@False-andrew flash_on
(Wren! Huh, should Cole recognize them or no?)
(Oh idk lol)
(Wren! Huh, should Cole recognize them or no?)
(Oh idk lol)
(Hm for easiness sake, he won't)
(I did the last bit, so who wants to pick it up next?)
Wren pops into the middle of a strange place, still wrapped up in their blanket and holding their phone.
They always had their mask in a pocket or something when they weren't wearing it so the put it on and sigh.
"Where the fuck did I just fall to?" they mutter, before seeing a person.
Cole doesn’t react this time to a new person, sighing instead. “Welcome to a rip in reality: Wonderland version. Yay.”
Wren sighs.
"Is there any way to get back where I came from? Do I just jump and say 'bababooey' or something? Or am I stuck here until whatever idiot god decided to put me here lets me back out?" they ask quietly.
Cole winces. “I think it’s the second option. Sorry.”
"You're stuck," Phoenix chuckles, "I don't really know, I just kind of pop in and out with no real pattern. So are we going to check out the thing or what?"
"God fucking damn it, I already hate it here. . ." they mutter, starting to float.
"Whatever, I guess. My name's Wren. I'm nobody you'd ever have known. And you'll probably forget me when I disappear for more than a few minutes, which is actually something I like to have happen, as it allows me to avoid people easier. You have 3 minutes to gain my trust, or to not bother trying. I'd prefer the second option but do whatever. I can't stop you." they sigh, their eyes looking brutally onto Cole's, before shifting to the new person.
Phoenix stares at Wren for a couple of seconds before he says slowly, "Oookay then. I'm gonna go find a way out of here."
He then walks off, making sure to keep Wren and Cole within sight as he carefully explores the unfamiliar territory.
Wren smiles slightly, but otherwise doesn't give Pheonix a response.
"If you got here one way, you can get out the same way." they sigh.
Phoenix wanders for a bit, poking at strange plants and structures. Slowly, he finds himself drawn toward the foreign object in the distance.
(I honestly don't know where this is going, I think this turned into a roleplay a long time ago, lol)
"Or don't listen to me, that's fine too." Wren grumbles. They look down at their phone - no signal.
They start to panic. If they couldn't access their only safe place, where could they go to escape reality? They start to shake slightly, rocking in the air.
(Probably XD)
From the corner of his eye, Phoenix notices Wren fidgeting. The boy frowns at the way Wren's eyes dart around, and they keep playing with a small… box-looking thing. Phoenix hesitates briefly before he walks back to his companion.
"Hey, you good?" he asks as casually as he could.
Wren jumps and shakes their head.
"Without my phone, which has everything I need to keep myself and others safe, I start to break down." they mutter, just loud enough Pheonix to hear. They drop their phone into their hoodie pockets and start shaking their hands to keep calm. It only worked a little. Their breathing was getting slightly faster.
Immediately, Phoenix places his hands on Wren's shoulders and squeezes.
"Hey, don't freak out on me," he says, trying to catch Wren's eye, "We're gonna be fine, all right? Once we find a way back to… the… Danica's house, it'll be fine. In the meantime, I'll keep you safe," he smirks, "I have experience fighting off nasties. Watch this."
He turns and closes his eyes in concentration. With a roar and a flash of light, a serpentine, glowing black dragon appears, circling Phoenix and Wren once before coming to settle in front of Phoenix. Its crimson eyes regard the boy calmly as it awaited instructions.
Wren squeezes their eyes shut, jerking away from Pheonix's touch and starting to hyperventilate. The bandages that peek out from the neckline of their hoodie start to get red spots.
They cover their ears and whimper softly, curling up into a ball beneath their blanket.
When Phoenix turns and notices Wren isn't any calmer, he quickly de-summons his rochim.
Um, okay… he thinks, biting his lip, new approach. What is it that Chaie always does with me?
Crouching in front of Wren, he says softly, "Hey, listen. Just listen to me for a second. Can you tell me five things you can see around you? Just anything. Tell me what you see."
Wren didn't want to see anything. They didn't even want to be there. They just wanted to go home, but they couldn't and they were stuck here without anything.
They start bleeding from more of their cuts, their blanket falling away to reveal strings of blood starting to flow down Wren's arms. This is why they never left the house; the world hurts him. Opens up old wounds and keeps new wounds from healing. They whimper again.
Phoenix watches, horrified, as blood wells from multiple wounds on Wren's body. In the back of his mind, he starts panicking, but he fights to maintain a calm attitude.
"Okay…" he says, gulping, "Okay, that's… not good. But I can't help you unless you talk to me, all right? You need to talk to me."
Frantically, he looks around, scanning the area for something, anything to help him.
(Force, what do I dooooo?!)
Meanwhile, Cole stands frozen in fear and uncertainty. If even Phoenix couldn’t calm this new person, Wren, down, what hope did he have? So instead Cole walked around the perimeter and looked for any nastiest that could be coming their way.
Wren shakes their head.
"I need to go home. . ." they whine softly. "I need to go home. . ."
A new figure pops into existance - a younger woman, around the same age as Wren. She looks at Wren and sighs softly, a sweet sound.
"Wren, come here." they say quietly. Wren inhales sharply and immediately goes over to the woman, wrapping their arms around her tightly, burying their ace against her shoulder.
"I'm sorry- I just got sent here from your house. I tried to come check on you." she murmurs, before looking at Pheonix and narrowing her golden eyes slightly. She was physically and emotionally the opposite of Wren.
"What did you do? Why did you bring my love here?" she asks bluntly.
(Force, what do I dooooo?!)
(Nothing lol; there's literally one person who can calm them down when they don't have their phone and she just showed up)
“It wasn’t him, ma’am!” Cole takes a stance in front of Phoenix. “S-someone else brought Wren here! Not Phoenix!”
"I didn't do anything, I promise!" Phoenix adds, standing up and raising his hands quickly in a gesture of peace, "This place is, ah… unpredictable. I'm not exactly here on purpose either. I was just trying to help."
The woman sighs.
"Alright, I can tell you're being truthful. But my next question is, where the hell even is here?" she asks.
Wren continues shaking, completely silent, blood still flowing from their cuts.
“He was!” Cole backs the other boy up. “Wren was…having a moment and Phoenix tried to help but wasn’t-wasn’t able to! He didn’t hurt them at all, ma’am!”
Secretly, Phoenix is relieved that Wren finally seems to have calmed down; he has no idea what he would have done if things escalated any further. He is also grateful for Cole's ready defense, and he gives the boy a smile before he turns back to the woman.
"We… aren't really sure?" he answers her question carefully, "Some kind of limbo in the multiverse… or something. We're supposed to be in a house, but I have no idea what this place is."
The following keyboard controls are supported across Notebook.ai. All keyboard controls are disabled when editing a document or notebook page.