thing.
And then there was that moron scrambling around and the sanctity of it all was ruined. Damon's bemused look
( ... )
Sam wouldn't have felt sorry about spoiling Damon's idyllic little jaunt through dead nirvana even if he knew, so he could just shove it. His head whipped around towards the newcomer - how had he walked up so quietly? - and his expression soured a bit at the words that struck a little too closely to his heart. Any feelings of camaraderie Sam might have developed based on being chucked out into the mysterious snowy meadow with this guy were effectively stamped out for the moment.
"And I suppose that'd be you," he replied flatly, trying to decide if he'd seen this person before. It was likely that he was the one who'd stuck him out here, but Sam couldn't remember ever having encountered that face.
Then again, if it were a demon in there, the face could have played musical chairs a few times.
"No offense, but kidnapping isn't really the best way to make a good first impression."
Oh, great. The moron had decided he was the one to blame for all of this, and Damon just couldn't be assed to tell him otherwise. In fact, if anything, in this snowy, barren, hellhole that Bonnie had sent him to, maybe this would be the silver lining of a very, very snowy cloud. Slowly, a smirk crept its way onto Damon's lips and he began to circle the taller man like an animal ready to strike. That look came all too naturally nowadays. Probably something to do with all that blood.
"Who says I aim for good first impressions? Maybe you shouldn't make things so easy." When he found his way downwind of Sam in the breeze that was picking up, his nose twitched. Now that was fascinating. Almost like sulfur, but muskier and covered up by the coppery smell of human blood mingled with what he'd almost label as some kind of heavier metal smell. Something darker. Almost like Bonnie smelled, but … different in so many ways
( ... )
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The Doctor wakes up to pain, because strangely enough, lying on hard, cold ground with a couple broken ribs is not the most comfortable thing in the universe. He groans, and rolls over slowly, opening his eyes to blink at the surrounding area in quiet bemusement. His head's fuzzy, but clearing quickly, and it doesn't have to be clear anyway for him to register that this is so very much not where he should be. Not even a little.
He bounces to his feet - or, rather, starts to bounce, winces at the twinge in his chest, and then just straightens awkwardly the rest of the way. He's not the only one here, but he's the only one conscious at the moment, so he homes in on the next most interesting thing in the area - that shimmering stone arch, which he immediately starts circling, leaning in to study the stones and the inscription at close range. Looks like a way in or out of this place, probably...
Well, except for the fact that it's broken. That might be a problem.
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And immediately goes into emotional lockdown as logical calculation takes over. The hand towel he was going to use to clean the charcoal and gun grease off his face is still in his hand. He's still dressed for that damn showing, and... he has no idea who any of the others here with him seem to be.
Also it's winter.
This makes about as much sense as...
His talent for metaphorical comparisons seems to have abandoned him for the moment. It left a headache behind. How sweet.
Neal struggles to his feet, looking up at the arch--and then checking sharply and taking a half-step back when someone circles around it toward him.
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"Okay, crazy spirit things," she says in a no-nonsense tone that really doesn't match up with her tiny, twelve-year-self, "you got to the count of five to explain what's going before you get beat down. I don't know about any of the usual mumbo-jumbo, but let's see how big and bad you are when I'm kicking your butt."
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"Oh, hello! You're awake! I was just-"
He isn't sure what explanation he can give for their current situation. He doesn't have to give an explanation, thankfully, because then one of the others wakes up and starts... threatening? He turns away from the man he'd been speaking to for a moment and swings toward the girl, eyebrows raised.
"Um. Are you... talking to us?"
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She follows his gaze, but doesn't step forwards. Between the temple and that statue, she's developed an aversion to things like that. It's old and suggests too much and something about it sends a chill down her spine.
Or maybe that's the cold on her bare arms.
"It's an archway," she says, not so much explaining as if confirming it to herself. She finally dares to take a step further and nearly trips- the chain's tangled around her foot now. She growls slightly and leans down to disentangle it. The stupid thing wasn't going to leave her alone for a minute.
"So you don't know anything about it, either? Or who they are?" She points the other people assembled in the area out.
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While the thought that he might have been sent to Limbo or somewhere similar had crossed his mind, it didn't seem likely given that he could sense that Paige was somewhere not too far away. Who all these other people were or where they had come from, on the other hand...
"You look like hell--no offense. I mean..." Yeah, way to insult the nice lady, Chris. "What's the last thing you remember before ending up here?" Because if it had anything to do with dying, then he really needed to find some way to escape the afterlife, and get back to his family.
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She's never seen snow before, but her focus rests on something else entirely as her eyes scan over the area. On her tiptoes, she seems to float her way over toward the arch. Her wings perk up curiously, and her head tips off to the side. Her arms outstretch as she reaches it and she pivots on one foot to try and get a full view of the area around her.
Where's Heine?She briefly wonders, and the thought is fleeting because she realizes that there's something more important at work here. She tips her head back in order to see the full thing, and sees the crack down the center. Her mouth drops open into a look of shock, and ( ... )
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He rubs his face, mentally commanding himself to focus--before he sees the teenage girl inspecting the arch. He smiles at, saluting her with the hand holding his towel while trying very hard not to wonder what kind of place she was wearing that outfit to. Maybe she's from New York. Wouldn't be that weird.
"Hey. Kind of a rude awakening, huh."
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"Danger?" He looks back and up at the arch, then flashes another crooked smile at Nill. "Dunno. Not exactly friendly though, is it."
He crouches, letting her have the high ground and hopefully helping her relax. "I'm Neal. You must be cold in that. ...You want my vest? It's not gonna be much better, but it's something."
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Slipped on the ice...
Stefen sucks in a sharp breath as he wakes up, the cold air in his lungs shocking him to full consciousness as he doubles over coughing. He gasps for a moment, shivering as the wind whips the snow around him and his gittern. Once he recovers, he looks up and stares in shock.
This is not Haven. This is not anywhere near Haven. Or the room he was sitting in, waiting for Vanyel. This is a forest with snow and what looks like other people.
"It is v-very c-cold," he comments - he tries for dry or sardonic, but instead just comes out pitiful and stuttered from his shivering.
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Huh. New person. New place, too, since he's pretty sure he isn't in the O.Z. anymore. The frozen parts of the O.Z. weren't so heavily forested, unless it somehow turned to winter without him noticing.
"Well, you're a sharp one," he mutters, and then his expression softens a moment later. The kid's even less prepared for sudden cold than he is, and he's shrugging out of his coat before he has time to think of just how cold it is out here.
"Here," he says, holding the ragged coat out for the boy to take. "The name's Glitch. And you look like you need this more than I do."
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A Herald would refuse the coat. Stef is not a Herald. He takes the coat with a faint smile, shrugging into it gratefully and hugging his knees to his chest to block some of the wind. A cold backside from the snow was better than standing up, for now, in Stef's opinion.
"Th-thanks," he said, and tried to shiver less. It worked a little - the extra fabric helped. "I'm Stefen. N-not really a cold weather person."
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"I'd see about starting a fire, but, ah... I'm not really the outdoors type. More the indoors in a nice, safe laboratory type. Or a less-nice, less-safe government function. You know, I never thought I'd miss those..."
Please, Stefen. Stop him before he really gets going.
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The roaring sound, however, changed into something more recognizable as his head got to sorting itself back out, and he realized it for what it was: wind. Just wind. No howling echo of the damned or whatever he'd been idiotic enough to think for the moment. No. Just wind.
A moment later it hit him like a truck: why was there wind? Inside? That couldn't be right.
His eyes opened, and it took another moment to resolve what he was looking at, as he stared up at the tips of snow drenched trees scraping against the inked night sky. They looked almost like skeletal fingers, pointing upwards, accusatory.
No, he corrected himself, Trees, Sam. Get it together. Pulling himself to a sitting position, he ( ... )
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He'd gotten so fucking close and that bitch had sent him here. He wasn't sure how she'd done it, but when he found out, oh. Bonnie Bennett was not going to be a happy camper. Elena would probably be pissed to all hell, too, but he couldn't really care less about that right now. Not after what she and Stefan had done. So, he hung around close to the trees, admiring the unnatural air of the whole thing.
And then there was that moron scrambling around and the sanctity of it all was ruined. Damon's bemused look ( ... )
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"And I suppose that'd be you," he replied flatly, trying to decide if he'd seen this person before. It was likely that he was the one who'd stuck him out here, but Sam couldn't remember ever having encountered that face.
Then again, if it were a demon in there, the face could have played musical chairs a few times.
"No offense, but kidnapping isn't really the best way to make a good first impression."
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"Who says I aim for good first impressions? Maybe you shouldn't make things so easy." When he found his way downwind of Sam in the breeze that was picking up, his nose twitched. Now that was fascinating. Almost like sulfur, but muskier and covered up by the coppery smell of human blood mingled with what he'd almost label as some kind of heavier metal smell. Something darker. Almost like Bonnie smelled, but … different in so many ways ( ... )
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