Forest - Open

[remotivateme]

"I never imagined the other side of the supplies closet to look like this," Vila said, as he stood scratching his head inside of the cupboard, confused at the sudden appearance of a picturesque, faerie tale forest - complete with a clear blue babbling brook, tall trees, and endless rows of perfectly planted spring flowers

Comments

[just_as_clever]

Well, this one is certainly out of place -- Zoe's certainly not seen him and she does know... well... everyone, really. She approaches him with a bright smile.

"Hello! I don't think we've met. I'm Zoe."

[remotivateme]

Of all the things Vila was expecting to see in this... wherever this was, a chipper young girl wasn't one of them.

"No, probably not. I'm Vila," he says absently like whilst looking around. "Say, you haven't seen an angry fellow dressed in black - or, or a pretty lady with a gun, have you?"

[just_as_clever]

She pauses seriously to consider his question.

"Well, there are a number of people here who might fit either of those descriptions. The headless horseman is awfully fond of black and never in a very good mood... but I haven't seen him near here."

[remotivateme]

"Headless horseman?" Vila rolls his eyes. "Listen, I don't have time for ghost stories. I need to find out how to get back to... where I was before."

He pauses briefly. "Unless this is all some really weird dream."

[just_as_clever]

"Oh, no, it's not a dream. It's a fiction!"

She says this with a perfectly innocuous smile on her face. Even though she -- or her real counter-part, which is nearly the same thing -- had been through this before, the concept that this might be rather disconcerting hasn't quite struck her.

[remotivateme]

"Fiction?" He laughs, albeit nervously. "This has got to be a dream. Any minute now, someone will come through on the com and, asking if I'm awake and have me teleport them back onto the ship."

Yep. Any minute now.

[just_as_clever]

"I'm very much afraid it's not... though I don't think you're a fiction, which is quite odd."

She peers at him, quite curiously.

[remotivateme]

"Odd? I'm sure I'm not fiction! And neither are you." He raises an eyebrow, giving that statement some thought, and then nodding in agreement with himself. "Fiction isn't real, and we look very much real, you an' me."

[just_as_clever]

"No, you're certainly not a fiction. I'm quite sure I know all the fictions residing here and the Mistress certainly would have told me if she were adding any."

It has perhaps just caught her attention that what she's telling him might be considered 'bad news.' She gives him a sympathetic sort of smile.

"In this place, fiction is as real as anything. It's real things like you that are out of the ordinary."

[remotivateme]

Bad news, indeed. And if there's anything Vila dislikes more than anything else, it's bad news.

"Of course I'm not a... The Mistress?"

[just_as_clever]

"I suppose you could say that the Mistress is the ruler of this place. She's perfectly friendly, though; there's nothing at all to be worried about."

[remotivateme]

"Well, there's a comforting thought."

Vila crosses his arms. A strange place, with a mysterious ruler. Friendly or not, he's not liking the sound of this place very much anymore.

[just_as_clever]

It's not that bad, is it, their little fictional world? Zoe supposes she's rather gotten used to it while Vila's hardly had the chance.

"You must be wanting to get back to where you came from. But that's the trouble, you see -- real people oughtn't be able to get here at all, so I'm not certain of how to send you back."

[remotivateme]

"You'd be right about that, if the others... when the others realize I'm gone-" He stops in mid-sentence, squishing his eyes shut and throwing his head back.

Really, he ought to be thankful for this strange world. He knows that deep down - but he's also committed to the others, and to Blake's vision.