[The Never-Ending Story] - [Act 3]
[ooc: Because I'm indecisive, two separate dreams to choose from! He's skipped back about ten years for both.]
[ The moon is full and bright in the starry night sky above - and the smaller, ill-shapen vampires' moon beside it for once does not dominate the atmosphere with its eerie red glow. All is calm and quiet, away from the expansive manor in the distance (no lights shining in the windows), away from the ruins of pre-Armageddon civilization that dot the countryside, here, still. All except for the slow, steady swish and crunch of footsteps through the tall grass as Abel approaches the thin grove of trees where he's certain he last saw someone moving. Apart from the strange, white uniform he wears, he looks much the same as ever - though his hair is loose about his shoulders, and his glasses and rosaries are nowhere to be seen.
He is also spattered with blood from head to toe, dark red staining his tattered outfit and torn gloves. Underneath, however, he looks dirty and unkempt, but wholly unharmed. ]
Please. Don't be afraid. [ --he says, his voice flat and serious but oddly gentle just the same, as his sharp, blue eyes catch another flicker of movement in the darkness. ]
I'm not here to harm you.
[ It's a beautiful Spring afternoon in the garden. There are bright green leaves stuck in his hair and great big muddy pawprints on his clean, white coat as Abel wanders the statuary-punctuated paths that wind through this lush, flowering land. Tiny petals and white wisps of cotton scatter on a pleasant breeze that follows him into the narrow corridor of a well kept hedge maze, just before he breaks the unbearably pleasant spell of the day by raising his voice in a shout-- ]
Here, boy! Come out, come out, wherever you are-- Oh!
[ He turns back from peering curiously (hopefully) into the maze to see someone else has entered the courtyard - and from where he stands, they appear to be wearing the newly familiar uniform of fellow clergy. As a new inductee to the priesthood, he makes his best effort to look friendly as he flags them down with a wildly waving arm. ]
E-Excuse me! I seem to have lost Miss Caterina's shepherd. Have you seen him? He's about this big - and, uh, all white, though he may have gotten into the mud, today, too.
[ The moon is full and bright in the starry night sky above - and the smaller, ill-shapen vampires' moon beside it for once does not dominate the atmosphere with its eerie red glow. All is calm and quiet, away from the expansive manor in the distance (no lights shining in the windows), away from the ruins of pre-Armageddon civilization that dot the countryside, here, still. All except for the slow, steady swish and crunch of footsteps through the tall grass as Abel approaches the thin grove of trees where he's certain he last saw someone moving. Apart from the strange, white uniform he wears, he looks much the same as ever - though his hair is loose about his shoulders, and his glasses and rosaries are nowhere to be seen.
He is also spattered with blood from head to toe, dark red staining his tattered outfit and torn gloves. Underneath, however, he looks dirty and unkempt, but wholly unharmed. ]
Please. Don't be afraid. [ --he says, his voice flat and serious but oddly gentle just the same, as his sharp, blue eyes catch another flicker of movement in the darkness. ]
I'm not here to harm you.
[ It's a beautiful Spring afternoon in the garden. There are bright green leaves stuck in his hair and great big muddy pawprints on his clean, white coat as Abel wanders the statuary-punctuated paths that wind through this lush, flowering land. Tiny petals and white wisps of cotton scatter on a pleasant breeze that follows him into the narrow corridor of a well kept hedge maze, just before he breaks the unbearably pleasant spell of the day by raising his voice in a shout-- ]
Here, boy! Come out, come out, wherever you are-- Oh!
[ He turns back from peering curiously (hopefully) into the maze to see someone else has entered the courtyard - and from where he stands, they appear to be wearing the newly familiar uniform of fellow clergy. As a new inductee to the priesthood, he makes his best effort to look friendly as he flags them down with a wildly waving arm. ]
E-Excuse me! I seem to have lost Miss Caterina's shepherd. Have you seen him? He's about this big - and, uh, all white, though he may have gotten into the mud, today, too.